Introduction
The targeted social services agency for this exercise is the Social Services Agency of County of Santa Clara. This is a culturally sensitive organization that provides professional, protective, and financial services to the people of Santa Clara. The workers in the organization focus on the needs of adults, elderly citizens, and children. Employment opportunities are also available to more people (County of Santa Clara, 2017). The agency provides food assistance and health coverage to many patients in the county. Cases of child abuse, adoption, and domestic violence are also addressed by this agency.
Cultural sensitivity
Santa Clara is one of the diverse counties in the country. The county has Hispanics, African Americans, and whites (County of Santa Clara, 2017). That being the case, the agency trains and empowers its workers to support the needs of these diverse communities. Training usually focuses on self-reflection in an attempt to prevent employees from imposing their values. According to the agency’s management, the maintenance of cultural sensitivity and boundaries can promote the effective provision of human services. Whenever focusing on the needs of different community members, workers are empowered to embrace the power of alternative healing practices and avoid their personal biases. The issue of mental health is treated differently by members of the community. However, workers believe that individuals with mental problems can lead better lives with adequate social support. Such issues are therefore taken seriously throughout the training process. The issue of ethics is considered to ensure the professionals meet the diverse needs of the targeted clients (Diller, 2015).
Cultural sensitivity is what drives the performance of this agency. Assessments are not biased in terms of linguistic accessibility in the institution. The role of interpreters is to ensure culturally competent care is available to clients from diverse backgrounds. These initiatives explain why the ethics training program supports the agency’s goals (Diller, 2015). The religious beliefs, ethical values, and rights of the community members are always taken seriously.
Some professionals might decide to violate the guidelines outlined by the agency. One of the violations in the agency occurred when a given worker established a romantic relationship with his client. The human services worker also violated the guidelines outlined by the NOHS (County of Santa Clara, 2017). To deal with the violation, the leaders in the agency established a disciplinary committee to analyze the issue. The professional and the client were questioned to understand the issue clearly. The committee came up with a decision aimed at resolving the problem. The human services worker was cautioned and requested to avoid such malpractices in the future. The client received the best emotional support from the organization.
References
Corey, G., Corey, S., Corey, C., & Callanan, P. (2015). Issues and ethics in the helping professions, updated with 2014 ACA codes. Boston, MA: Brooks/Cole Cengage Learning.
County of Santa Clara. (2017). Social Services Agency.
Diller, V. (2015). Cultural diversity: A primer for human services. Stamford, CT: Cengage Learning.