Planning and Contracting
Chapter 12
Techniques and Guidelines for
Direct Practice
Introduction
• Planning is the bridge between assessment and
intervention.
• It begins with specifying goals the client hopes to
achieve, then identifying what changes need to
be made to achieve those goals, selecting from
among alternative change strategies the
interventions most likely to reach the goals, and
establishing timelines for completing those
actions.
Introduction
• Action without a clear plan is a recipe for failure.
• Effective planning places a special demand on
the creativity of the social worker and the
willingness of the client to consider alternative
courses of action.
• The worker should base the planning decisions
on hard facts and objective evidence that was
collected during the data collection and
assessment phase.
Introduction
• Once a plan has been developed, it is important
for the worker and clients to develop a contract
(i.e., an agreement between the worker and
client that spell out the activities to be conducted
by each, along with a timetable for action during
the intervention phase).
• A contract can be written, oral, or even implied
agreement, although the more specific the
contract, the more likely it is to prevent
misunderstandings.
Introduction
• A contract should delineate the following:
–
–
–
–
–
Problems or concerns to be addressed.
Goals and objectives of the intervention.
Activities the client will undertake.
Tasks to be performed by the worker.
Expected duration of the intervention (in weeks or
months).
– Schedule of time and place for interviews.
– Identification of other persons, agencies, or
organizations expected to participate and clarification
about what they will be expected to contribute to the
change process.
Techniques and Guidelines for
Direct Practice
• When working with individuals, families,
and groups during the planning and
contracting phase, the social worker
should pay particular attention to the
principles of maximizing client participation
and self-determination.
• It is the clients who must live with the
outcome resulting from the plans selected
and the accompanying interventions.
Techniques and Guidelines
• The worker should recognize that the
client should have the following rights:
– Make decisions and have input concerning
the intervention goals and objectives, as well
as the general approach to be used to reach
those goals.
– Know what approach the worker proposes to
use, the likelihood of success, and if there are
any anticipated risks or adverse effects
associated with the proposed intervention.
Techniques and Guidelines
• Rights (continue):
– Know how long the intervention will last
and/or about how long it will take to achieve
the agree upon objectives.
– Know how much time and money will be
required of the client.
– Know any consequences for terminating the
intervention against the advice of the social
worker or agency.
Techniques and Guidelines
• Rights (continue);
– Know what rules of confidentiality apply and
who else will have access to information
about the client’s participation and the
outcome of the intervention.
– Know how the success of the intervention will
be evaluated.
– Know about appeals or grievance procedures
that can be used to challenge a decision
made by the social worker or agency.
Planning Activities
• Some of the most critical decisions a social
worker must make occur as part of planning.
These can have lifelong consequences for a
client.
• One possible mistake is to move too quickly
toward selecting and planning an intervention
after having spent too little time clarifying the
client’s problem or concern and exploring
possible options on how to improve the client’s
situation.
Planning Activities
• A related error is to make decisions on the basis
of untested assumptions without probing for
underlying factors that may contradict the client’s
or the worker’s presumption about the nature
and cause of the client’s presenting concerns.
• Mistakes may result when the worker considers
only a narrow range of alternative strategies for
change due to hurried decision making, laxness,
or rigid interpretation of agency policy.
Contracting Activities
• The best plans are of little value if there is not
clear agreement and understanding about how
they will be implemented.
• The greater specificity about who will do what,
when, and how, the greater the chances of the
plan being fully implemented.
• The discipline of carefully developing a contract
is often reassuring to clients, while also
encouraging the social worker to rethink steps
that may have become routine.
Selecting Target Problems and
Goals
• A goal is a desired end toward which an
activity is directed.
• This goal should logically flow from prior
data gathering and assessment that
examined both the client’s strengths and
resources and his or her problems and
needs.
Selecting Target Problems and
Goals
• Goals of interventions include:
– Learn a skill or acquire needed knowledge.
– Make an important decision.
– Gather information needed to make a plan or make a
decision.
– Assess a problem or concern.
– Make a plan.
– Change a behavior.
– Alter attitudes about self or about some other
person(s).
Selecting Target Problems and
Goals
• Goals of interventions (continue):
– Gather information about availability of certain types
of services or programs.
– Become linked to or enrolled in a program or service
provided by some agency or professional.
– Rebuild a damaged relationship.
– Change the way life circumstances or a life event is
perceived or interpreted.
– Achieve a more satisfactory adjustments to an
unchangeable condition or situation.
Selecting Target Problems and
Goals
• The worker and client must devote
considerable time to the task of priority
setting in order to decide which of the
client’s many problems and concerns
should become target problems for
intervention.
• Until those decisions are made, they
cannot formulate a feasible intervention
plan.
Selecting Target Problems and
Goals
• The following steps will help the client and
worker set priorities:
– The client identifies and lists what they see as
problems or concerns.
– The social worker offers their
recommendations and explains why they also
need to be considered (mandated problems).
– The problems and concerns are reviewed and
sorted into logical groupings or combinations
so that interrelatedness is identified.
Selecting Target Problems and
Goals
• Priorities (continue):
– The client examines the list and selects the
two or three problems or concerns of highest
priority.
– The worker selects the two or three items they
consider to be of highest priority.
– Together the client and worker discuss the
concerns identified in steps 4 and 5 and
examine them against the following criteria:
Selecting Target Problems and
Goals
• Criteria:
– Which ones weigh most heavily on the client’s
situation?
– Which ones, if not addressed and corrected,
would have the most negative and farreaching consequences for the client?
– Which ones, if addressed and corrected,
would have the most positive effects on the
client?
Selecting Target Problems and
Goals
• Criteria (continue):
– Which ones are of greatest interest to the
client?
