Running head: PSYCHOSOCIAL ASSESSMENT

Psychosocial Assessment
Du0187
Wayne State University

PSYCHOSOCIAL ASSESSMENT

Psychosocial Assessment
Presenting Problem
Tara Jones is a single, 16 year-old, and African American woman. Her primary and
written language is English. No date of birth provided. Tara is frequent runaway; she has
runaway from various foster homes on several occasions. Client has no history of employment.
Therefore, Tara has no source of income. Tara has been mandated by Alberdene County Court, to
the Smith Center for Youth after running away from her third foster placement. Tara does not
want to live in the residential facility and would prefer to live with her maternal aunt, Sally
Johnson. However, Ms. Johnson is experiencing severe medical problems and cannot take care
of Tara. Although Tara didnt express her reasons for running away or any challenges occurring
in her life, she has still set goals for herself, until she reaches the age of 18, where she then ages
out of the foster care system. Tara has seen therapists prior to this session, throughout her past
foster care placements. Tara faces a myriad of personal challenges that have all been reported to
the Smith Center for Youth Intake and Therapist Reports, which date from January 12th to April
19, 2015; Smith Center will be closing in June due to decreased funding. The court magistrate
recommends Tara continue living in a residential setting called Tanner House, where Tara will
soon be transferred. Its the courts recommendation that she remain in a residential facility until
she reaches her eighteenth birthday.

Background Information

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Family History
Until Tara was 11 years old, she lived with her biological mother, Sharon and her two
siblings; an older brother Dan Jones and younger brother Theo Jones. Tara has no relationship or
contact with her biological father. Tara stated that she does not know the whereabouts of her
father and has not seen him since she was five. Tara describes her mother's neighborhood as the
"projects" and worried about gang violence while she lived there. Her mother forced her to leave
home at age 11, after Tara revealed that her older brother Dan Jones had been sexually abusing
her for three years. In addition, Taras biological mother refused to communicate with her after
the sexual allegations. From there, she went to live with her aunt Sally Johnson. Tara ran away
from Sallys home at age 13, where she then became a ward of the State and was placed into a
foster home. Tara lived with her first foster family for a year before running away from unknown
reasons. Tara was then placed in a second home and ran away after fifteen months. From there
Tara was then placed in her last foster home with her foster mom Judy Boot. Ms. Boot also had
two other foster children, Shonda age 14 and Charles age 12. Tara lived in a modest but adequate
home, in a lower middle class neighborhood with minimum crime. Ms. Boot perspective on Tara
is that she is kind, considerate, willing to help, and clean. Tara got along with children in the
neighborhood, school, and her foster siblings aside from common sibling arguments. Ms. Boot
believes that her and Tara got along until she started dating a older guy, Tyler, in the
neighborhood, which is the assumed reason of her final runaway, because Ms. Boots tried to
forbid Tara from dating Tyler.

Education

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Tara is currently a sophomore. Ms. Boot indicated that Tara enjoyed reading and social
science. She struggles with homework and did receive tutoring for her math and reading, at a
neighborhood community center while living with Ms. Boot. Tara attended the Alberdene School
System during her freshman and sophomore years. She did not take her final exams during her
freshman year and had to repeat her sophomore year. Tara was absent thirty times during her
freshman year primarily due to truancy, but her attendance has improved since she began her
sophomore year, particularly when she was placed in the Smith Center for Youth. Her current
GPA is 1.87. Her teachers note that she is respectful, kind towards her classmates, and
participates in classroom discussion. Employment History
Tara has no history of employment and worries about her future once she reaches the age
of 18. Tara expressed uncertainty about her future job interest.
Religious/ Spiritual Involvement
Taras is Baptist. She indicated that praying and going to church were helpful when she
felt sad.
Substance Use
Tara denies any consumption of alcohol or drug use. Her most recent foster mother, Ms.
Boots, reports that Tara returned home intoxicated a few times since she began dating her 25 year
old boyfriend Tyler.
Health Conditions
Tara was seen at the Alberdene Health Center for a physical. Her weight and blood
pressure were both normal. She test positive for gonorrhea and was provided with antibiotics.
She has noted two sexual partners: her older bother Dan and her boyfriend Tyler. Tara disclosed

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that her and Tyler are currently still active and dont use condoms. Client was offered birth
control, but declined it.
Military History
Tara has no military history and didnt discuss any future plans to join the military.
Psychological Functioning
When Tara becomes overwhelmed or stressed she shuts down instead of discussing the
issue at hand. Resulting in Tara running away or the avoidance of people. Tara has frequent
nightmares about being sexually abused by her older brother Dan and worries about her younger
brother Theo. She is angry with her mother for not wanting to participate in counseling sessions,
and her feeling are hurt that her mother didnt believe Dan had sexually abused her. Tara states
that she doesnt talk about her sexual abuse and hasnt since she disclosed this information to her
mother. Although on February 28th, an incident report from a resident worker Susie Patridge ,
stated that during support group Tara had disclosed that her brother had sexually abused her,
which lead to other issues within the resident home. In addition, Tara noted that her boyfriend
Tyler is controlling, and has been physical with her. Tara states that Tyler grabbed her wrist once
and pushed her down a flight of stairs.
Social, Community, Recreational
Tara is very social and has no problems in making friends. She notes that she
keeps in contact with old friends through social media. In addition, Tara expresses interest in art
and writing, and began using a journal to express her feelings.
Basic Life Necessities

