Working With Toya

A social worker has the ability to view the client from a multifaceted lens, person in environment. The capacity to do so will guide school social worker in supporting Toya. In working with Toya, social worker will explore the student’s individual special needs and struggles, and identify the outside sources that are impactful or resourceful. Toya is a student who attends a gifted program at Crenshaw High School an inner city school located in the center of Los Angeles. Toya was raised in family dynamic that led to physical and mental abuse. Toya was constantly tormented with degrading words, physically beat down to the ground or walls and sexually molested by the step-father. This abuse ended when her mother’s life was taken by the stepfather;

This consists of analyzing student’s community, socioeconomic group, family system, ethnic/racial group, and peer groups (Allen-Meares, 2009). These are all examples the clients direct mezzo components that have inward and outward transactions that contain positive or negative influences. The mezzo forces that are contributing to Toyas behaviors, decisions and outcomes are multifaceted. Toya’s coping behaviors for surviving were greatly impacted at an early age since she lived in an abusive home with no other contact to family members or outside sources. While living with aunt she continued to be disconnected, she did not affiliate with local organizations or peer networks. Toya noted going outside her home just to catch the bus, that’s it. These dynamic left Toya feeling unsafe within her home and community. This environment secludes Toya from identifying further resources for herself and the newborn child. Before the child was born, this dysfunction impacted her life because she did not have appropriate medical resources to receive birth control which contributed to her getting pregnant at an early age. Overall the Toya’s mezzo system is limited, support outside of school was not present with adults or peers, surrounding resources within the community were not explored due to living in a rough

The Macrosystem has a powerful influence on all the other systems because it is developed by many political systems, social policy, culture and economic trends (Allen-Meares, 2009). Choices made within these systems directly and indirectly impact all other components. The choice to underfund or remove resources affects people of the community. Macrosystem factors that contributed to Toya’s situation were the lack of services that were not available and the service that were available and failed to connect and provide services. The system failed Toya by not providing her with Mental Health Services after experiencing the many complex traumas while living with mom and step-father. Than after, a policy was not in place to support young pregnant girls in the process of delivery, nursing, daycare, and returning back to school. This impacted many aspects of her life; she nearly became homeless without direct services. Given that she was a single mother, the hospital system failed to connect her to services that would have helped with basic living necessities: shelter, money, and food. The overall systems Toya connected with failed to identify the clients need. Resources, case management, and support system were not in place throughout Toya’s life which led to disconnecting her from the rest of the