Date of field work: May 17, 2023

Name of the agency; Integrated family service organization

Time spent in the agency: 3hours

Activities performed today: Today the program coordinator assigned me to observe all the
steps needed to take in order to a child to join the shelter. I have been assessing how the agency
is able to address their client. I have been asking the counselor I have been assigned to assist
detailed information on the ways to meet the children. As much as I can, I have tried to take
down notes everything I listened.

Observation related to the agency functioning: The assessment and joining process has steps
to take which are linked together. Starting from the establishment of the agency, the agency has a
link with four agencies. The deal with these four stakeholders is to work with so that the agency
can achieve its' main purpose of the Rehabilitation project. These stakeholders are Addis Ababa
Women and Children Social Affairs, Addis Ababa city administration, Addis Ababa police
commission and Addis Ababa Supreme Court. These agencies have their own role, but regarding
the first joining process Addis Ababa police commission plays a main role. Whenever there is
case on sexual abuse, witness (for example if a child eye witness a crime and her/his testimony
is needed but can't stay where she/he used to live due to safety), and run away children , IFSO
will be contacted by the police stations. But the case should only be of a child who is under the
age of 18. IFSO only offer a service for a child who is under 18. After receiving a child from a
police station IFSO has its' own clients' admission and need assessment procedures to take and
format to fill.

Teamwork: Unification to a shelter requires a strong collaboration and team sprit amongst
responsible persons. The police officer, social worker and counselor do their tasks in a timely
manner and communicate with the team.

Assigned task: I was assigned to assess, take notes and analyze the strength and weakness of all
the unifying a child to the shelters process, starting from the police station to the shelters.

Observation regarding client system and service delivery: All the things mentioned above in
place, whenever there are cases regarding the issues IFSO works on, police station all around the
11 Sub cities of Addis Ababa can write a support letter to IFSO. After this, IFSOs’ social worker
will be sent to the police station where the support letter come from and have a discussion with
the police who is issuing the case. The social worker will also have a conversation with the child
who is about to be unify to the shelter. The social worker will discuss the issue in detail with the
child so the child knows everything. Meaning that, where he/she is going, why he/she is going
there and what services will he/she receive. Briefing all these things to the client/ child is
mandatory, because the child/ client should be aware of every step. After the client give her/his
consent to the proceeding process the social worker will bring the child to agency and contact
them to the agency's' counselor.

Administrative Assignments; as an assist to a counselor, the program coordinator assigned me

to do the assessment carefully and report what I understand to him. No cell phones can be used
during the assessment and everything has to be noted.

Social work skill used

Critical observation, active listening, taking notes, communication skills were some of the skills I
have used.

Reflection about acquired social work knowledge, skills & attitude, strengths and weakness
of the agency with possible means of improving weakness: During the day I have learned so
many things from the counselor I assisted. I was told that doing tasks in a timely manner,
handling work overlaps, showing compassion to the children, enabling them to trust the agency
are a major steps in the intake process. Apart from the main intervention process, the way the
children are received and joined the shelter can have a good or bad effect on the children stay at
the shelter.

Skills: During the day I was every active in asking what I wanted to know, and taking notes,
reviewing support letters from police stations that has been sent to IFSO and reviewing the pre
counseling intake form of the agency.

Knowledge: I come to know that the lessons I have taken in class were very helpful during the
assessment. Even though I haven’t done a piece of work, I understand that observing, assessing,
and asking have its’ own way of doing and skill.
Attitude: Before going to the agency I referred the documents I learned in class. I have tried to
implement the entire thing that is expected from a social worker. I arrived on time with my
formal dressing.

Strength: The agency documented every letters in every children file in a very organized way.
Whenever they receive a support letter from any station in Addis Ababa they respond very
quickly and send their counselor in not more than 24 hours after the letter arrived.

Weakness: As a weakness the counselor told me that they are not capable of receiving a child
with special need. The reason is that the agency doesn’t have any professional who is certified in
special need support.

Alternative way of improving the weakness: The agency should organize a training or any
form of course to educate one or two member of the team in special need service

Activities planned for next day: As I was assessing the intake process of the agency, the
program coordinator informed me that I will be a part of the process since we are having a child
to receive tomorrow. So tomorrow will be a day that I implement everything I have learned
today.

