Havard University Professional Boundaries and Dual Relationships Analysis

I’m working on a Writing case study and need guidance to help me learn.

Read the following case scenario and discuss the prompts in a two-page paper.

Case Scenario:

Joe was a caseworker employed by a community action program. He worked with community residents to find affordable housing. Most of his clients were middle income families referred to him through their employer’s employee assistance programs. Kris, a youth coach for the community’s sports program, began working with Joe after experiencing financial difficulty in his life. He needed help finding safe, affordable housing for his family as well as ways to live on a budget. Joe and Kris identified some goals for Kris to work on and after working together for several months, Kris felt accomplished enough to end the working relationship with Joe. By the end of the working relationship, Joe and Kris had developed a casual friendship, talking about things they had in common and discussing favorite sports teams and family life.

About four months after the professional-client relationship had terminated, Joe attended a community sporting event with his family. Kris was there with his family, and the two men chatted comfortably, introducing their children and partners to each other. The interaction was brief but friendly. Several days after the event, Joe received a friend request through Facebook from Kris. After accepting his request, Joe received a message from Kris asking him if wanted to help coach that summer. Although Joe was excited about the possibility of coaching, he had concerns about beginning a friendship with his former client.

Prompts:

• Analyze Joe’s behavior as the Human Services professional in this scenario. Discuss possible dual relationships as well as possible boundary issues.
• Do you feel Joe was intentionally crossing boundaries? What made this situation an ethical dilemma? How could Joe have avoided this situation?
• If you were Joe’s supervisor, how would you handle the scenario? Discuss training topics that could be useful to Human Services professionals when faced with this type of boundary crossing.