Social workers gain experience in a variety of settings over the course of their career but home visiting is often our first stop, a collective initiation into the “real world” way of social work. And with good reason—home visiting offers those at the beginning of their career a rich introduction to both the art and science of social work and the opportunity to develop the foundational knowledge and skills necessary to advance in the field.
Why Home Visiting is a Right of Passage
Graduating as an MSW in my early mid-twenties meant I had limited real world experience beyond the two required field placements and my job working with adults with developmental disabilities. Working as an early intervention home visitor, I witnessed the full range of humanity through the lens of experiencing new parenthood.
I was exposed to a vast array of family constellations, home environments, child rearing and other cultural practices, and communities while opening my eyes to the level of need in the community. This exposure helped me develop the ability to meet people where they were at and the importance of centering their experience without judgement but with empathy, compassion and curiosity.
The Benefits of Starting as a Home Visitor
Some of the unique benefits of becoming a home visitor at the start of your career, include:
- Developing a better and more realistic understanding of the environmental factors impacting clients. You have the opportunity to connect theory learned in the classroom to what’s happening in front of you, allowing person-in-environment theory to truly inform your work. With home visits providing a window into clients’ daily lives, documenting observations effectively is crucial. Casebook ensures these insights are securely stored, making it easy to track progress and collaborate with teams in real time. Casebook helps social workers track progress over time, ensuring that valuable insights don’t get lost between visits.
- Home visiting can balance the power differential between clients and providers, as home visits are “on their turf.” This can be empowering to clients, giving them agency over decisions, what care will look like and even if they’re going to invite you in. The lesson for new social workers in this is remembering we are guests in our client’s lives and to be invited in, we need to continually make non-judgemental, authentic engagement a priority.
- Home visiting can make engaging with clients easier, as we’re not completely reliant on them for information. When you’re in a client’s home, there are opportunities to learn about a person’s everyday life. You learn who your clients are as unique individuals beyond reasons for referral. Our clients know when we see them as a full person, and want to connect with them as a full person, instead of only focusing on their needs and necessary documentation. Managing client information effectively is essential for home visitors. Using a centralized platform like Casebook ensures that notes, referrals, and key details are securely stored and easily accessible — so social workers can continually focus on engaging with clients rather than paperwork.
- Because home visitors work with people in various environments, there is an opportunity to hone generalist practice skills, like active listening and reflecting back what the client says, while learning how to be flexible in how we use these skills in a trauma-informed, culturally responsive way with different clients. By using a platform like Casebook, sensitive client information is securely stored in one place, decreasing the likelihood of HIPAA violations no matter where you’re providing services.
Carrying Lessons Forward in Your Career
I was able to carry forward several lessons learned during my time as a home visitor when I transitioned to office-based work. I make a point to learn more about who my clients are in their everyday lives, where they came from, and who their important people are. The years I spent as a home visitor trained me to automatically consider the person-in-environment, the needs that may impact a client’s ability to engage fully, and meeting clients where they are at – even when they come to me. For social workers who transition between home visits and office-based work, Casebook keeps everything connected. Case notes, service plans, and collaboration tools help ensure no critical details get lost between settings.
I became a skilled social worker during my time as a home visitor but I did a lot of growing up as well. My general perspective on people, social issues, and life shifted the more I observed how challenging life could be for families and I was forced to confront beliefs and biases I hadn’t been aware of. The experience of home visiting opened my eyes and my heart and I am a better social worker and person because of it.
