Lesson 12: Developing Service Goals
Attention
Learning Outcomes
Upon completion of this lesson's material, students will be able to:
- Identify the importance of recognizing a client's strengths and potential barriers when developing a service plan.
- Write measurable service plan goals
Teaching
Read Chapter 21
The service plan provides an individualized plan that outlines the client's goals. It is important to be very clear what the client wants to work on as well as the client's needs and how to meet those needs.
Writing goals is a skill in and of itself. First and foremost the goal has to be clear and understandable by everyone who is involved, including the client.
In order to test if a goal is well-written we borrow from the field of Behavior Management by asking two questions:
- Can a dead man do this? (Dead Man's Test)
- Would a stranger know when this is happening? (Stranger Test)
IF the answer to question 1 is "NO" and the answer to question 2 is "YES" then the goal is well-written. This is tricky, so you have to think outside the circle a bit to critique your own work.
In addition to "passing" both tests, a goal should identify, as appropriate, the WHO, WHAT, WHEN, and WHERE components of a behavior.
Assessment
Lesson 12 Discussion
Discuss the reasons you think it is important to recognize a client's strengths as well as potential barriers to treatment when developing a service plan. Reflect on the strengths and barriers that we have discussed throughout this course. Describe a strength (that we have discussed to date or not) that might be overlooked when developing a service plan. How might this strength be important in developing the plan?