Colleague 1
According to Jansson, Social workers can often liaison with advocacy groups in local, state, and national jurisdictions to assist specific vulnerable populations, as a volunteer, member, staff person, or board person. They can initiate their own projects. (Jansson, B. S. (2018). Like Jansson, I understand that with the help of advocacy groups in communities are much needed for vulnerable populations. This is why I am interested in advocating for domestic violence victims. There could be so many more things to advocate for that I can personally relate to, but domestic violence is one that I do not wish upon anyone. I have not suffered from domestic violence, but lately, there have been two cases in my local area where one person in each case has lost their lives. There are approximately five million who are experiencing domestic partner violence. Although domestic violence can affect anyone, it is mostly women that are victims of this horrendous crime.

Domestic violence is one of the most significant issues in America today. Introducing more polices for domestic violence can be very beneficial for victims. For example, domestic violence plays a big part in the culture and different backgrounds. In some instances, some studies have found out that domestic violence is higher in non-English speaking backgrounds.

One idea that I would like to do for a social change project is to hold programs for minority women. These programs would allow minorities the opportunity to speak out and get help with anything they may need. These programs would be very discrete. These programs would also not put these victims in any uncompromising position. How would women find out about these programs? They would be in places such as doctor’s offices or even the stalls of a women’s restroom. Another project I would like to work on is helping the same population of minority women get jobs and education if they lack it. Many times women in an abusive relationship are not allowed to work. That makes them very vulnerable and is only confined to what their partner is okay with them doing. Going to the grocery store, cleaning the house, and taking care of the children are amongst a few. This indeed is not explaining that everyone who is a victim of domestic violence does not have a job, but it is very common for the male to have the upper hand in this kind of household.

The project can impact clients in the clinical setting. A clinical setting can be beneficial, especially if victims are traumatized by this situation. There will always be social workers in a clinical setting to help ease their patients. A lot of domestic violence services suffer from post-traumatic disorders, so they need that clinical relationship with a social worker to help them move on. 

Resource

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.

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Colleague 2

Homelessness in the United States is a surprisingly diverse issue as it affects various different populations in various different ways. For instance, the US Department of Housing and Development (2018) notes that on any given day, almost 500,000 people experienced some form of homelessness. Within those numbers, we see groups of minorities and marginalized individuals and differing intellectual abilities and thus individuals in need of advocacy Baker (1994). While there are policies in place that assist these groups, the fact that these groups are disproportionately affected by the matter at hand shows that more policy work needs to be done. For instance, policies that help provide more temporary housing assistance programs as well as long term career training programs and mental health service accessibility could assist these populations with climbing out of housing instability and homelessness.

In terms of our project, I would like to dive further into the topic of homelessness resources and how it affects groups such as the severely mentally ill or impaired, African American youth or even LGBTQ youth. These groups need a special voice to bring about positive change and becoming well versed on this topic could help prepare me as a professional to address what is needed. Clinically, it could equip practitioners with viable resources that could impact the lives of the marginalized individuals they work with.

Baker, S. G. (1994). Gender, ethnicity, and homelessness: accounting for demographic diversity on the streets. American Behavioral Scientist, 4, 476.

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. (2018). The 2013 Annual Homeless Assessment Report (AHAR) to Congress. Washington, DC: Author.