Unit 4 Project: Baby Kim Case Study
Debra Anderson
Kaplan University

HN144-05: Human Behavior and the Environment
Professor Beverly Adams
November 8, 2010

The ethical standards that relate directly to the Baby Kim Case are the entire list statements, numbers one through nine. As a human service professional you will need to make it clear to your clients the purpose, goals, and natures of the relationship prior to starting services and negotiate with them an acceptable plan, as well as inform them of the limits of the relationship. As a human service professional you will respect the integrity and welfare of the client at all times. Each client is treated with respect, acceptance and dignity. Clients should be treated as you would want to be treated yourself in these circumstances. Clients are more open to accept help from someone they feel is not judging them or looking down on them. Human service professionals will protect the client's right to privacy and confidentiality except when such confidentiality would cause harm to the client or others, when agency guidelines state otherwise, or under other stated conditions. Human service professionals inform clients of the limits of confidentiality prior to the onset of the beginning of services. Confidentiality must be respected to ensure trust and to maintain the client’s rights, except when they are endangering others with their actions. If it is suspected that harm or danger will occur to others due to the client’s behavior the human service provider will act in a professional manner to protect the safety of those affected. This may involve breaking confidentiality and consulting others, or supervision of the client. A human service provider must have the client’s written consent before sharing information, except with other professionals; the clients safety, integrity, and security of the client’s records must be protected at all times. The power and status relationships between the human service worker and the client are unequal. Dual relationships could increase the risk of harm to, or exploitation of, clients, and may impair their professional judgment. Unless it is impossible in your community social contact with the client should be avoided. Sexual with current or past clients is prohibited. The client has the right to refuse services and their right to self-determination is protected by human service professionals. A human service professional recognize the client’s strengths and tries to build on them; this will build their self-esteem and help with their recovery. The statements that might be challenging for a human service professional working with the Baby Kim family would be statement numbers two, three, and four. It would be difficult deciding what behaviors were harmful to others, or what might occur due to their behaviors. The parents’ drug use may be endangering their children remaining in the home. As a human service professional you may have to seek consultation to determine what is best for the family while ensuring their rights; you may have to break the confidentiality and privacy of the relationship. It would be hard to respect, accept, and treat the clients due to their drug use and endangering their children. As a human service provider I would treat Kim’s family with the utmost respect, and acceptance and dignity. People are more apt to be open to and accept help from someone they relate to, not someone they feel looks down on them and does not understand them. I would treat all of my clients the way I would want to be treated myself; with respect and dignity. You need to have empathy for your clients, and try and understand their problems and what had brought them to you. Often mother’s who have children that have failure to thrive were neglected or had bad relationships with their own mothers, but the cycle needs to be broken. Mothers who have babies who have failure to thrive can be taught to swaddle the babies, hold a pacifier, and feed them (Ashford, LeCroy, & Lortie, 2009). The children were placed in foster care due to the parents’ drug use. Baby Kim was born 4 weeks early and tested positive for crystal methamphetamines. Kim had agreed with the case worker to put her younger son in day care, but when the worker came to sign the boy up, the grandmother refused to let him go. This violated the agreement that had been reached prior to services beginning. Preschool programs focus on cognitive, academic, social, and emotional development of children. They learn to respect and cooperate with adults and people in authority, but not to fear them (Ashford, LeCroy, & Lortie, 2009, p. 239). The children were placed in foster care for their own safety and well being. Even though the oldest child does well in school it may be his way of covering up his parents’ drug use. A child of drug users may excel in school making them invisible is some ways. Their parents may consider them as proof that their drug use is not harmful; emotional wounds can be invisible. The better they perform the less questions will be asked (Drug Endangered Child Training Network, 2008). I think Kim’s family should be kept together by social services. Infants who move from one foster home to another can form attachment problems. When children are not loved consistently they are unable to love as teens, and show lack of empathy, disregard for life, delinquency. Early deprivation of a consistent caregiver can affect cognitive, emotional, and social development (Ashford, LeCroy, & Lortie, 2009, p. 239). Child protection workers must make immediate decisions on limited data. The child’s safety must be ensured, but the rights of the parents and children involved must be protected. Workers making child placement decisions are faced with keeping the family together or protecting the child. Human service providers must determine the nature and severity of child maltreatment and the further risk to the child. The information is used to decide what services are needed and what services are available, as well as the intervention’s chances of a successful outcome (Ashford, LeCroy, & Lortie, 2009).

References
Ashford, J.B., LeCroy, C.W., & Lortie, K.L. (2009). The social environment and human behavior. Mason, OH: Cengage Learning.
Drug Endangered Child Training Network (2008). Retrieved November 8, 2010 from www.drugendangeredchild.org