Learning Achievement: Intake and screening is the gateway into child protective services
involvement for children and families. Intake and screening is a system of intervention that alerts
child protective services of conditions that make children unsafe or that put children at risk of
abuse or neglect. The primary responsibility of the IFSO is to identify the children who are in
need of protection or services and assure that unsafe children are protected. The first assessment
of safety occurs during the intake and screening process. Staff must gather sufficient information
from the referent in order to determine if IFSO intervention is necessary based on the safety
status and the risk of maltreatment to the child. Besides this having a link with different agencies
can reduce a work load.
Date of field work: May 22, 2023

Name of the agency; Integrated family service organization

Time spent in the agency: 3hours

Activities performed today: Today the program coordinator assigned in the process of in taking
a child from police station to the shelter. As I was studying the necessary steps to be taken in
order to intake a child to the shelter, today is a day that I can put what I’ve studied yesterday into
practice. The counselor and I went to Kality Police station using the agency’s transportation. As
we got there we went to the police officer who was issuing the case and we started to discuss the
issue. The girl whom the police station wanted the agency to take is a 14 year old teenaged. The
case is that the girl was living with her stepmom and siblings of her stepmother’s side. The
stepmother had been abusing her physically and emotionally. When things went beyond the limit
of the child she ran away from her house, but didn’t know where to go. When the day got darker
she got to start being worried and during this a guard of a hotel found her. He told herto trust
him and that she could spend the night with him, then took her to his lodging and then raped her.
In the morning she left the lodging and found on the street crying. So the person who saw her
crying brought her to the police station. After listening the issue from the police officer, the
counselor asked to talk to the girl. The counselor briefed to the girl everything about the agency
and the services it provides. The girl gave her consent to go with us. After that we did a pre
counseling assessment at the head office. This will help us to plan the intervention that suites the
girls’ issue.

Observation related to the agency functioning:

As I observed the agency accommodates transportation starting from the intake process. The
intake process is a vital process for the child which can have an effect on her/his stay in the
shelter. Due to this the agency does the intake very carefully by showing the child love and care.
The first thing the counselor did was being friendly with the girl, which helps us to the girl have
a trust on the agency. After this, the process was not that hard as the girl felt free to speak
everything that had happened to her. After doing the psychosocial assessment at the head office
we went to the shelter. The foster mother and the girls welcomed her warmly which made her
even more comfortable. So per my observation the agency gives a great deal of emphasis on the
outmost comfort of the child, and the trust that a child should put on the agency.

Teamwork: I was allowed to give accompany to the counselor during the entire process. The
girls also and all the shelters’ staffs take me as one of them when we went there to drop the girl
there. The counselor also told me everything about the intake process that had been done before,
the challenges they face, how the concur it and solved it.

Assigned task: I was assigned to do observe the process while the counselor does the entire
intake process. I was told to take notes not only for myself but also to the counselor as well, so
that she can have a non-distracted discussion with the police officer and the girl.

Observation regarding client system and service delivery: Today I was really impressed by
the agency’s’ service delivery. They give a great deal of emphasis for every step they took
regarding the children on the shelters. Starting from the driver who take the child from the
shelter to the head office to the shelter, the foster mother, the counselor are all very
compassionate and do their tasks accordingly.

Administrative Assignments: On this days’ visit I was told to show care and love to the child
whom we took from the station and also all the girls in the shelter. I was not allowed to take any
pictures of the girls. I was not allowed to talk to any of the girls alone regarding their issue
without the consent of the counselor.

Social work skill used: I was able to observe that the intake process is all about the lesson I have
learnt on the course Integrated social work method 1. Emotional skills, communication skills and
interpersonal skills are part of the skills we used.

Reflection about acquired social work knowledge, skills & attitude, strengths and weakness
of the agency with possible means of improving weakness

Skills: During this day I was curious on every steps of the process, and taking notes of
everything. Having an emotional skill really challenged me. I was really striving not to cry when
the girl told us what happened to her. But I was able to control myself. Although I understand
that emotional skill is something that will be developed gradually, todays’ visit has been a good
start form me.
Attitude: I have tried to be appeared in a presentable way as a social worker. All the
communication I had during the day with the girl and with the staff members were smooth and to
the point.

