CHC42015 Certificate IV in Community Services

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Question:
Case studies
For the purpose of this assessment, you are a community services worker at Indigo, which is a virtual community service organisation created for students to help you become familiar with the policies, procedures and guidelines of a community service organisation.
You will find the website for this virtual organisation (Indigo) by clicking on this link.
To prepare for these case studies, you will need to read some of the documents on the Indigo Intranet. Further instructions are below.
Step 1
Once you are on the Indigo community services website, locate the “Intranet” on the top banner of the website. This is the internal part of the website for staff and is where you will find all of the necessary policies and procedures and other documents needed for this part of the assessment.
Step 2
When you are in the Indigo staff intranet portal – locate and read the following documents:

Indigo Code of Ethics(To locate this document, go to the Indigo Intranet Administration Click the folder to expand it and locate the Code of Ethics. This is a PDF document which you can then download.)
Indigo Position Description (PD) for a Community Services Worker(To locate this document, go the Indigo Intranet Administration Click the folder to expand it and locate the Position Description (PD). This is a PDF document which you can then download.)
Indigo Code of Conduct(To locate this document, go to the Indigo Intranet Policies and Procedures Click the folder to expand it and locate the Code of Conduct. This is a PDF document which you can then download.)

Step 3
After you have read the three documents above, answer the following case study questions, using the information in the above documents to guide your answers. Your answers should be brief and no more than 100 words for each question.
Part 1: Short answer questions
In this task, you are required to answer all ten (10) questions below.

Working in the community services industry involves dealing with a high volume of clients with complex needs and often without the appropriate resources and support. Describe the strategies you could use to assess and prioritise your workload in order to ensure tasks are completed in a timely manner.

Considering your role as a community worker, identify your relevant State/Territory and Commonwealth legislation and describe how it supports your work.

Seeking feedback from colleagues and your supervisor is important as it creates an opportunity to reflect on your progress and performance. It also shows that you are willing to make changes and you are eager to perform at your best. Describe the strategies you would use to seek, receive and analyse feedback in your role as a community services worker.

Describe two (2) strategies for assessing your learning and development needs. Select one (1) learning and development need you have identified, and create a SMART Goal. Then, describe how you will monitor your progress against this goal.

Complex client behaviour can sometimes be a result of stress. Identify two (2) behaviours that would indicate to you that a client is experiencing stress.

Grief and loss can contribute to stress. What are two (2) indicators that you (or a colleague or client) are experiencing stress from grief and loss?

Working in the community sector can be demanding. What are two (2) indicators that a worker is experiencing work-related stress?

What are two (2) work planning and prioritisation techniques?

All workers in Australia are entitled to general protections under the Fair Work Act 2009 (Commonwealth). Go to the Fair Work website and research and summarise these protections.

Identify one (1) self-care technique for each of the following:

Caring for your physical health.
Maintaining a work/life balance.
A complementary or alternative health option.

Case study 1
One of your colleagues has recently lost her partner and is now a sole parent to three children. You have seen her taking food from the kitchen in the afternoon before she goes home. The kitchen is stocked with food intended for service users who are homeless, and staff are regularly told that the food is not for staff to eat.

Refer to the Indigo Code of Conduct and identify how the conduct of the employee in the scenario above breaches the Indigo Code of Conduct. In your response, you need to state the section of the Indigo Code of Conduct that is being breached by the employee.

From the Indigo Intranet, locate the Policies and Procedures folder and identify which policy or procedure the organisation can use to take action against the employee as a result of this breach of the Indigo Code of Conduct.

Review the procedure you have identified in Question 2 and describe what you need to do as an employee as a result of witnessing this breach of the Code of Conduct by your colleague.

Your answers should include information about how you should document the information and who you should speak to about the breach of the Code of Conduct.

Case study 2
Alex, a regular service user, drops in to get some food. She has her eight year-old son with her. You notice that she appears to be affected by drugs as she is very slow and appears to keep “drifting off” and napping while you are talking with her. You know that she has a history of using drugs, in particular opioids, which are strong pain medications.
Identify at least two (2) Indigo policies and procedures from the Intranet that relate to this issue.
Referring to the appropriate policy from the policies you have identified in Question 1 above, describe how you would initially approach Alex about her apparent drug use and identify one (1) communication strategy you would use.
Considering that Alex has an eight year-old child with her, review the Indigo Child Protection Policy and the Child Protection Reporting Procedure to determine what your reporting responsibilities are.
Once you have used the Mandatory Reporter Guide (see following instructions on how to do this), answer questions (a) and (b) below.
Instructions for use of the NSW Mandatory Reporter Guide (MRG)
(If you live or work outside of NSW, please contact the teaching section to discuss whether to use the NSW MRG or your relevant State or Territory legislation.)
In NSW, mandatory reporters are required to use the NSW Mandatory Report Guide (MRG) to determine whether their concerns about a child or young person meet the threshold for reporting to the NSW Department of Communities and Justice (formerly FACS) Child Protection Helpline. To locate the MRG, go to the Online Mandatory Reporter Guide (MRG) site (Ctrl + Click to follow link), and read the instructions on the first page on how to use the MRG and select an appropriate Decision Tree.
Have a look at the MRG Decision Trees available for you to select based on your concern about Alex’s eight year-old child and:
Identify which MRG Decision Tree you would select to start with (you need to click on the definitions of the decision trees to make a decision) and read the Guide to selecting a decision tree (Ctrl + Click to follow link).
Start answering the questions in the decision tree about the information you have from the case study until you reach a decision point in the MRG.
Note: Before answering any questions, make sure that you have carefully read and understood the definition for each question on the right-hand side of the screen using the drop-down boxes. This is important because answering the MRG Decision Tree questions without carefully reading the definitions can change the outcome of the MRG. Remember that you can only answer the questions with the information that you have in the case study.
After you have finished answering all of the MRG questions in the Decision Tree, you will reach the MRG Decision outcome.
Answer the following two (2) questions:
Which MRG Decision Tree did you choose?
What was the outcome of the MRG and what actions do you need to take according to this MRG outcome?