Continuing education
Ethical Practice: Working with Children and Families in a Dynamic Context
A continuing education activity presented by the VCU School of Social Work. This program is designed for social workers and their community partners.
- Course description and objectives
- Agenda
- Program session
- About the facilitators
- Cost and registration
Course description and objectives
This six-hour workshop focuses on the ethical principles of self-determination, confidentiality and boundaries when working with children and their families. Contemporary issues are emphasized, challenging individual values and typical professional pitfalls in the organizational context. The current ethics environment and issues of practitioner leadership will be explored. The workshop is interactive, encouraging participants to recognize the grey areas that typically result from ethical dilemmas.
By the end of the workshop, participants will:
- Be able to identify the difference between their personal values and professional values and the underlying ethical principles and filters.
- Be able to identify instances in which self-determination may be jeopardized.
- Be able to identify the signs of boundary violations and understand the trends in boundary violation cases brought before ethics committees.
- Be able to identify the typical causes of confidentiality breaches and understand limits related to mandated reporting and the Tarasoff decision.
- Recognize the characteristics of a profession and the importance of ethical practice, external boards of review, and how ethical practice can be integrated into daily practice through supervision and staff strategies.
Category I contact hours: 6
Continuing education units: 0.6
Agenda
9-9:45 a.m.
Welcome and Introductions
Introduction to Ethical Practice
Values vs. Ethics
9:45-10:30 a.m.
Boundaries
10:30-10:45 a.m.
Break
10:45 a.m.-noon
Confidentiality and Tarasoff Decision
Noon-1 p.m.
Lunch
1-2:30 p.m.
Organizational Issues
2:30-2:45 p.m.
Break
2:45-3:30 p.m.
Ethical Decision Making Process
3:30-4 p.m.
Closing and Evaluation
Program session
March 5, 2009
9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
VCU University Student Commons — Commonwealth A
907 Floyd Avenue
Richmond, Virginia 23284
Phone: (804) 828-1981
About the facilitators
Karen S. Rotabi, Ph.D., is an assistant professor at the VCU School of Social Work. She has worked for a number of years in the child protection field, focusing on permanency planning, adoption and family maltreatment prevention. Rotabi has worked for both county social services in South Carolina and the United States Air Force Family Advocacy Program in England. Rotabi’s experience working for the Air Force includes work in family support programs during the conflict in Kosovo. She is trained in critical incident stress management, marriage enrichment and parenting skills education. Rotabi has worked in or provided technical assistance to a variety of international programs, including a child health project in Guatemala, a children’s home in Belize and military social services in Europe. Among her current research interests is the implementation of the Hague Convention in the U.S. and Guatemala. She is currently a Hague Evaluator for the Council on Accreditation. She received her Ph.D. at the University of North Carolina and her master’s degrees in social work and public health at the University of South Carolina. Rotabi conducted numerous workshops on ethics throughout the state of North Carolina before joining the faculty of VCU.
Carmen Monico, M.S., is a graduate research assistant at the VCU School of Social Work working with Rotabi on research about foster care and intercountry adoption. She holds an M.S. from American University and is currently a student in the M.S.W. and Ph.D. social work programs at VCU. She has worked as an advocate and community organizer in refugee assistance and humanitarian relief in both the U.S. and Central America. She also has been engaged in developing and monitoring ethical standards within and among non-profit organizations. She is interested in integrating ethics in policymaking and social work practice.
Cost and registration*
- Regular: $110
- Student: $55
- Senior: $85
- VCU faculty and field instructor: $85
- Agency group of three or more: $85 each
* Includes lunch.
Registration opens Feb. 13, 2009.
Please register online at www.pubinfo.vcu.edu/conf/socialwork/register.asp.
Registration closes on March 3, 2009 at 9 a.m.
Participants may register for CEUs by completing a CEU registration form and making a check payable to the VCU School of Social Work in the amount of $15 on the day of the event. No cash or credit cards will be accepted for this purpose.
Questions?
Contact Angela Basmajian at (804) 828-0403 or sswce@vcu.edu.