Texas Homeless Education Office

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Texas HomelessEducation Office
The University of Texas at AustinCharles A. Dana
Center2901 N IH 35, Room 2.200Austin, Texas
78722

• 1-800-446-3142
• http//www.utdanacenter.org/theo

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Ethical considerations in working with homeless

• youth and families

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Ethical Considerations for Working with Homeless
Youth Families

• AGENDA
• Identify the what and why of ethics
• Identify common ethical standards in working with
  homeless youth families
• Identify common ethical issues when working
  with homeless youth families
• Identify possible solutions

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YOUTH ARE HOMELESS

• Runaway, pushed out,
• and unaccompanied youth
• are a growing proportion of
• children in homeless situations
• They often know what they are running from, but
  have no realistic idea of what they
• are running to.

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YOUTH ARE HOMELESS

• Runaway, pushed out,
• and unaccompanied youth
• are a growing proportion of
• children in homeless situations
• They often know what they are running from, but
  have no realistic idea of what they
• are running to.

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What are some of the ethical considerations when
working with the youth in this video?

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Common situations that have ethical implications
when working with youth

• Meeting with youth in non-traditional settings
• Mistaking friendship for appropriate trust
  building
• Keeping Confidentiality to whom to tell what?
  When the youth says Dont tell anyone.
• Reporting abuse and neglect concerns for youth
  safety
• Reporting runaway concerns for youth safety
• Addressing risky behaviors if you do, will they
  leave?
• Giving Money, taking kids home, leaving youth in
  unsafe setting
• Failing to report or to act on information shared
• Dealing with I only trust you with certain
  information

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Common considerations that have ethical
implications when working with youth

• Dissonance when your values differ from those of
  your client, your agency, your professional
  licensure, society at large. Example abortion,
  HIV services, GLBT, etc.
• Confidentiality issues with confidentiality
  that can particularly occur within residential,
  street, and home-based settings - who should be
  present when a home visit is occurring? What
  happens when other residents overhear information
  about a particular client? How do different
  agencies safeguard against this? Who needs to
  know which information?
• Referral how to access other services for a
  client, without sharing confidential information?
  How to know when to access a referral, and how
  much information to share?
• Boundaries are frequent issues within
  residential, community, and home- based
  settings, and when working with unaccompanied
  youth.
•  

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Common considerations that have ethical
implications when working with youth

• Agency or professional policies and/or practices
  that are particularly helpful in addressing
  ethics conflicts.
• Do no harm Understanding competencies What
  tells social workers that they are working beyond
  their competence?
• Dual Relationships business, social, relative,
  friends, etc.
• Language What workers see and what they say
  frames the work for possibilities or barriers
  labels, or enables the client.
• Informed consent self consent for unaccompanied
  youth? At what age?
• Crisis work what happens when you are in crisis
  mode? Does business as usual go out the door
  and what does this mean for ethical  
• When are practitioners crossing ethical lines?
  When are boundaries fluid and when are they
  rigid? What information is too much to share,
  and what is not enough? Who does the youth
  worker look to for guidance in making ethical
  decisions in his/her work? How do crisis
  situations challenge ethical standards?
  Reporting, trust loss if you do when safety and
  rapport building seem to be at odds.
•  

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What Are Professional Ethics?While the law
establishes a minimum standard proscribing policy
and practice, ethics defines the ideal
intellectual approach to moral issues
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Professional ethics is not synonymous with
personal morality or governmental regulation it
is the organized and systematic articulation of
child and youth care values and their application
to the issues encountered in practice. Martha
A. Mattingly, University of Pittsburg
What Are Professional Ethics?
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What Are Professional Ethics?

• Professional ethics include
• Core values those absorbed from our family and
  culture, and those developed from life experiences

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What Are Professional Ethics?

• Professional ethics include
• Core values - those absorbed from our family and
• culture, and those developed from life
  experiences
• Ideals towards which the profession
• strives i.e. safety and well-being of
• children and youth

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What Are Professional Ethics?

• Professional ethics include
• Core values - those absorbed from our family and
• culture, and those developed from life
  experiences
• Ideals towards which the profession
• strives for example safety and well-being of
• children and youth
• Standards of professional conduct for
• example to never intentionally do harm

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What Are the Benefits of Adherence to
Professional Ethics?

• Protection of a vulnerable clientele
• Protection of the professional who no longer
  stands alone in the face of difficulty, but
  stands with the profession

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Why should programs serving youth families be
interested in ethical considerations?
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Why should programs serving youth be interested
in ethical considerations?
Professional ethics can be thought of as
representing the values of child and youth care
to which the field holds a common commitment.
When working with youth this is a commitment to
protect, nurture, and enhance the well-being of
children and youth. Thus we must
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Why should programs be interested in ethical
standards when working with youth?

• Professional ethics can be thought of as
  representing the values of child and youth care
  to which the field holds a common commitment.
  When working with youth this is a commitment to
  protect, nurture, and enhance the well-being of
  children and youth. Thus we must
• understand their vulnerability

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Why should programs be interested in ethical
standards when working with youth?

• Professional ethics can be thought of as
  representing the values of child and youth care
  to which the field holds a common commitment.
  When working with youth this is a commitment to
  protect, nurture, and enhance the well-being of
  children and youth. Thus we must
• understand their vulnerability
• understand whether current practices do no harm

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Why should programs be interested in ethical
standards when working with youth?

