Question

Describe the various organisational standards, policies and procedures that community service worker's are likely to be exposed to in the workplace,(200-250 words)

Answer 1

Organization's policies and procedures to make employees understand the organization's views and values on specific issues, and what will occur if they are not followed. Policies are general statements of how an organization want to behave and procedures define exactly how to do a task or perform step by step.

Most community service organisations will have in place policies and procedures that govern and regulate privacy and confidentiality of client information. This concept not only applies to what you can disclose about your clients or your organisations outside of work, but also what can be shared in network meetings. What information can be shared with other organisations, who shares it and how this information is given out should be clearly defined in any effective, professional service. It is often incorporated into a worker’s duty statement or job description.

All organisations should have written policy and procedures, and staff training in the following areas:

• a confidentiality policy
• a clearly defined process for identifying and regularly updating a Community Resource Index so that all workers are aware of what other services are available to refer to (the index contains basis contact details and information about what each service provides)
• processes for networking with other agencies, including attending relevant interagencies (meetings of local service providers)
• guidelines for case conferencing (this will be discussed in more detail a bit later)
• referral protocols, including how referrals should be made, the kind of information that can be shared with other services and any ongoing roles and responsibilities of each service with regard to the client
• a policy for how long client information is kept after clients are no longer involved with the service. For example, different government departments produce documents that outline legal requirements for their staff in relation to storing and maintaining information.