Case Study: Consuela
You are the faculty supervisor of a learner who is currently involved in her pre-doctoral internship. As part of that internship, the learner is seeing clients one day per week at a placement site in the community, which is a free, nonprofit mental health clinic that serves a low-income Latinx population. Most of their clients are recent immigrants—some undocumented—and most have limited, if any, English.
Your learner has conducted an intake interview with Consuela, a 19-year-old woman. Consuela is currently living with her boyfriend, Ramone, and would like to begin attending the local community college. Consuela indicated that she is concerned about trying to enroll at the school and applying for financial aid because she is an undocumented alien.
After multiple sessions, your learner has developed excellent rapport with Consuela and describes her as a very engaged client. Recently your learner has begun to observe that Consuela is exhibiting significant anxiety. Consuela has confessed that her boyfriend is physically abusive to her. She is even more afraid because he is a well-known leader of a violent street gang.
One day Consuela comes in crying; she has a black eye. She confides that Ramone and some of his fellow gang members are planning to ambush members of a rival gang. She further reveals that as Ramone’s girlfriend, she is expected to participate in the ambush, despite that fact that she does not want to be involved. Ramone gave her the black eye when she tried to refuse to participate.
Your learner shared this information with the site supervisor, who raised concerns about reporting what Consuela shared to the authorities. The site supervisor expressed her opinion that if this information is reported to the authorities and other clients find out, they will lose trust that the people who work there will keep their information private and stop coming to the center.
Unsure of what to do next, your learner has come to you for guidance.
For this assignment, answer the following questions:
Which federal, state, and local guidelines apply in this situation?
What are all of the ethical considerations involved in this case study?
As a faculty supervisor, what are your responsibilities?
What are other local resources you can refer to for consultation services regarding this issue?
Use your Resource Portfolio.
What is your plan, as the faculty supervisor, to deal with this issue, including how you would advise your learner to proceed?