Knowledge: During this day I acquire knowledge on all the process needed to take in order to
intake a child to the shelters. I was able to see how psychosocial assessment can be done. I also
was able to know that the intake process can help in identifying, evaluating and exploring the
children’s’ problem.

Strength: The agency documents all the procedures. The do everything they can to keep the
child they receive comfortable. The pre counseling form the agency use allows for a complete
understanding of the child.

Weakness: Having all the above things done should have been the responsibility of social
worker not a counselor. But the agency doesn’t have a well-trained social worker that these
responsibilities can be given to. Due to this the counselor is performing overlapping tasks. I am
afraid that she will eventually become bored and lose her zeal.

Alternative way of improving the weakness: The agency should hire certified social worker.
Activities planned for next day: Next to the intake process I and the counselor will design an
intervention plan to the girl by putting the services the agency offers into consideration.

Learning Achievement: Currently there are 15 girls under the age of 18 in the agency’s shelter.
Among these 15 children, 10 have been raped and are pursuing their cases in court while
receiving the services provided by the agency. As I tried to put in my introduction, the agency
accepts children who have been sexually abuse, missing from their home and wanted as
witnesses. However most of the children from the girls’ shelter are there because of sexual abuse
cases. I understand that this is the lack of attention paid to violence against women in our
country. And the failure of responsible bodies to do what is expected from them. The girl we got
her joined to the shelter today, her initial cause to what had happened to her was that she ran
away from her home due to her abusive stepmother. From this I understand that, even if one or
two people commit the act of abuse, there are many people who have a part in doing it. Family
plays a significant role specifically in the case of children. So along the service provided to the
children, the intervention plan should consider the root cause of the abuse, and the role players in
the act of the abuse as well.

Date of field work: May 23, 2023

Name of the agency; Integrated family service organization

Time spent in the agency: 3hours

Activities performed today: Today I and the counselor had a very fruitful discussion on the
intervention plan design to the girl we intake yesterday. We put on the table every information
we gathered yesterday so that it can help us with the design. We wanted the intervention to solve
the girls’ all problems. So we worked on it to be holistic. We have listed categories of services
the agency could provide as follows.

 Counseling sessions (one- to- one)

 Group therapy
 Art therapy
 Educational support
 Provision of transportation to court or police station whenever the girl is needed

Before we brought her from the police station she already went through medical treatment for
any complication that could happen after sexual abuse. So we didn’t include medical therapy in
the intervention. As we find out in our assessment our client has a trauma, she blamed herself
and her stepmother for the incident. So we believe that the girl should be liberated from her past
trauma and feel free as her peers. So we discussed to use cognitive behavioral therapy in
consecutive sessions. We have also agreed upon including group therapy and art therapy too.
We also planned to illustrate and provide the core components of cognitive behavioral therapy as
follows.

 Psychoeducation and parenting skills,

 Relaxation skills or managing physiological reactions to trauma,
 Affective modulation skills or managing affective responses to trauma,
 Cognitive coping skills that build connections between thoughts, feelings, and behaviors,
 Trauma narrative and processing,
  In vivo mastery of trauma reminders,
 Conjoint child-caregiver sessions, and
 Enhancing safety and future development

Observation related to the agency functioning As I observed today the agency mostly used
cognitive behavioral therapy for sexually abused children. So today as we discussed we planned
to use cognitive behavioral therapy to treat the child, by addressing the negative effects of trauma
including processing of traumatic memories, addressing and overcoming problematic thoughts,
and building coping and interpersonal skills. As I noticed the agency usually planned this short-
term manualized treatment in typically provided in eight to 16 weekly 90-minute sessions,
extending to as many as 25 sessions for individuals suffering from complex trauma. The agency
also includes a family member in the treatment process. For the girl we are working on we
planned to have 10 sessions. The agency usually give a training to legal guardians of the victim
on parenting skill, how to treat an abused child and capacity building, so that the children can be
safe when they reunify with their family

Teamwork: The counselor allowed me to take part in designing the intervention plan. I was also
permitted to reflect any idea I can get to help the girl. After we have done with the intervention
plan the program coordinator will review the plan and approve it. Before the plan is implemented
the intervention plan designers (I and the counselor) had a discussion on the relevancy of the
intervention. It was a fruitful discussion.

