Sunday, May 2, 2010

social workers as street-level bureaucrats

"The street-level bureaucrat is in a position to interpret policy for the client, since the client may be unaware of the rules and parameters of any particular policy.

Street-level bureaucrats operate with extensive discretion and may interpret policy favorably or unfavorably for a particular client given a variety of factors including his or her own views of the policy, the explicit or implicit rewards existing in the workplace (e.g., pressure to close cases, focus on reducing risk to the agency), and personal biases, among other factors."

(From Training as a factor in policy implementation: Lessons from a National Evaluation of Child Welfare Training by Mary Elizabeth Collinsa, Maryann Amodeob, and Cassandra Clay)

Do clients know their rights to consent, confidentiality and treatment?

How well do we understand, interpret and inform clients about these rights?

If most of our clients are poor or minorities, is this a civil rights issue?

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