When there is a lack of community participation within provided programs and organizations, one must question why. It would make sense that the lack of participation is related to the needs of the community. If a program is created that does not meet the needs of the comunity then it would seem obvious that the program will not be beneficial to anyone, therefore no one is going to partake in it's activities. The key here is to understand the needs of the people within the community in order to provide the best services. It may be difficult to determine these needs if for exampler there is a community that has many needs and one is not sure which need to tackle first. Some types of needs are physical, informational, personal, and root or causal needs. A good way to sort these needs out and decipher which needs attention first and formost is to receive feedback from the community. A macro practice leader should not just start attempting change within a community without first talking to the members of that community in order to see their perception of what the problems are. A leader could administer surveys and hold community meetings to get feedback from others.
The issue of a program not being able to sustain itself is a terrifying one to any program coordinator or director. Usually programs along with everyone's hard work in building the program is jeopordized by funding cuts and low participation numbers. This goes back to community participation. If people are not utilizing a program then it's going to be seen as a waste of money by goverment funders along with other various donors, who will most likely choose to stop providing money to the program. Some strategies for sustaining financial provisions are marketing the organization or program, sharing positions and resources, and incorporating other programs that share a similar mission. Marketing is not only about acquiring funds, but it includes image-building, friend-raising, membership development, community relations, political activities, and education. All of these concepts are important in getting the image of the program or organization out to the public. Another key strategy to help gain financial stability is to collaborate with other well established organizations and programs who share a similar mission. These collaborations could help open up various doors for the new program and pave the way towards a successful community organization.
The last identified issue among macro practice is the unfortunate circumstance of putting together a poor group. If members of a group all do not have specific roles and share the same drive towards the mission of the group then the group will not work together efficiently which can be detrimental to the outcome of the intended program. It is important to establish organizational structure within a group very early on. Organizational structure can give members clear guidelines in how to proceed in their activities and it also binds members together. Structure within an organization is also inevitable. After a period of time people will naturally fall into a role within the group, so it's just better to get this accomplished at the start of the creation of the group so everything can run smoothly from the beginning. If members of a group cannot establish some sort of organization then the program itself can fail because the group cannot work together cohesively.
Macro practice can be a tough area for social workers to make a difference in, but when done correctly, it can bring great changes to a vast amount of people. Many issues can arise throughout macro practice, but there are various strategies that one can develop to avoid those problems. It is important for a social worker to be aware of these issues as well as the possible solutions in order to be a good leader.
References:
http://ctb.ku.edu/en/solveproblem/index.aspx
No comments:
Post a Comment