Assigned task: I was assigned to review intervention plan that can best suit for sexually abused
children and reflect what I understand to the team. I was also given an assignment to study in
deep about cognitive behavioral therapy, group therapy and art therapy.

Observation regarding client system and service delivery: The agency takes great care in the
intervention plans it issues. If the client needs can be fulfilled with the offer of the agency, it will
be included in the intervention plan. If their need is beyond the capacity of the agency, the
organization uses its most effort to use its connection with other agencies to accommodate the
client in the best way the organization can. But if gets beyond all this IFSO takes great care not
to give false hope to the clients. As I observed the welfare of the children is of utmost
importance in any activities and decisions of the organization.
Administrative Assignments: As usual I was told not to use cell phone during the discussion, to
note down everything and reflect if I have any idea on the intervention.

Social work skill used: Today I have used social work skills to determine my clients’ needs and
wishes, and what action may be helpful. I have tried to build productive working relationships
and communicate effectively and use professional judgement, to come up with appropriate
interventions, promoting self-determination, support, protection and positive change.

Reflection about acquired social work knowledge, skills & attitude, strengths and weakness
of the agency with possible means of improving weakness

Skills: In order to plan an intervention I have learned that the skills I should develop. These are
communicate with compassion and authority in challenging situations, and be able to understand
and work effectively with negative responses, routinely explain and accountable for my
professional reasoning, judgements and decisions. I also should engage effectively with people in
complex situations, both short-term and when building productive relationships over time. I need
to gather information to inform judgement for interventions in complex situations and in
response to challenge or negative responses to my offer. I also have to use assessment procedures
discerningly to inform judgement, develop a range of interventions, use them effectively and
evaluate them in practice.

Knowledge: During the day I have learned that I should continue to expand my range of
intervention methods and demonstrate particular expertise in one or more specific methods
relevant to my work setting ,make timely decisions, actively support, initiate and co-produce in
the intervention plan can enhance my skill and knowledge on intervention design. I also learned
to demonstrate confident and effective judgement about risk and accountability in my decisions.

Attitude: As always I have gone to the agency in a presentable outfit. I managed my time
effectively. I was very flexible during the discussion we had with the counselor. I was open to
the comments given on my ideas.

Strength: The agency uses its outmost effort to come up with the best intervention plan to help
the children. The counselor and the program coordinator view the intervention plan based on the
assessment done during the intake and try to make it an information based plan. I believe that a
plan which is not based on an assessment will cause time, energy and financial waste. And also it
will not meet the need of the client. So I appreciated that they give an emphasis to this concern.

Weakness: I haven’t noticed any weakness during the day.

Alternative way of improving the weakness:

Activities planned for next day: The next day will be observing the legal process of a sexually
abused girl as she has an appointment on court.

Learning Achievement Approximately 90% of children in the shelter are victims of sexual
abuse. The perpetrators may be adults, adolescents, including siblings. The nature of the abuse
can vary from being physically violated to witnessing sexual activity.

What all victimized children do have in common is the violation of their bodies and appropriate
boundaries. The resulting loss is of trust in adults, either because they perpetrated the abuse or
failed to protect them from the abuse. Helping children heal and recover from the trauma of
sexual abuse takes time and patience and is most effective when both child and caregivers are
involved in the treatment process.

Because the greatest consequence of sexual abuse is the loss of trust in parental figures, effective
treatment must always integrate parents into the treatment process. The ways in which parents
respond to the child, the messages they give, the behaviors they model, their responses to the
child’s conflicted feelings and behaviors which result from being traumatized set the stage for
the child’s recovery. Effective interventions which are tailored to the youth’s developmental
level can help mitigate or even prevent some of the serious and enduring negative effects of
sexual abuse, including symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder. Cognitive Behavioral
Therapy is an empirically supported treatment model for sexually abused children.