Ethical Decision Scenario Worksheet

University of Phoenix Material

Ethical Decision Scenario Worksheet

Read the following scenario:

Shannon is a juvenile probation officer with the Department of Juvenile Justice. Recently, she covered her coworker, Janet’s client load, while Janet was on vacation.

Shannon met with several of Janet’s clients. After meeting with clients, she discovered a pattern in which the clients would report that they have not seen Janet in 2 to 3 months. However, the case files reflected face-to-face contact with all of her clients, despite what her clients stated. When Shannon investigated further, she found that the client notes were all at the same day and time, which is unlikely. Further, several of Janet’s clients needed referrals for counseling, but Janet never completed them and has not followed up to ensure her clients are receiving the necessary services.

Janet is a close friend of Shannon. Shannon does not want to get Janet in trouble but realizes something must be done.

Answer, in a 75- to 100-word response, each of the following questions:

1. What are the ethical issues involved in the scenario?

Shannon is a juvenile probation officer that works for the Department of justice: she covered Janet’s casework and clients while Janet was out. She seen that Janet is lying on her paperwork saying the she sees her clients regularly, when her clients said otherwise. Janet is also completing all of the paperwork on the same day with the same notes and times. This is impossible to do so it means that none of her notes are true and she is reporting false information. Janet is not referring her clients when needed and is not doing her job right.
Fidelity is respecting the trust that clients place in their helpers and guarding against an erosion of that trust. Helpers are careful to fulfill their responsibilities, keep promises, and be honest in their interactions with clients.
Veracity means being honest with clients. Human service professionals commit to providing clients with all of the information that they need and to providing fair and honest feedback.

2. What client rights are involved in the scenario?

The client rights that are involved in this scenario are privacy, and informed consent. The privacy rights were somewhat violated because the clients file was given to another helper. Therefore this helper read the file and knew all the clients information. It is also the clients right to know the about the qualifications, treatment, procedure, cost of services, confidentiality and have the records the helper keeps of them. The client was clearly non given access to the record the helper kept of them: if so they sold have seen that the helper was giving false notes and information.

3. What, if any, client rights were violated?

Janet was not taking notes on her clients and not seeing them regularly because all of her notes were done around the same time, and on the same day. The client is clearly not getting the attention they need. Her clients are stating that they have not seen her in 2 to 3 months. However Janet is not being truthful about her work.

4. How you would use the ethical decision-making model to address or resolve the situation?