– Which ones can be addressed and corrected
with only a moderate investment of time,
energy, or resources?
After considering these criteria, the three
problems of highest priority are selected.
Consider who in the client’s support system will
either assist or sabotage the change effort.
The Problem Search
• The problem search can be viewed as a mini
contract or an agreement to spend a couple of
sessions trying to determine whether a problem
exists and if so, whether it should be addressed.
• It is used when the client has been referred by
an authoritative agency or by their family but
does not acknowledge the existence of a
problem or the client has requested a specific
agency service but, in the worker’s opinion, it is
desirable to help the client expand that request
or redefine the presenting problem.
The Problem Search
• The social worker moves these four steps:
– Explain why you are suggesting a further
exploration of the client’s situation.
– Solicit the client’s thoughts and feedback on
the proposal.
– Set up a plan for a future meeting.
– Identify two or three topics to be discussed.
Using Checklists in Goal Selection
• This tool is a list of possible intervention goals
from which the client can select ones that are
relevant to their situation.
• A worker familiar with the problems and
concerns of a particular client group can easily
construct a goal checklist.
• A goal checklist can also be translated into a
format for evaluating client perceptions of the
progress achieved during an intervention.
The Client Needs Checklist
• A needs list is a tool used to guide case
management activities related to a certain
category of clients.
• A needs list reminds all involved of the many
concerns that should be addressed in a service
plan.
• The client needs list is especially useful when
the case-planning activity is being performed by
a multi-agency or a multi-disciplinary team.
Formulating Intervention Objectives
• Unless there are clear objectives for an
intervention, the helping process will flounder
and its evaluation will be impossible.
• Although the terms goals and objectives are
often used interchangeably, they do not mean
the same thing.
• A goal is usually a broad and rather global
statement.
• An objective is more specific and written in a
manner that allows and facilitates measurement
and evaluation.
Formulating Intervention Objectives
• A properly written objective will answer a
five-part question:
– Who…
– Will do what…
– To what extent…
– Under what conditions…
– By when?
Formulating Intervention Objectives
• When developing an objective, it is important not
to confuse input with outcome.
• Positive language should be used whenever
possible, the words used should describe what
the client will do, not what the client will not do.
• It is important that objectives be formulated in
behavioral language- using words that describe
observable actions in terms of their frequency,
duration, and intensity.
Formulating Intervention Objectives
• A timeframe is an essential part of an
objective. An objective should not take
more than a few weeks to accomplish.
• The client needs to see evidence of
progress.
• In working toward a single goal, a client
may need to achieve several objectives,
and in order to achieve objectives, they
may need to complete numerous tasks.
Formulating Intervention Objectives
• A properly developed objective meets the
following criteria:
– It usually starts with the word to, followed by
an action verb.
– It specifies a single result or outcome to be
accomplished.
– It specifies a target date for its
accomplishment.
– It is as specific and quantitative as possible
and hence, measurable.
Formulating Intervention Objectives
• Objective criteria (continue):
– It is understandable by the client and others
who will be contributing to or participating in
the intervention.
– It is realistic and attainable but still represents
a significant challenge.
– It is agreed to by both client and worker
without pressure or coercion.
– It is consistent with agency policies and with
the social work Code of Ethics.
Written Service Contracts
• A written service contract is a document that
specifies the desired outcome of the service(s)
to be provided, the key actions that will be taken
to achieve this outcome, and the major roles and
responsibilities of those involved in this effort.
• Except in those cases in which the contract is
written into a court order, a service contract is
not viewed as legally binding.
• These contracts are also known as service
agreement, case plan, treatment plan,
intervention plan or individual family support
plan.
Written Service Contracts
• A service contract should answer the
following questions:
– What is the desired outcome of the worker’s
and/or agency’s service to the client?
– What is to be done by the client? By when?
– What is to be done by the client’s significant
others? By when?
– What is to be done by the worker and other
agency staff? By when?
Written Service Contracts
• Service contracts (continue):
– What services are to be obtained from other
agencies? By when?
– What events will trigger a reassessment of the
client’s situation and/or a revision of the
service contract?
– What are the consequences, if any, for not
adhering to the plan?
Making Use of Informal Resources
• When possible and appropriate, the intervention
plan should utilize the informal resources
available within the client’s social support
network, such as their extended family, friends,
neighbors, church groups, and service clubs.
• Informal resources can provide emotional
support, material assistance, physical care,
information, and the mediation of interpersonal
conflict.
Making Use of Informal Resources
• Many people prefer the use of informal
resources over formal ones, for several reasons:
– No stigma is attached to informal resources.
– Informal helping is available 24 hours a day, seven
days a week, at no cost.
– One does not have to be categorized, labeled,
diagnosed.
– Informal helping involves a reciprocal relationship
rather than the expert-client relationship that is so
often a part of the professional helping process.
Making Use of Informal Resources
• A self-help group is usually considered to
be an informal resource.
• Another important informal resource is the
natural helper, an individual who has often
resided in the community for a long time
and is known for their ability to help others.
• Other natural helpers include respected
elders, religious leaders and healers.
Making Use of Informal Resources
• When considering the appropriateness of
looking to informal resources as a source
of help and assistance for a client, the
social worker should keep the following
guidelines in mind:
– The goal of practice is to help clients improve
their social functioning.
– The client’s social support network should
always be viewed as a potential source of
assistance.
Making Use of Informal Resources
• Guidelines (continue):
– Some individuals are reluctant to join a
support group or self-help group because they
do not want to admit that they have a
problem.
– The ethical and legal codes concerning
confidentiality need not be a barrier to the use
of informal resources.
– Do not attempt to professionalize informal
resources.