Strengths-Based Practice
Lakota Oyate Wakanyeja Owicakiyapi
AGENDA
I.
II.
III.
IV.
V.
VI.
Training norms
Goal
Objectives
Part I- What is strengths-based practice?
Part II- Why is strengths-based practice important?
Part III- What does strengths-based practice look like
at work?
VII. Check for Understanding
VIII. Closing
TRAINING NORMS
Please make sure to:
- turn off cellular phones and other electronic
devices that might create distractions to those
around you.
- try and remain present in the room the entire
time. Breaks are scheduled regularly.
TRAINING NORMS
Please make sure to:
- be respectful of others while they are
speaking and limit all side conversations.
- respect the unique needs of LOWO’s clients
and remember confidentiality is important.
GOAL
The goal of this training is to provide
participants with an experience that will
further LOWO’s mission to keep children out of
institutions by focusing on support for children
to remain with their families, short term foster
care, Lakota relative placements and adoption
and support through social or court
intervention that supports parents taking back
the responsibility for their children.
Oglala Lakota Practice Model p. 10
OBJECTIVE 1
Participants will be able to recognize the
difference between strengths-based practice
and deficit (problem) based practice.
OBJECTIVE 2
Participants will be able to examine the
importance of strengths-based practice and
how that impacts the lives of their clients and
the larger community.
OBJECTIVE 3
Participants will begin to develop strategies for
increasing the use of strengths-based practice
in their everyday life.
THINK, PAIR, SHARE
One minute- Think about one of your personal
strengths. How does
Two minutes- Turn to the person next to you
and each of you take a minute to share a bit
about your personal strengths.
K/W/L
What do you know about strengths based
practice?
What do you want to know about strengths
based practice?
What did you learn about strengths based
practice?
PART I- WHAT IS STRENGHTS-BASED PRACTICE?
STRENGTHS-BASED PRACTICE
“Strength-based service delivery is an approach to
providing support and resources to individuals
that focuses on identifying and building their
assets and skills, to help them create needed
change. Strengths are emotional or behavioral
skills, competencies, and characteristics that 1)
create a sense of personal accomplishment, 2)
contribute to satisfying relationships, 3) enhance
one’s ability to deal with stress and adversity, and
4) promote moral, social, emotional, skill, and
other types of development.”
NPC Research and Evaluation (Portland, Oregon)
STRENGTHS-BASED PRACTICE
“Strengths based practice is a social work
practice theory that emphasizes people's self
determination and strengths. Strengths based
practice is client led, with a focus on future
outcomes and strengths that the people bring
to a problem or crisis.”
Wikipedia
STRENGTHS-BASED PRACTICE
So, what does this mean to us? Given the little
we’ve learned already, how can we begin to
define strengths-based practice in our own
words?
PART II: WHY IS STRENGTHS-BASED PRACTICE
IMPORTANT?
WHY IT’S IMPORTANT
Value: Importance of Human Relationships
Ethical Principle: Social workers recognize the central importance
of human relationships. Social workers understand that
relationships between and among people are an important
vehicle for change. Social workers engage people as partners
in the helping process. Social workers seek to strengthen
relationships among people in a purposeful effort to promote,
restore, maintain, and enhance the wellbeing of individuals,
families, social groups, organizations, and communities.
NASW Code of Ethics
WHY IT’S IMPORTANT
Value: Dignity and Worth of the Person
Ethical Principle: Social workers respect the inherent dignity and worth
of the person. Social workers treat each person in a caring and
respectful fashion, mindful of individual differences and cultural
and ethnic diversity. Social workers promote clients’ socially
responsible self-determination. Social workers seek to enhance
clients’ capacity and opportunity to change and to address their
own needs. Social workers are cognizant of their dual responsibility
to clients and to the broader society. They seek to resolve conflicts
between clients’ interests and the broader society’s interests in a
socially responsible manner consistent with the values, ethical
principles, and ethical standards of the profession.
NASW Code of Ethics
WHY IT’S IMPORTANT
Raising children in a high-poverty area creates stressors
on families that can magnify perceived problems.
Many mainstream providers identify Native clients by
their problems, not their potential.
The history of child welfare provision among Native
families has historically highlighted the difference
between dominant culture and indigenous culture.
WHY IT’S IMPORTANT
Helps clients achieve a goal
Helps clients build relationships
Helps clients overcome adversity or a crisis
Helps clients improve their well-being
PART III: STRENGTHS-BASED PRACTICE AT WORK
AT WORK
Think, Pair, Share
Take two minutes to reflect on a particularly challenging
family or client you have worked with.
Take two minutes to jot down 1) how you accessed this clients
strengths OR 2) where you might have missed an
opportunity to highlight their strengths.
Take four minutes (two minutes each) and turn to the person
next to you to share what you just jotted down.
Finally, we’ll come back as a large group and take time to talk
about your examples more in-depth.
AT WORK
Where do you already see aspects of strengthsbased practice at work inFamily Preservation
Parenting Classes
Ceremonies
Other areas
AT WORK
Scenario One
Sherry is a nineteen year old who never completed high school. She has been
in an off-and-on relationship with the father of her three children (infant,
2 year-old, 4 year-old) for six years now. Although the father provides her
with some money, it is not nearly enough to get by so she has a part-time
job at Big Bat’s. While she is at work, a cousin watches her children but at
times has been unreliable and caused her to miss several shifts. Sherry
lives with her sister most of the time but occasionally stays with her stepfather, who lets her and her children use his place while he is gone driving
a truck. Last week, while her and her children were at her sister’s, people
were partying, a fight broke out, and a neighbor called the police. Sherry
has been assigned to your caseload. Where do you begin?
AT WORK
Scenario Two
Sheila and Joe are the parents of four school-age children and have been
mandated to take parenting classes. They make every attempt to attend
class class each week, but recently they’re started to miss classes and you
don’t know why, except that transportations might be an issue. When in
class, both actively participate. Last class, when working closely with Joe,
you think you might have smelled alcohol on his breath but are unsure and
don’t want to accuse him. You also heard from a cousin that while Sheila is
at her part-time job and Joe is responsible for watching the children, he
takes them to a friend’s house who is a know drug dealer. Where do you
begin?
CHECK FOR UNDERSTANDING
What, if anything, have you learned about
strengths based practice that you didn’t know
prior to today’s training?
What part of strengths based practice is easiest
for you to understand? What part is hardest?
How will this impact your interactions with the
families you work with?
CLOSING