1.
In this case, one ethical issue that was risen was with Mrs. Jones. She does not want to legally adopt the children as they are already her grandchildren. She feels that “adoption is unnecessary because they are already family”. It is the case workers responsibility to in
from Mrs. Jones about the importance of adoption. For example, without adoption, she cannot legally be considered the childrens guardian, making them subject to being taken by the Department of Children and Families (DCF) so that they can be adopted. Another ethical issue that was noticed was where the case worker advised she would meet with Mrs. Jones to “encourage her to adopt the children”. Standard 7 states that human service professionals ensure that their values or biases are not imposed upon their clients (NOHS,
2023). All the case worker can do is explain to Mrs. Jones what will happen in the result of her decision to not adopt the children, she must not encourage anyone to do anything. 2.
It is important to operate from an ethical framework when working in child welfare services. It can help us identify appropriate and inappropriate behaviors for you, your colleagues, and your clients and help avoid conflicts of interest (Limestone, 2022). When working in child welfare, the children’s safety is the main focus and priority. The ethical standards placed are there to ensure we are keeping and creating an environment that is safe for both us and the clients. Violation of these standards can come with a number of consequences. For example, if a social worker violates the code of ethics, the state or province may take disciplinary action against the social worker (ASWB, 2020). In this particular case the case worker did state should encourage Mrs. Jones to adopt the children, although this is not a state violation that requires severe punishment, she could however very well be pulled from this case.
