PROCESS RECORDING

Student's Name:

Tori Rolston

Field Placement Site: Hands Across The Water

Date Submitted:

2/10/2015

Please use this form provided by the Office of Field Education for process recordings.
An introduction needs to be provided at the beginning of the process recording. The introduction
includes:
A.
B.
C.
D.
E.
F.

Client name (use a pseudonym and identify it as such)

Age of the client
Marital/Relationship status of the client
Occupation/Education of the client
Number of times you have seen client prior to this session/contact
Goals for the session/contact

In the body of the process recording:

A. Dialogue needs to be the exact dialogue as the student remembers it. It will read like a
script for a play.
B. Feelings need to be your FEELINGS not what you THINK is going on with your
client.
C. Analysis will:
1. Identify your understanding of what is going on with your consumer.
2. Identify the skill you are using in a particular response.
3. Explain the reason for selecting that skill or intervention at that point.
4. Explain where you are heading with this client.

5. Self-evaluate the effectiveness of the skill or intervention used.

6. Identify what might work better in the future, if the current intervention did not
work.
7. Include anything else you think might be relevant to your consumer or your
skill development.
At the end of the process recording, provide an evaluation of your overall skill during the
session.
A. How do you see yourself as being effective during the session?
B. What skills would you like to improve?
C. What questions do you have for the reader so you can receive feedback on your skills?
(Note: General questions are not acceptable they must be specific questions and
they must have depth).

Field
Instructor's
Comments

Dialogue

Your
Feelings
Must be
your feelings
only. The
rest belongs
in Analysis.

good for you to Client's Name: James

attend court
(pseudonym)
Age: 3 years

Excited

I enjoy attending court with

workers and gaining
knowledge about work
outside of the office. I look
forward to observing
interactions between workers,
judges, and lawyers as well as
how the case worker handles
various situations. I was also
excited for this hearing as I
have previously observed
interactions with individual
involved with this case.

Interested

I found it interesting that

there were representatives
from the tribe present for this

James is a three year old

child who has been removed
from the care of his parents
and has been placed into a
relative foster care placement
with his maternal aunt. This
recording will discuss a court
hearing held in regards to
James and his placement.

We have a
binder of
ICWA rules if

Participating in this hearing

were the case worker from
our agency, the lawyer

Analysis
Identify the type of response you
make and your reason for selecting
it. State what you think the client
is feeling or thinking. Evaluate
your skills.

interested in
reviewing

representing the biological

mother, the guardian ad litem
representing the best interests
of the child, and the
prosecuting attorney. Due to
the Native American roots
held by this client, this case is
considered an Indian Child
Welfare Act (ICWA) case
and therefore, a child
protection worker and an
attorney from the tribe are
present at the hearing as well.
Prior to the hearing these
individuals met to discuss the
case to ensure all parties were
aware of the others concerns
and attempt to come to an
agreement before going in
front of the judge.

case. I have learned a bit

about ICWA and its laws
through my social work
classes, but I had not had any
direct involvement with these
laws. I was interested to
observe this case and learn
more about ICWA laws and
proceedings.

good
observation

Court Recorder: On the

Anxious
matter of James Smith*, Case
Number 1234.

I was anxious to see how the

mom and aunt would react to
the discussion of a new
placement. The proposed
placement is a larger distance
from the mother and I was
curious to see how she would
react to the proposal of a new
placement. I enjoyed how the
lawyer made sure to get
everyone's opinion.

Judge: Hello everyone. Last

time we discussed James
placement. Is there any new
information or concerns to
address?
Prosecutor: Yes your honor.
We originally discussed and
agreed upon placement into
the home of James' maternal
aunt. This is where he has
been residing; however, we
now believe that perhaps his
needs could be better cared
for in a different placement.
Judge: Okay. What would
you like to propose for
placement then?

Prosecutor: We are proposing

that James be moved to his
paternal grandmothers home.
She resides in Dowagiac near
the tribe and James will be
able to receive tribe services
so he will be able to continue
with the services he has
started her with the aunt. He
will also remain with a
relative as the family hoped.
Judge: What I would like to
do now is hear from the other
parties involved regarding
their concerns and feelings
about this option. Let's start
with the mother's lawyer.

