Assignment

  

Week 4 6361 Ecology of Policy in Social Work Settings

Readings

Day 1

• Jansson, B. S. (2018). Becoming an effective policy advocate:

From policy practice to social justice. (8th ed.). Pacific Grove,

CA: Brooks/Cole Cengage Learning Series.

o Chapter 4, “Understanding the Ecology of Policy

in Government, Electoral, Community, and

Agency Settings” (pp. 100–140)

• Burns, J. C., Paul, P. D., & Paz, S. R. (2012). Participatory asset

mapping: A community research lab toolkit. Retrieved from

http://www.communityscience.com/knowledge4equity/Ass

etMappingToolkit.pdf

• Community Toolbox. (2016). 2. Assessing community needs

and resources. Retrieved from http://ctb.ku.edu/en/assessingcommunity-

needs-and-resources

Day 2

• Rome, S. H., & Hoechstetter, S. (2010). Social work and

civic engagement: The political participation of professional

social workers. Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare, 37(3),

107– 129.

Assignment:

Community Assessment I live in Atlanta Georgia 

submit a 4-6 page paper. The paper needs to be wellresearched

and written using APA guidelines. Data should come from at

least five sources.

Part I: Understanding your Community

• Analyze how your community has changed over the past 20 years.

Use policy and community concepts and theories from the

learning resources to support your analysis.

• Describe your community, using research and statistics to

describe socio-demographic make-up. (For example: How many

persons live in the city and/or in the town? What were/are their

cultural/racial characteristics? What were/are their incomes, ages,

political affiliations, etc.?)

Part II: Community Assessment

• Describe a problem that the community is currently experiencing.

o Assess the duration, intensity, and frequency of the

problem.

o Analyze the probable etiology of the problem,

supporting your analysis with resources.

• Analyze the key elements and characteristics of the community

that make it vulnerable to this problem.

• Analyze the key strengths of the community that give the

community resilience and the potential for overcoming the problem.

• Identify major institutions (e.g., schools, factories, churches,

attraction sites, etc.) and explain how these institutions contribute to

or inhibit the community’s ability to address the problem?

• Explain which groups are most affected by the problem.

Part III: Community & Policy Action Plan

• Describe your proposed plan for community change.

• Explain the strategies and tactics you would you use to bring about

change. Consider if you would need multiple strategies, and if so,

explain which strategy would be used for each target.

• Explain any policies that may influence the ability, either supportive or

prohibitive, to influence proposed community change.

• Explain what policies would need to be in place to ensure

proposed plans are sustainable.

Make sure that your assertions are supported by appropriate research

and reputable resources.