• Professional ethics can be thought of as
  representing the values of child and youth care
  to which the field holds a common commitment.
  When working with youth this is a commitment to
  protect, nurture, and enhance the well-being of
  children and youth. Thus we must
• understand their vulnerability
• understand whether current practices do no harm
• understand the impact of staff attitudes and
  behavior, agency policy and governmental policy
  and regulation

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Why should programs be interested in ethical
standards when working with youth?

• Professional ethics can be thought of as
  representing the values of child and youth care
  to which the field holds a common commitment.
  When working with youth this is a commitment to
  protect, nurture, and enhance the well-being of
  children and youth. Thus we must
• understand their vulnerability
• understand whether current practices do no harm
• understand the impact of staff attitudes and
  behavior, agency policy and governmental policy
  and regulation
• understand challenging conflicts in the core
  values and standards of care

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Common Ethical Principles

• Beneficence provide for the good of the client
  with at the least doing no harm, doing what is
  in the best interests of the client
• Appropriate Boundaries
• No dual relationships
• No personal gain
• Appropriate service

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Common Ethical Principles

• Autonomy Self Determination
• Justice Fairness, impartiality, cultural
  competence
• Competence provide only those services the
  professional is competent to provide

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Common Ethical Issues with Youth

• Consent?
• Confidentiality?
• Who is the client?

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Common Ethical Issues with Youth

• Record keeping documentation
• Boundaries
• Trust building

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Ethical Practices Concerns

• Allowing youth self determination
• Addressing unsafe behavior
• Contacting parent or guardian

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Ethical Practices Concerns

• Sharing information with schools, CPS, other
  service providers
• Maintaining boundaries and trust building
• Non-traditional settings

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Know Pertinent Federal and State Laws and
Regulations

• Texas Family Code
• Texas Health and Safety Code
• Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA)
• Health Insurance Portability and Accountability
  Act (HIPAA)

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Know Professional Ethical Codes

• Social Work
• Licensed Professional Counselor
• Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist
• Licensed Psychologist
• Licensed Chemical Dependency Counselor

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When are laws and regulations in conflict with
professional ethics and/or agency policy and
procedures?

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When are all three in conflict with personal
values and morals?

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Choosing an Ethical Decision Making Model
Does the model used take all these factors into
consideration?
What are the legal considerations?
Do my own personal values conflict with legal,
agency or professional standards?
Are professional ethics and agency policy in
conflict?
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Using a Model

• Without a model

• A model

• No uniformity each decision stands on its own
  and is less defensible

• Is uniformly applied to all situations

• May or may not be a logical and articulated
  decision making process

• Provides for a logical and articulated
  decision-making process

• May feel on your own in making a decision

• Provides guidance in the process

• Provides a structure for documentation

• Documentation may be haphazard

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Example of an Ethical Decision-Making Model
Essential Steps for Ethical Problem Solving 1.
Determine whether there is an ethical issue
and/or dilemma. Is there a conflict of values or
rights or professional responsibilities? For
instance there may be an issue of
self-determination of an adolescent vs the well
being of the family. 2. Identify the key
values and principles involved. What meanings
and limitations are typically attached to these
competing values? For example, rarely is
confidential information held in absolute
secrecy, however, typically decisions about
access by third parties to sensitive content
should be contracted with clients.
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Essential Steps for Ethical Problem Solving 3.
Rank the values or ethical principles, which
in your professional judgment are most relevant
to the issue or dilemma. What reasons can you
provide for prioritizing one competing
value/principle over another? For example, your
clients right to choose a beneficial course of
action could bring hardship or harm to others who
would be affected. 4. Develop an action
plan that is consistent with the ethical
priorities that have been determined as central
to the dilemma. Confer with colleagues and
supervisors about potential risks and
consequences of alternative courses of action.
Can you support or justify your action plan with
values/principles on which the plan is based?
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Essential Steps for Ethical Problem Solving 5.
Implement your plan, utilizing the most
appropriate practice skills and competencies.
How will you use core skills such as sensitive
communication, skillful negotiation, and cultural
competence? For example, skillful colleague or
supervisory communication and negotiation may
enable an impaired colleague to see her/his
impact on clients and to take appropriate
action. 6. Reflect on the outcome of this
ethical decision making process. How would you
evaluate the consequences of this process for
those involved Clients, professionals,
agencies? Increasingly, professionals have begun
to seek support, further professional training
and consultation through the development of
Ethics Review Committees or Ethics Consultation
processes.
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• Ranking ethical principles a higher level
  principle is more compelling than one based on a
  lower ranked principle
• The principle of protection of life
• The principle of equality and inequality
• The principle of autonomy and freedom
• The principle of least harm
• The principle of quality of life
• The principle of privacy and confidentiality
• The principle of truthfulness and full disclosure
• Lowenberg, F.M. Dolgoff, R. (1992) Ethical
  Decisions for Social Work Practice, 4th ed.,
  Itasca, Ill F.E. Peacock Publishers, Inc.

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Situations/Dilemmas

• Work as a group
• Use the model and worksheet
• Work the steps
• Identify the
• ethical principles
• ethical issues
• ethical practices and concerns

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Contact Information

• Hotline [phone]
• Jeanne Stamp 512-475-6898
• jeannestamp_at_mail.utexas.edu
• www.utdanacenter.org/theo