| Course | MSW 545 Social Work Practice - Intervention |
|---|---|
| Week | 3 |
| Paper type | Client goal contract |
| Length | About 360 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 545 Week 3
Memorandum
To: V. and the MSW student intern
From: Both of us
Date: February 26, 2027
Re: What we agreed to work on, and who does what
The Goal, in V.'s Words
"I want to get up for my kid in the mornings and not feel like a zombie all day."
In Working Terms
Over 12 weeks, V. will build a morning routine on school days and add two activities a week that V. used to enjoy, tracking mood each day on a 0 to 10 scale.
The working terms translate V.'s sentence without replacing it. "Get up for my kid" became a routine on school days; "not feel like a zombie" became two enjoyable activities a week and a daily mood rating V. can see change.
What V. Will Do
Walk the child to the bus stop on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Fill in a one-page activity log each evening, or at least three evenings a week. Come to weekly sessions on Thursdays at 5:30 or call by noon to reschedule.
What the Worker Will Do
Start each session with V.'s log, not my agenda. Help plan the next week's activities. Call V.'s primary care clinic, with V.'s release, about medication side effects by March 5. Tell V. in advance about any absence.
What V. Refused
V. refused a goal about medication. V. said, "I'll talk to the doctor, but it's not a goal in here." It is not in the contract. V. also refused a daily log; three evenings a week is the agreed minimum.
Review Day
Thursday, April 15, 2027, at session 8. We will look at the PHQ-9, the log and whether the mornings have changed.
If Something Changes
Either of us can ask to change this contract at any session.
Who Keeps a Copy
V. keeps the original. A copy goes in the agency file. V. asked that it not be shared with the primary care clinic.
Why a Contract
Written goals agreed by both parties help keep work focused on what the client chose and make progress visible to both (Hepworth et al., 2022).
Signatures
Signed by V. and the worker on February 26, 2027.
References
Hepworth, D. H., Rooney, R. H., Rooney, G. D., & Strom-Gottfried, K. (2022). Direct social work practice: Theory and skills (11th ed.). Cengage Learning.
The Chamberlain MSW 545 Week 3 instructions
The goal contract is a short document both parties sign. Put the client's goal at the top in the client's words, then translate it into working terms without replacing it. List what the client will do and what the worker will do, so obligations run both ways. Record what the client refused, which shows the contract was negotiated. Set a review on a specific date rather than an interval such as in six weeks. Say how either party can change the contract and who keeps a copy, including any limits on sharing it. Keep the document short enough to read in a session. Contracts may be memos or forms; the parts are the same.
How the MSW 545 Week 3 example is put together
The memo opens with V.'s sentence about getting up for the child and not feeling like a zombie. The working terms describe a 12-week morning routine, two enjoyed activities a week and a daily mood rating, and explain how each matches part of V.'s sentence. V.'s tasks include the three walks, a log on at least three evenings and weekly sessions. The worker's tasks include starting from V.'s log, planning activities and calling the clinic by March 5. V. refused a medication goal and a daily log. The review is set for April 15. V. keeps the original, and the copy is not shared with the clinic. Hepworth et al. (2022) supports written goals.
Reading the MSW 545 Week 3 grading rubric
Assessors want two-way obligations and the client's own words. A contract that lists only client duties, or that opens with a clinical goal, loses the most. Credit goes to the client's sentence intact, working terms that follow from it, worker obligations as concrete as the client's and refusals recorded. A dated review earns more than a vague interval. Copies and sharing should be stated, since contracts often travel. The document should read as something the client helped write; clinical vocabulary should be minimal. A source on goal setting in APA style shows the approach has a basis in practice. Signatures and the date of signing should appear, because a contract without them reads as a draft.
MSW 545 Week 3 help from the desk
Contracts most often slip by placing a professional goal at the top and the client's words nowhere. Another gap is a worker section that says only support the client, which nobody could check. Some contracts leave out what the client refused, which makes them look imposed. Others set a review in vague terms that never arrives. If your client cannot sign for some reason, say how agreement was recorded instead. A contract that a client could read aloud, recognize as their own and hold the worker to has done its job before any task begins. Read the contract back to the client before signing and change any phrase that sounds like the worker rather than the client.
Get a MSW-545 Week 3 example written to your instructions
Send the agreement template your classroom publishes and the case it goes with, and a custom MSW-545 Week 3 contract is written into those fields and returned within 24 to 48 hours, the first one free. Look first at the worker's half, which is where a one-sided draft gives itself away.
More MSW 545 papers and MSW samples
- MSW 545 Week 1: From a Wish to a Task Post
- MSW 545 Week 2: Treatment Option Comparison for V.
- MSW 545 Week 4: Task Assignment Write-up
- MSW 545 Week 5: Psychoeducation Handout
- MSW 545 Week 6: Crisis Step-down Plan
- MSW 545 Week 7: Service Linkage Plan
- MSW 545 Week 8: Session Arc Plan
- MSW 546 Week 3: Baseline and Follow-up Chart
- MSW 544 Week 3: Genogram Narrative for V.
- MSW 543 Week 3: Opening Session Transcript
- MSW 542 Week 3: Memo to a Mandated Client
MSW 545 Week 3 questions, answered
Does the person have to sign it?
Many classrooms include a signature line and some record verbal assent instead. Either way the graded question is whether the page shows terms settled between two people: a quoted sentence, a recorded refusal, an undertaking the worker took on. Where your template carries a signature block, reproduce it as issued and let the substance above it do the work.
How specific should the undertakings be?
Specific enough that a third person reading the page could tell on any given day whether each one happened. That usually means a verb with somebody's name on it, a place or a channel, and a date. Undertakings written as continuing to support or remaining available describe a disposition, and a disposition is not something a reader could ever check off.
What if the person's goal is not the one the referral wants?
Then the page carries both, separately labeled. The person's goal goes in their words, the requirement that arrived with the referral goes on its own line as a requirement, and one sentence says where the two happen to point the same way. Collapsing either into the other is the version graders look for, because it hides whose agreement is being recorded.
Where can I find a free MSW 545 Week 3 sample paper?
The MSW 545 Week 3 goal contract made with V. is printed in full below the facts table, including the refusals and the April review date.
What did V. refuse in the MSW 545 Week 3 sample?
A goal about medication, which V. said belonged with the doctor, and a daily activity log; three evenings a week became the agreed minimum.