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Exercise 3: Careful Assessment
The following case studies are about Susanna, James, Samantha, Alicia, and Montfort, all
Homeless children attending school. The principal of the school has asked you to conduct
an assessment of these children and provide initial recommendations.
Before you begin this exercise, go to the website that accompanies this book: www.
wadsworth.com/counseling/mcclam, Chapter Three, Link 1, to read more about homeless
families and children.
Susanna
Susanna is 15 years old. The city where she lives has four schools: two elementary, one
middle, and one high school. There are about 1,500 students enrolled in the city/county
school district and about 450 in the local high school that Susanna is attending. For the
past six months, Susanna has been living with her boyfriend and his parents. Prior to this,
she left her mother’s home and lived on the streets. She is pregnant and her boyfriend’s
parents want her to move out of their home. Her father lives in a town with his girlfriend,
about 50 miles from the city. Her mother lives outside the city with Susanna’s baby brother.
Right now Susanna’s mother is receiving child support for the two children. Susanna wants
to have a portion of the child support so that she can find a place of her own to live. Her
mother says that the only way that Susanna can have access to that money is to move back
home. Susanna refuses to move back in with her mother.
You receive a call from the behavior specialist at Susanna’s high school. Susanna’s
mother is at the school demanding that Susanna be withdrawn from school. Susanna’s
mother indicates that Susanna will be moving in with her and will be enrolling in another
school district.
Currently Susanna is not doing very well in school. She misses school and she tells the
helper it is because she is tired and that she does not have good food to eat. She has not told
the helper that she is looking for a place to live. Right now she is failing two of her classes
and she has one B and two Ds. Her boyfriend has missed a lot of school, too.
James and Samantha
James is 10 years old and he has a sister, Samantha, who is 8. At the beginning of the
school year, both of the children were attending Boone Elementary School. Both children
live with their aunt and uncle; their parents are in prison. In the middle of the school year,
the aunt picked up the children one afternoon and told them that they were going to move
that evening. They picked up their clothes and a few toys and moved into a shelter. They
didn’t know that this was a shelter for women and children who were being abused. The
children were brokenhearted to leave their school. They had good friends there; James was
head of the safety patrol and was the star of the choir and drama club. Samantha played
with her best friend Carrie every day and all of her friends called her the “teacher’s pet.”
Samantha says that she understands why she needs to go to another school, but James is
angry that he has to transfer. The staff at the shelter tried to work out transportation back
to the school but school officials told James and Samantha’s aunt that the children could
not transfer back into the old district. James and Samantha are referred to the school behavioral
specialist.
Alicia and Montford
About a year ago, Alicia and Montford, ages 6 and 7, moved into the New Horizon homeless
shelter for families. They have been living there with their mom and dad for the past six
months. The family may only stay at the shelter until the end of the month. The assistant
principal at the local elementary school just called you to ask for assistance. Both Alicia and
Montford are not performing very well in school and they are constantly fighting with their
classmates and with their teachers. Neither of the children can read at grade level. Both
have low math scores, and they have limited social skills. For example, yesterday Montford
hit a kindergarten girl because she broke in line in front of him. He told his teacher to “go
to hell” when she took him to the principal’s office. He never completes his work and never
brings his homework to school. If the teacher sends a report home for his mom and dad to
sign, he does not return the form.
Alicia tries to fade into the background at school, and she is equally unresponsive. She
will not talk in class to her classmates or to her teacher. She just sits in the classroom and
stares or puts her head on her desk. At recess she sits in the corner by herself. If she is made
to play with the other children, she cries and runs off .
Because the state tests begin in the next month, the teacher and the principal are concerned
about Alicia’s and Montford’s scores. The school has been on probation because of
the regulations from the No Child Left Behind Act. Every score is important to the school
administration. You, as the mental health services coordinator, have been called to talk with
the parents about motivating these two children.
Select one of the following three case studies in Ch. 3 of The Helping Process:
Case Susanna
Case James and Samantha
Case Alicia and Montford
Identify three to five problems in the case study you have selected.
Write a 500- to 700-word paper that includes the following:
A problem-solving strategy and a goal for each problem
The services, resources, and supports the client may need and why
A description of how goals are measurable and realistically attainable for the client
