27 Oct The DHSA is facing an audit of their service delivery practice by their funding partner. Your Line Manager, Sally, has asked you to ensure that the DHSA is compliant with the ACWA ethical guidelines. She knows that as a member of the Australian Community Workers Association (ACWA) who graduated from EQUALS International, you will have learnt how to interpret the ACWA’s ethical guidelines.

You have been appointed as a Case Manager at the Dodgy Human Services Agency (DHSA). 

The Agency’s values are “Client-Centred, Compassion, Integrity, Dignity and Inclusivity.”

The DHSA is facing an audit of their service delivery practice by their funding partner. Your Line Manager, Sally, has asked you to ensure that the DHSA is compliant with the ACWA ethical guidelines. She knows that as a member of the Australian Community Workers Association (ACWA) who graduated from EQUALS International, you will have learnt how to interpret the ACWA’s ethical guidelines. “Check us out,” Sally says, “and let me know what we are doing right, what we need to improve on, and anything that needs an urgent fix.” The good thing about joining a small agency was that there was going to be plenty of work for you to do. Already, on your first day, you had been handed three ongoing cases that you were to take over.

For each of the following scenarios, identify actions, behaviours, processes and/or procedures that are:

a) Compliant with ACWA Code of ethics( Mention the sections)

b) Problematic (According to which rule)

c) Breach of ACWA code of ethics ( Identify problem and recommend the solution to fix it)

d) Address any 1 or 2 values among 5 values of DHSA. ( Values are Client-centered, compassion, integrity, dignity, and inclusivity). 

For each aspect you identify, link it directly to one or more sections of the Code. Where you note a problem or urgent fix required, suggest an improvement, supported by the Code. You must also describe how the Agency’s values are or are not reflected in the scenario.

Note a problem, fix it, suggest an improvement as per ACWA Code of Ethics.

Scenarios (you must respond to each one):

SCENARIO-1

You don’t use Facebook vary much but Alice sent you a Friend request and, wanting to be a good colleague, you accepted it. Now you keep seeing pictures of Alice’s weekend partying! One picture surprised you because Betty is one of the people on the dance floor with Alice. When you ask her about this on Monday, she says she ran into Betty at the club and didn’t see any harm in being friendly. 

SCENARIO-2

Your 17-year-old client, Alex, is under “guardianship of the Minister” and wants you to arrange for them to leave foster care because her current foster carers will not accept her desire to transition from her birth gender (male) to her preferred gender identity (female). You have never delt with a transgender Law100 Assessment 1 youth before. When you ask your line manager about getting some professional development training, they tell you to “use Google like everyone else; there is no money or time to send staff on training days.” 

SCENARIO-3

Alex has just disclosed to you that one of her teachers has offered to take her on a weekend trip to Robe so that she can get away from the pressures of her foster family. Alex says she likes talking with this teacher and has met them for coffee at a café in Glenelg a couple of times and he seems really nice. When you tell her that you will need to report this teacher to the Department, she starts yelling at you because “this is unfair!” and “you said everything I told you would be confidential!”

REFERENCE FOR ACWA CODES:

https://www.acwa.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/ACWA-Code-of-Ethics-consultation-version.pdf