The purpose of this study is to develop an assessment skills inventory for social workers. A self‒report inventory for the measure of assessment skills was developed, and its constructs and relationships with “problem prevention and problem‒solving skills group” were examined. Participants were the members of 4 prefectural Associations of Psychiatric Social Workers and the number of respondents was 277.

  Exploratory factor analysis identified a model of assessment skills consisting of three components of “practice” and three components of “thinking”. The “practice” consists of 19 items in 3 factors, which are “information gathering”, “hypothesis generation（practice）”, and “hypothesis testing”. The “thinking” consists of 20 items in 3 factors, which are “thinking during interview”, “information analysis”, and “hypothesis generation（thinking）”. Reliability ranges from .775 to .869. Also each factor score and “problem prevention and problem‒solving skills group” score as the external criteria showed a significant positive correlation. Therefore there is preliminary evidence of construct validity. The assessment skill inventory was demonstrated as a reliable and valid instrument.

  Significant correlation between the subscale scores of each factor and other attributes than age and years of experience was not seen. From this, the implications for a training program development are discussed.

  This study examined the influence of the number of case conferences on the cognition of inter‒professional work. Case conferences, which are regarded as the foundation of regional councils for child protection, may be defined as meetings during which a number of professionals engage in discussion and communication to support clients. Case conferences are a tool for facilitating inter‒professional work. Because cognition exerts an impact on actions, this study focused on cognition among professionals to substantiate the influence of case conferences. Moreover, the reason why case conferences have been chosen as a tool for facilitating inter‒professional work was verified. The results of the questionnaire clearly indicated that the number of case conferences was correlated with the number of members and the variations in their occupational fields. Furthermore, the number of case conferences was correlated with “work with all members” and “focusing on the client/clients”, which were factors contributing to the cognition of inter‒professional work. These results suggested that the number of case conferences was responsive to variation among members. Furthermore, the number of case conferences was related with the recognition of the members of a case conference comprising a single team that could be referred to as “we.”