| Course | MSW 517 Advanced Social Work Practice Across Systems |
|---|---|
| Week | 3 |
| Paper type | First move memo |
| Length | About 410 words, 4 pages |
| Format | Memo with APA 7 citations |
| School | Chamberlain University |
| Program | Master of Social Work (MSW) |
| Updated | October 2026 |
Free sample paper for MSW 517 Week 3
Memorandum
To: Field instructor, family services agency
From: MSW student intern
Date: October 9, 2026
Re: Case 26-1187, M., 13: first move is a home visit to the parent before meeting M. at school
Situation
M., 13, has missed 14 school days since September 2, all but two on Mondays or Thursdays. The counselor reports that M. said, "My parent needs me some mornings." The parent, L., 46, has multiple sclerosis, according to the school's emergency form. The next absence triggers a district warning letter, the first step toward attendance court.
The Move
I will call L. on Friday, October 9, introduce the agency as working with the school on attendance support, and ask for a home visit on Tuesday, October 13, at a time L. chooses. At the visit I will ask what Monday and Thursday mornings look like at home. I will not meet M. at school until after the visit.
If L. prefers a phone conversation to a visit, I will accept that and ask the same question by phone. The visit is the means, not the point; the point is that L. hears the question about mornings before anyone asks M.
The Alternative, Argued Well
The strongest alternative is to meet M. first at school. M. is the person referred, the school is a neutral place and M. may tell a worker things that cannot be said in front of L. Young caregivers are often unrecognized by services and may hide the role to protect a parent (Kavanaugh et al., 2016). A meeting with M. first would respect M. as the client.
I am not choosing it because M. has already said "my parent needs me." If I meet M. first, M. will have to explain L.'s illness to a stranger and may fear it leads to removal. Meeting L. first lets L. decide how M.'s role is described.
What I Ask of You
Approval for the home visit, and your agreement that I ask the district attendance office to hold its warning letter for two weeks while we assess. The Code's commitment to self-determination applies to L. and M. both (National Association of Social Workers, 2021); a letter now would decide the frame for them.
Where the Framework Goes
My working belief is that M.'s absences are a solution at home. The visit will test it. If L. describes mornings without any role for M., I will meet M. at school the same week.
References
Kavanaugh, M. S., Stamatopoulos, V., Cohen, D., & Zhang, L. (2016). Unacknowledged caregivers: A scoping review of research on caregiving youth in the United States. Adolescent Research Review, 1(1), 29-49. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40894-015-0015-7
National Association of Social Workers. (2021). Code of ethics of the National Association of Social Workers. https://www.socialworkers.org/About/Ethics/Code-of-Ethics/Code-of-Ethics-English
Reading the MSW 517 Week 3 instructions
The week 3 memo should fit on one page and read like something a supervisor would actually receive. Put the case reference, date and decision in the heading block. Keep the situation to a few sentences drawn from intake material, not impressions. State the move concretely enough to enter in a diary: who is contacted, in what order and before what. Then argue the strongest alternative well, so the chosen move wins on reasons rather than by default. Say what you need from the reader, such as approval or a call to another office. Close by saying where your framework or working belief comes in and how the move will test it. Address the memo to a person who can approve it.
How this MSW 517 Week 3 example is built
The heading block addresses the field instructor and carries the case number, date and decision. The situation paragraph gives the absences, the clustered days, M.'s remark that the parent needs help some mornings, the parent's multiple sclerosis and the pending warning letter. The move section dates a call on October 9 and a visit on October 13, with the question about mornings, and an offer to talk by phone if L. prefers. The alternative, meeting M. first at school, is argued with Kavanaugh et al. (2016) on caregiving youth hiding the role, then declined because M. would have to explain the illness to a stranger. The request asks for approval and for the district to hold its letter, and a final paragraph says how the visit will test the working belief.
MSW 517 Week 3 rubric: what full points look like
Most points depend on the move. An instruction to engage the family, with no first contact and no time, leaves the reasoning rows empty and costs the most. Faculty then look at the alternative: an option sketched thinly so the chosen move wins by default loses substantial credit, while one argued at full strength earns it. The memo must be addressed to someone who can act and must say what it asks of them. Situation paragraphs should come from intake material. Framework or belief belongs near the end, applied to the move. Memo format, length and clear dates are assessed. Any sources should be cited briefly in APA.
MSW 517 Week 3 help from the desk
Memos bleed points when the move is written so broadly nobody could object. A second drain is the rejected option written to lose. Some memos are addressed to nobody in particular, or ask for nothing, so the reader cannot tell what to do. Others pack the situation paragraph with impressions rather than facts from the referral. If your case is different, perhaps a hospital social worker deciding whether to call a patient's daughter before the patient, the shape holds: decision line, facts, move with dates, the alternative at full strength and the ask. A memo drafted for your case would keep to one page and name the person who needs to sign off.
Get a MSW-517 Week 3 example written to your instructions
Send the memo instructions, the vignette your section supplied, and the rubric. A custom MSW-517 Week 3 memo comes back written to that case inside 24 to 48 hours, the first one free. Tell us the length limit if one is set, since a memo graded on a page count reads differently from one graded row by row.
More MSW 517 papers and MSW samples
- MSW 517 Week 1: First Action on a Referral Post
- MSW 517 Week 2: Practice Frame Inventory
- MSW 517 Week 4: Session Choice Contrast
- MSW 517 Week 5: Group Work Plan
- MSW 517 Week 6: Agency Practice Memo
- MSW 517 Week 7: Macro Practice Write-up
- MSW 517 Week 8: Practice Integration Paper
- MSW 516 Week 3: Self-Efficacy Reading of W.
- MSW 515 Week 3: Family Education Literature Matrix
- MSW 514 Week 3: Biopsychosocial Assessment of D.
- MSW 513 Week 3: Kin Licensing Policy Brief
MSW 517 Week 3 questions, answered
Who should the memo be addressed to?
Whoever could stop or approve the move. In most vignettes that is a supervisor, sometimes a team lead, occasionally the referring worker at another agency. Naming a reader changes the writing: requests get specific, jargon drops out, and the alternative has to survive somebody who might well prefer it. An unaddressed memo drifts back toward being an essay.
How different does the rejected option have to be?
Different in direction, not in detail. Reaching the mother on Tuesday rather than Monday is a scheduling note. Reaching the school before anyone in the household is a different opening, with a different second week attached to it. The pair earns marks only when the two paths would produce visibly different third contacts.
Is a first move allowed to be gathering information?
It is, provided it names a specific piece of information from a specific source with a reason attached. Requesting the attendance record from the school is a move. Wanting to know more is not. The test faculty apply is whether somebody reading the memo could carry the action out on your behalf tomorrow morning.
Where can I find a free MSW 517 Week 3 sample paper?
The full MSW 517 Week 3 first move memo on a school absence case, with a dated home visit and the rejected option argued in full, is on this page.
What alternative does the MSW 517 Week 3 sample reject?
Meeting the 13-year-old first at school, which it argues for seriously before choosing to visit the parent so the parent can decide how the student's caregiving role is described.