She explained to the administrator how she and her staff reviewed their profession’s code of ethics and consulted with an outside ethics expert.
Belinda’s efforts were successful; although there was some tension when Belinda spoke with the administrator, the administrator listened carefully, asked hard questions, engaged in some debate, and concluded by saying that she would share Belinda’s concerns with appropriate senior administrators in the department and legal counsel.
In extreme cases, social workers may need to consider notifying appropriate outside agencies, such as the governor’s office, an advocacy organization, or the media.
One morning, Belinda received a memo from an agency administrator instructing her and her clinical staff to notify the administrator whenever staff discovered that a juvenile resident of the facility was an undocumented immigrant in the United States illegally.
3 Belinda Lima was a clinical social work supervisor at a juvenile correctional facility operated by the county child welfare agency.
As a matter of principle, social workers have an obligation to ensure that employers are familiar with ethical standards in social work.
According to the National Association of Social Workers (NASW) and of the implications of those obligations for social work practice” (standard 3.09[c]).