MSW 544 Week 7 Strengths and Needs Grid Example

Course	MSW 544 Social Work Practice - Assessment
Week	7
Paper type	Strengths and needs grid
Length	About 490 words, 5 pages
Format	APA 7 student paper
School	Chamberlain University
Program	Master of Social Work (MSW)
Updated	October 2026

Free sample paper for MSW 544 Week 7

Strengths and Needs Grid for V.'s Household Filled Across Each Domain: Housing, Health, Income, Care of the Child, Education, Safety and Connection, Every Cell Sourced, Needs Stated as Needs and One Fact in Both Columns

Student Name

Chamberlain University

MSW 544: Social Work Practice - Assessment

Instructor Name

Month Day, Year

What this page is doingThe title keeps the template's rows and fills each across, with a source for every cell, which is how this grid is graded.

The Grid

Table 1

Strengths and Needs by Domain

Domain	What is working	What is needed	Source
Housing	Lease in V.'s name since December; rent paid on time two months	Rent is 48 percent of income; one missed shift would put rent at risk	Lease; V.; pay stubs
Health	V. kept all four counseling appointments; recognizes symptoms	A medication V. can tolerate; regular sleep	Agency record; V.
Income	Steady job, 30 hours a week, for three years	More hours or a raise; childcare for weekend shifts	Employer letter; V.
Care of the child	Child attends Head Start daily; teacher reports good attendance	Mornings are hard; V. struggles to get up	Teacher, by phone with release; V.
Education	High school diploma	V. wants a pharmacy technician course; needs time and childcare	V.
Safety	No violence reported since December; handoffs happen in a public place	A plan for handoff conflict	V.
Connection	Sister weekly; Head Start teacher	Few adult friends; V. says "I don't talk to anybody but my sister"	V.; sister

Note. Note. Rows follow the agency's template. Each cell names where the information came from.

What this page is doingFilling every row across both columns, with a source, keeps the grid from listing needs only.

Needs, Not Services

The needs column says what is missing, such as "a medication V. can tolerate," not a service such as "psychiatric referral." Services come in the plan; stating needs first leaves the plan open to options V. prefers.

For example, "mornings are hard" could be met by a later Head Start drop-off, a sleep plan, a medication change or help from the sister on certain days. Writing "parenting class" in that cell would have chosen for V. before V. had a say.

What this page is doingGiving an example of a need that could be met several ways shows why the column avoids naming services.

One Fact in Both Columns

The sister appears as a strength in connection and childcare, and as a need in the sense that V. depends on one person. If the sister moved, the household would lose its main support. A strengths-based assessment holds both readings of the same fact (Saleebey, 2013).

What the Grid Suggests

The household's strengths cluster in daily routine: work, Head Start and the sister. Its needs cluster around mornings, money and V.'s health. The plan should start where V.'s energy is lowest.

The grid also shows two items that come only from V.: education and safety. Neither has outside confirmation, and that is acceptable for this purpose. V. is the best source on V.'s own goals and on how handoffs feel, and the source column makes that reliance visible.

What this page is doingPointing out which rows rest only on the client's report shows the grid is honest about its sources.

References

Saleebey, D. (2013). The strengths perspective in social work practice (6th ed.). Pearson.

Reading the MSW 544 Week 7 instructions

The strengths and needs grid uses the rows your template names, such as housing, health, income, care of children, education, safety and connection, and keeps them in that order. Fill each row across: something working and something needed, with a source for each. State needs as needs, not as services, so the plan stays open to options. Where one fact belongs in both columns, show it in both. Avoid leaving cells empty without explanation; if nothing is known, say so. Do not reorder by urgency unless your template asks. A short note beneath the grid says what it shows. Record a fact the person calls a strength and the record calls a problem in both columns, with both sources.

Inside the MSW 544 Week 7 example

Table 1 fills seven rows with what is working, what is needed and sources: a lease and rent paid against rent at 48 percent of income, kept appointments against an intolerable medication, steady work against weekend childcare, Head Start against hard mornings, a diploma against a desired course, no recent violence against handoff conflict and a sister against few adult friends. A section explains stating needs as needs. A section places the sister in both columns, citing Saleebey (2013). The closing note finds strengths in daily routine and needs around mornings, money and health. A further section shows a need that several services could meet, to explain why the column names needs.

Reading the MSW 544 Week 7 grading rubric

Faculty grade the grid on whether every row is filled across with sources. A grid with needs filled and strengths empty, or the reverse, loses the most. Credit goes to rows kept as the template names them, needs stated without services and one fact shown in both columns where it belongs. A source for each cell earns marks for accuracy. The note beneath should interpret the pattern briefly. Empty cells need an explanation. Sources on strengths-based assessment should be cited in APA. Ordering by urgency is not required unless the template asks for it. Pointing out which rows rest only on the client's report shows the grid is honest about sources.

Common MSW 544 Week 7 mistakes, and how to avoid them

Grids most often lose points by listing services in the needs column, such as therapy referral, which closes off options. Another frequent gap is a strengths column filled with traits rather than facts. Some grids rename the template's rows, which makes them hard to compare across cases. Others leave cells blank without saying why. When the person calls something a strength and the record calls it a problem, put it in both columns and name both sources. A grid filled this way will show where the plan should start without you having to argue it. Fill the source column as you go, not at the end, so nothing is attributed from memory.

Get a MSW-544 Week 7 example written to your instructions

Send the grid template your section issued along with the rubric and the case material behind it, and a custom example is written straight into that table and returned inside 24 to 48 hours. The first one is free, with every cell sourced and the note that sits beneath the grid written out in full.

More MSW 544 papers and MSW samples

MSW 544 Week 7 questions, answered

Can a cell be left empty?

Not without a word. Where a domain has nothing on one side, the cell says so and gives the reason: not discussed, no record available, nothing reported. A bare box reads as unfinished work, while a marked one reads as a result about the material you were given. Sections that supply thin case material are frequently checking this exact habit.

Should the grid put the needs in order of urgency?

Only where the assignment asks, and most in this course do not. Ordering is a judgment about what gets addressed first, and it belongs with the planning work the program places after this course. A grid arriving numbered has answered a question nobody put, and the numbers usually rest on the writer's priorities rather than the person's.

How do I record something the person calls a strength and the record calls a problem?

Put it in both columns and say who says which. A daily routine the person describes as keeping them steady and a report describes as avoidance is two findings rather than one, and the grid is the place they can sit beside each other. Choosing between them is a later decision that this document does not make.

Where can I find a free MSW 544 Week 7 sample paper?

The complete MSW 544 Week 7 strengths and needs grid, seven domains with a source in every cell, follows the summary.

Which fact appears in both columns in the MSW 544 Week 7 sample?

The sister, who is the household's main support for childcare and connection and also a single point of dependence if the sister moved.