Social Work Ethics mirror Daily Work Values
As a social worker, I am dedicated to helping other people. Why else would I join the social work field? One connection that drew me to Daily Work is the overlap between the National Association of Social Workers (NASW) Code of Ethics and Daily Work’s mission and values. While some of our case managers do not have a human or social services background, they still effectively engage these concepts in their work with jobseekers. Here are some similarities between Daily Work’s values and NASW Code of Ethics.
Dignity
Dignity is at the top of the list of Daily Work values. Daily Work defines dignity as honoring the value of all people and creating and maintaining an environment that respects people’s diverse traditions, heritages, and experiences. The NASW Code of Ethics is worded differently but conveys the same meaning while highlighting the importance of self-determination and increasing the capacity and opportunity for individuals to address their own needs.
Person-Centered
Person-centered takes root at Daily Work through our commitment to provide personalized, comprehensive, and caring assistance to job seekers. We seek to foster each person’s unique strengths, interests, and dreams to help them achieve their goals. In social work, a theory called “strengths-based perspective” focuses on the individual strengths and resources of each person, rather than focusing on their barriers and challenges. Emphasizing a person’s strengths helps develop their confidence and ability to achieve their goals.
Community
Daily Work brings people, businesses, and community organizations together. We act in partnership to provide resources, education, and mentorship to job seekers, build productive relationships, and transform lives and communities. As a social worker, the other interns and I work with a multi-dimensional framework centered around three different parts: micro, mezzo, and macro. Mezzo focuses on the resources and organizations at the community level that directly impact job seekers' lives. The NASW Code of Ethics notes the importance of human relationships as an intrinsic vehicle for change. Social workers and Daily Work strive to support people in maintaining or developing relationships that help them live healthier lives.
Trust
Daily Work is committed to mutual trust and accountability. We trust job seekers to be active participants in accomplishing their goals. Daily Work can be trusted to act with care, understanding, honesty, and accountability in the stewardship of resources and information entrusted to us. Social workers are expected to establish good relationships with clients and work together to achieve goals. Mutual trust results in greater success in goal attainment and information sharing between case managers and job seekers. The NASW Code of Ethics requires social workers to have integrity; a key component of that is behaving in a trustworthy manner.
Ministry of Service
Daily Work was founded on the belief that we are called to serve others and share our gifts in meaningful ways. We welcome people of all backgrounds and beliefs to join us in our common goal of building communities where all people can support and sustain themselves through work. In the NASW Code of Ethics, a key ethical responsibility is “to help people in need and to address social problems.” While helping those in need, social workers prioritize the need to learn about and practice cultural humility.
At Daily Work, we manifest this value by eagerly welcoming people of all faiths and backgrounds who want help finding work and who desire long-term self-sufficiency. In fact, due to changing demographics in our communities, the majority of people served by Daily Work are immigrants. In 2020, we served people from more than 33 different nations.
Above all, Daily Work strives to help build a community where everyone can work, grow, and contribute and no one is prevented from participating due to unfair or unjust systems and practices .
The NASW Code of Ethics and Daily Work’s organizational values directly impact the experience of job seekers, interns, volunteers, and others. We’d love to know how these values and principles show up in your everyday life and in what ways they impact you.
