Cultural Influences of Social Policy - SOCW 6351 Wk7 D1

Cultural Influences of Social Policy

Cultures, regardless of where they are or how long ago they existed, share a few common characteristics. Among these characteristics is a structure to care for their children and to socialize them in the culture. Children are taught, both directly and indirectly, the values of the culture, their role in the culture, and the expectations the culture has for them. Children absorb the rules, dynamics, and values, which they will later pass these on to subsequent generations.

As a social worker, you will deal with families from different cultural backgrounds. Understanding the cultural background of the families you work with will help you to effectively intervene and advocate for policies that support their needs. How prepared are you to identify and advocate for social policies that are just and support families from all cultures?

For this Discussion, review this week’s resources, including the Hernandez Family case. Consider how cultural considerations might affect child welfare policy. Then, think about what your responsibilities, as a social worker, might be in supporting the Hernandez family in addressing their child welfare needs through the accessibility of services.

Post an explanation of how cultural considerations might affect child welfare policy. Then, explain what your responsibilities, as a social worker, might be in supporting the Hernandez family in addressing their child welfare needs through the accessibility of services.

Support your post with specific references to the resources. Be sure to provide full APA citations for your references.

Then craft a response to the post resulting from the above requirements and a response to the following:

Respond  by offering any other considerations the posts might need to consider when supporting the Hernandez family. Justify your recommendation.

Support your response with specific references to the resources. Be sure to provide full APA citations for your references.

Post needing a response: NS

Post an explanation of how cultural considerations might affect child welfare policy.

 

Within the child welfare system, although the children’s interest are in mind, legislators are not knowledgeable of the intricacies of the system to appropriately develop policies that can assist all individuals across the board (Edwards, Bryant & Bent-Goodley, 2011). Along with this limited knowledge of the system, there is also limited knowledge on the cultural aspects of these families. Many families do not have the same accessibilities, availabilities or financial statuses and their culture can affect them in the child welfare system. Families with an income below the poverty level were found to be more ten times more like to abuse or neglect their children (Popple & Leighninger, 2019). African American children, although they only make up 14% of the total population, make up 25% of the total of children in placement (Dettlaff, 2015).  This shows that certain changes need to be made to prevent placement or to preserve the family, as it is apparent that these children have different needs that are not being addressed.      

 

Then, explain what your responsibilities, as a social worker, might be in supporting the Hernandez family in addressing their child welfare needs through the accessibility of services.

 

As a social worker who is working alongside the Hernandez family, there are a few things that I could do to assist them. First, I would ensure that their language requirements are being met. They may feel more comfortable speaking in their native tongue, and if necessary have an interpreter if they request it. Secondly, I would assist with any transportation issues they may be having, whether it’s by assisting with obtaining passes from their ACS agency or to develop their list of supports that can help get them to their required services. Lastly, in the instance where classes were not available at the time that was convenient for them, I would assist them in looking for classes that had more open availabilities, especially one that was within their own community which not only would also make transportation easier, but would develop their support system in their own community (“Children of Color”, 2003).    

 

References

 

Children of Color in the Child Welfare System: Perspectives From the Child Welfare Community. (2003). Children of Color in the Child Welfare System: Perspectives From the Child Welfare Community;, 102. https://doi-org.ezp.waldenulibrary.org/10.1037/e624782007-001

:

Dettlaff, A. J. (2015). Racial disproportionality and disparaties in the child welfare system. Retrieved from https://cascw.umn.edu/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/CW360-Winter2015.pdf

 

Edwards, H. R., Bryant, D. U., & Bent-Goodley, T. B. (2011). Participation and influence in federal child welfare policymaking. Journal of Public Child Welfare, 5(2/3), 145–166.

Popple, P. R., & Leighninger, L. (2019). The policy-based profession: An introduction to social welfare policy analysis for social workers (7th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education.

· Chapter 10, “Child Welfare: Family Preservation Policy” (pp. 214-244)

Plummer, S. -B., Makris, S., & Brocksen, S. (Eds.). (2014). Sessions: Case histories. Baltimore: MD: Laureate International Universities Publishing. [Vital Source e-reader].

· Part 1, "The Hernandez Family" (pp.3–5)