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Tara currently lacks housing, income, resources and independent living skills. All of these
skills will be learned in our resident facility to properly prepare Tara for independent living once
she reaches the age of 18.
Legal Concerns
Tara is a known runaway. This resulted in her being denied from any further foster
homes. Its the courts recommendation that she remain in a residential facility until she reaches
her eighteenth birthday.
Assessment Process
To build rapport with client I would look for shared experiences or circumstances, which
would give us more to talk about. In addition, I would be conscious of my own body
language and other non-verbal communication that I could be sending to the client. Im aware
that we both come from the same ethnic background, which I could use my cultural competence
to further assist with the client and her concerns. To obtain relevant information to help conduct
an ecologically based assessment I would use a numerous of skills. First, being reaching for the
clients feedback. According to the text, this is an effort made by the worker to determine the
clients perception of his or her own needs. From there I would help in partializing the clients
concerns, which is helping the client break large and often overwhelming problems into
manageable parts (Shulman, 2008. Pg. 98) Lastly, I would reach inside of silence, which is
workers effort to explore the meaning of silence to better understand what the client is thinking
or feeling (Shulman, 2008. Pg. 121)

Personal Strengths & Weaknesses

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Tara is: kind, considerate, willing to help, and well kempt. Tara is also very social, makes
friends easily, and keeps in contact with old friends via social media. When Tara becomes
overwhelmed or stressed she shuts down instead of discussing the issue at hand. Resulting in
Tara running away or the avoidance of people. Tara expresses an interest in art and writing, and
began using a journal to express her feelings and cope. In addition to writing, praying and
attending church keeps Taras spirits high when she is feeling sad. Another personal weakness is
the unresolved anger that she holds towards her biological mother and older sibling. Tara needs
to enhance her communication skills, so she can properly express herself. She also needs to be
educated about health, sex and disease prevention.
Environmental Strengths & Weaknesses
Tara now has a place to call home, where she can feel safe and involved at the same time.
She has friends at this placement and old friends, which can serve as a support system for her. At
Smith Center, Tara can participate in Support Groups, which can be extremely beneficial for her
because theyre made up of people who can relate to her circumstances, which will keep her
from feeling alone or sad. In addition, she now has access to a health center, which will improve
self-care. Another benefit of her environment is her attendance at school has improved since her
placement at Smith Center, which can ultimately result in a higher GPA, which is currently a
1.87.
A weakness of this environment could stem from Tara being such a socialite, which could
cause distractions to her on focusing on self and goals. Tara has co-occurring behavioral and
emotional issues due to suppressed feelings and communication between her bother and mother:
these are issues that need to be handle to better help client. Furthermore, Tyler plays a big role in
Taras life, which is also another distraction, and can affect her overall self due to the control and

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physical issues. The huge weakness within this environment is that Smith Center lacks adequate
funding and will be closing, forcing Tara to transfer to a larger facility.
Targets and Goals
Tara has a history of sexual abuse with her older brother in which she has not addressed.
She lacks proper communication skills and effective ways to deal with her emotions. . Tara is
currently dating Tyler, who is 25, which is 9 years older than her. She stated that he is controlling
and has grabbed her wrists and thrown her down stairs before.
(The underlying issue is the sexual abuse that occurred with her older brother Dan.)
1. Mirco-Level Practice Goals
Tara can receive individual counseling for the healing of victims of sexual
assault.
2. Mezzo-Level Practice Goals
Tara could participate in support groups or attend awareness classes.
3. Macro-Level Practice Goals
Focuses on aspects of the community: Grant writing to implement new
policies and funding for residential living.
Preliminary Intervention
All three levels of interventions have an effective treatment plan for the client. The
interventions are all culturally competent and fit with the social work values for dealing with a
survivor of sexual abuse. On a micro level, its best that Tara receives one on one counseling
services for sexually assaulted victims to help start her healing process. Active listening is a great
skill for one on one counseling, which deals with listening for meaning of message. On a
mezzo-level the group participation would allow Tara to receive validation, normalization,
multiple sources of ideas and ways to cope. A great skill for group wok is contracting, which
clarifies the purpose of group and many expectations. On a macro level, creating better funding
and policies for local organizations/residential living to assist the vulnerable population of the

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sexually abused is a resource to the community. A skill for macro would be community building.
All three interventions show the importance of human relationships and service. The purposes of
these interventions are to strengthen relationships among individuals, families, and communities.
From the macro standpoint, families who are surrounded by a supportive community with proper
resources to help create a safer and better society are less affected by social problems than those
who dont have the support or resources.
Reflection on Ethics
One mezzo ethical issue that Tara faced was confidentiality within her support group.
Another resident disclosed personal information about Tara to a friend during visiting hours. The
role of the practioner in this case is to remind members of the support group in the beginning of
each session the importance and meaning of confidentiality.
A micro ethical issue that Tara faced was the failure to report. When Tara disclosed that
Tyler had grabbed her wrist once and pushed her down a flight of stairs, this information was not
reported. As the practitioner one should have reported this incident because of the well-being of
the client (NASW, 2008).

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Reference

Shulman, L. (2012). The Skills of Helping Individuals, Families, Groups, and Communities.
New York: Brooks/Cole CENGAGE Learning.

Workers, N. A. (2008). NASW Code of Ethics. Retrieved from

http://www.socialworkers.org/pubs/code/default.asp