Practitioner Competence in Social Work: Training and Evaluation Craig W. LeCroy ABSTRACT. Practitioner competence is becoming an increasingly important priority within the social work profession. A skill training program designed to promote practice competence was developed to examine problematic situations for social workers. Previous training programs have emphasized basic skills but have not attempted to teach skills in specific problematic situations. This pilot training pro- gram was evaluated using a time-series design replicated across four subjects. Results show that students made gains on all measures after the introduction of the training. These results suggest that social work students can enhance their practice skills and competence through training of this nature. There has been increasing concern regarding practitioner com- petence by social work educators (Briar, 1973; Larsen & Hepworth, 1978; Reid, 1974; and Rose, Cayner, & Edleson, 1977), employers (Bennion, 1974; and Leader, 1971), and students (Harris, 1974). Practitioners and educators have begun to recognize a growing need for highly specialized training programs (Marshall, Charping, & Bell, 1979; and Rose et al., 1977). With the current trend of de- professionalization and the growing pressure toward accountability, competence in practice seems an increasing necessity. Larsen and Hepworth (1978) have pointed out that increasing pressure is being leveled at social work education to examine whether it is achieving its major goal enabling students to "attain a level of competence necessary for responsible professional practice" (Council on Social Work Education, 1969, p. 3). In her examination of casework effec- tiveness, Wood (1978) states that "the profession must face the possibility that the reason so many of the research studies reviewed Mr. LeCroy is a doctoral student in the School of Social Work, University of Wisconsin- Madison, 53706. Journal of Social Service Research, Vol. 5(3/4), 1982 O 1983 by The Haworth Press, Inc. All rights reserved. 71