Age Difference/Sister Pregnancy: Little Joey is the youngest of 3, while having only older sisters, there is a 7 year age gab between his two sisters aged 15 and 17. The older sister is 17 and pregnant. Little Joey may not be getting any attention at home as the focus has turned to dealing with the sisters pregnancy as well as poverty and possibly divorce. I would sign the family up for county health services to see if counseling and prenatal care can help with the family's issues.
Divorce/Fathers bad health: Little Joey may also be acting out since he has over heard his parents discussing divorce. I would (as mentioned before) sign the family up for county health services and see if I could find them counseling and get the father health care through Medical.
2. I would be working with the entire family (Little Joeys Micro-System [pg. 63] ) in this specific situation since everyone is involved. I would also reach out to his Meso-System (pg. 63) by contacting his teachers as well as the older sisters teacher to ensure they are getting care at their schools.
3. The one specific problem I would address is signing the family up for County Services. This would address food stamps, teen pregnancy, fathers bad health and the marital problems. The specific skills (pg. 33) I would use are:
Engagement: I would engage the family as a whole to resolve the issues they are all dealing with which is causing problems for Little Joey at school.
Empathy: I would be empathetic to the family's issues both emotionally and physically. This would help me understand each person in the situation and address and solve each one of their needs.
Coordination: I would work closely with the entire family to get them to their required services and I would also communicate with the schools to make sure the kids are taken care of there as well. I