*pseudonym

Good for you to

see how
important a
good worker
reputation is in
court

Mother's lawyer: Hello your Interested

honor. My client is feeling
more comfortable with this
situation after discussing it
with everyone; have some
concerns regarding her parent
visits should her son move to
the grandmother's home.
Dowagiac would require
three hours of travel for my
client and given her current
situation she cannot transport
herself and therefore,
transportation is an issue. It
sounds as though we will be
able to make this work with
the help of other parties
involvement. The case
worker has stated that her
agency may be able to assist

I was interested with how this

case was going to unfold. I
had shadowed the case
worker on this case before
and therefore, had some
knowledge about it prior to
this hearing. I was still a bit
anxious to see how everyone
would react and what each
party would have to say.
Things ended up working out
better than I had anticipated,
with all parties being
cooperative and compliant. It
seemed that everyone was
willing to do all they could to
make this situation work for
James.

with transportation. While

this is not the ideal situation
for my client, she
understands that it may be
what is best for her son at the
current time and she is
willing to do everything she
can to make it work. With
that being said, my client is
compliant with this
placement option.
Judge: Thank you. I would
now like to hear from the
tribal attorney.
Tribal attorney: Hello your
honor. As the prosecuting
attorney discussed we were
originally in agreement with
the placement into the
maternal aunt's home;
however, James' needs seem
to be out matching this
placement. It is our belief
thay James will benefit
greatly from this new
placement. He will have
access to tribal services
which are in close proximity
to the placement. The
grandfather was the actual
tribe member and he has
unfortunately passed away
recently; however, the
grandmother is very familiar
with tribe services and will
be able to offer much help to
James. Therefore, we feel
that James would benefit
from a placement with his
paternal grandmother.
Judge: Thank you. Let's hear
from the guardian ad litem.

Guardian ad litem: Thank

you your honor. I believe that
this placement could prove
very beneficial for my client.
I want to look at it not as a
negative, but rather a
positive. James is not losing
family, but rather is gaining
new family with his
grandmother and the tribe
members. I believe that it
will be important for James
to still see his aunt, perhaps
she can serve as a respite
caregiver. But I believe that
adding more family ties can
only benefit James, he will be
gaining more relationships.
With the help of everyone I
feel that we can make this
work, gaining new
relationships for James while
still maintaining the other
ones with aunt, cousins, and
mom. If he can maintain
these contacts, then I see
nothing but positive results
from this shift in placement.
Judge: Wonderful. Thank
you. Lastly, I would like to
hear from the case worker
regarding a placement
change.(To case worker):
This change in placement
won't take you from us, will
it? Because I believe that you
are an asset to this case.
Case worker: Thank you your
honor. No, I don't believe that
placement change will be a
problem. I think with
everyone involved we can
make this work and keep me
involved with the case.

Judge: Wonderful. I have

really enjoyed working with
you on this case and your
commitment to this case and
its ICWA roots is amazing.
You have met with and
engaged with the tribe
regularly and seem truly
committed to ICWA laws
and regulations, which I feel
is most important.

Case worker: Thank you your

honor. It has been a pleasure
working with you as well.

good

Judge: I think we should go

ahead with the new
placement then. Any other
concerns to address?

Happy

Prosecutor: Yes. We wanted

to ask you when you would
like the placement to take
place. Would you like it to
happen immediately or can
we transition into it?
Judge: I think we can
transition into it, it doesn't
need to happen immediately.
Prosecutor: Okay, thank you.

Click to add segment

Provide an evaluation of your overall skill during the session.

I was happy to see that the

proposal for this new
placement worked out and
everyone was compliant with
the request.

Once again, throughout this observation I implemented active listening and critical thinking in
order to gain the most I could from this observation. I also noticed that the worker in this case
implemented the skill of interpretation when discussing the case of James and what she believed
to be the best decision based on her prior work with this case.
How do you see yourself as being effective during the session? What skills would you like to
improve?
I feel that I effectively listened to the hearing and made attempts to think critically about the
information being presented and decisions being made. I was not able to implement a plethora of
skills as an observer and therefore, do not see much need for improvement.
What questions do you have for the reader so you can receive feedback on your skills?
(Note: General questions are not acceptable they must be specific questions and they must
have depth).
Do workers and lawyers typically try to discuss the matter before the hearing to come to a
consensus? Is this expected?
Please identify the theory/theoretical perspective(s) or intervention model that you used in
your work with this client/client system. In order to demonstrate your understanding of the
application of theory to social work practice, please identify and explain the specific theorybased interventions you used with the client/client system. Discuss why you used each
intervention.
The parties seemed to implement strengths perspective as they discussed the options available
for James and the benefits that did and could come from the various options.
Faculty Advisor Comments
Good work
Student Signature: (Rolston, Tori): Tori Rolston Feb 10, 2015 2:24 PM
Field Instructor Signature: (Nelson, Kathleen): Kathleen Nelson Feb 11, 2015 4:59 PM
Faculty Advisor Signature: (Glenn, Tammie): Tammie B. Glenn

Feb 11, 2015 7:58 PM