Term Paper on "Policy and Practice in Social Service Organizations Agency Descriptions Agency Change"

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§ Types of services provided by the organization:

Since it deals exclusively with domestic violence and domestic problems, some of the services provided relate to that and the organization has encompassed a big array of programs that are as stated below:

General types of services provided:

Safety assessment and planning: This is a service aimed at families in danger or potential danger.

Comprehensive case management: deals with the courts and legal affairs

Individual and group paraprofessional counseling: Counsels families and individuals and tends to juvenile issues.

Individual, family and group counseling: is an extension of the above.

Referrals to medical and social services: This is a referral service where action is taken by third parties.

Referrals and advocacy in obtaining housing resources: Again this involves other parties.

Relocation assistance: This may pertain to the broken homes and orphaned children.

Emergency shelter: The organization runs one such shelter.

Assistance in completing a Temporary Restraining Order -- TRO

Life skills training (financial planning, anger management, coping with stress and other topics)

How long the agency has been providing these services

(Approximation in years): 20 years: The problem is that the organization takes on more than necessary activities and is constrained by the resources available to it. For example, some of the legal services and the involvement of other agencies must be outsourced to avoid cost burden. In a care which involves complete legal solutions along with counselling for example there must be a complete delineation of the activities. In order to identify the magnitude of the work of the organization and to identify the problem areas, literature review of the problems in the work area was done. Based on that, the following problem areas were identified.

Problem: Children exposed to domestic violence are 1500 times more likely to become a victim or perpetrator of domestic violence.

Target population: Children ages 5- 18 years of age whom has a parent that is enrolled in the Adult Outreach Domestic Violence Program at the agency in Corona, CA.

Present findings:

Proposed services: To provide individual and support group advocacy for children impacted by domestic violence.

Services provided:

Problem solving skills

Identifying and processing feelings

Develop healthy relationships

Build self-esteem

Encourage positive communication

Conflict resolution

Anger management curriculum.

Though these ideals are being met with the organization, the problem is very deep.. For example the children being trained as above alone will not solve the problems but may increase their dependence if the home as a whole is not attended to. This can be seen in the evidence of the research that was done by Williams and Becker (1994) child abuse may stem from the broken family and they have found that for the issue treatment is less effective with minorities and this leaves a chasm that is not filled. They advocate that there must be the following attitude: there must be created a "cultural competence occur when these programs do the following: (a) network with the minority community, (b) locate outside consultants with expertise in working with minority clients, (c) obtain information concerning service delivery and programming for minority clients, and (d) have at least one bilingual counselor." (Williams; Becker, 1994) Such a system is lacking and it is proposed that while the problems of the children are attended to, a holistic approach that can also take into account the entire spectrum of the issue also be considered.

History

ADV was incorporated in June, 1978, as the Riverside County Coalition for Alternatives to Domestic Violence. Then representations are made to State Sen. Robert Presley to get SB 91, a bill that funds the first six domestic violence shelters in the state, including Horizon House, passed. The coalition receives a grant from the state to fund the 24-hour Crisisline. Based on that the organization purchased a bungalow in downtown and is renamed Horizon House, Riverside County's domestic violence shelter with 15 beds. In 1984 the Corona Outreach Office begins to function at CircleCity Hospital. The board of directors began $2 million fund-raising campaign to create two more shelters: a 15-20 bed "Horizon House East" in the desert and a 45-bed "Horizon House West" to serve Corona-Norco and the mid-county area.

By 1991 expansion occurs to Blythe, Hemet, Lake Elsinore, Moreno Valley and Palm Springs. 1993 laws that restrain firearms passed with compulsory personnel to receive domestic violence training and requiring them to report suspected cases to police are passed. In 1995 the visitor Denise Brown, sister of Nicole-Simpson Brown, lectured about the infamous O.J. Simpson trial and the impact it had on domestic violence victims. In 1997 the organization got a $600,000 grant from the Office of Child Abuse Prevention to form the Coalition for Family Preservation Violence Prevention Program in Corona, including a school-based Teen Violence Prevention Program and specialized training for professionals, including one of the first clergy-focused conferences in the state. (Alternativestodv, 2013d)

It is on the childrens programs that this paper is concerned. Between 2000 and 2013 the organization has expanded and included among other things the expansion to Temecula in space donated by Hope Lutheran Church, Riverside County Department of Public Social Services and a new 60-bed residential facility with funds for the same at $1.5 million has been raised for Casa de Paz, including an $849,000 grant from the California Endowment, $500,000 from the California Community and Housing Development Emergency Housing Assistance Program and $200,000 from the Weingart Foundation. There are more activities that are current.

Mission, Values, and Philosophy

§ What is the mission statement?

Mission statements for any organization are today a foundation stone for defining its activities, attitudes and culture. Thus the mission statement influences the organization to a very great extent. Thus the mission statement shows the degree of internalization and the general principles of governance adopted by the institution, and its core values and responsibilities and the area of interest. (Gaebel, 2010) According to the organization their mission statement is: "ADV's mission is to improve the quality of life and create hope by ending the cycle of domestic violence through services and education for residents of Riverside County." (Alternativestodv, 2013d) In keeping with the principle it can be said that the mission is well considered because it is specific, targeted- domestic violence and limits its activity to its capacity -- namely the Riverside County. This therefore is an ideal mission.

§ Are there clearly stated organizational goals to support the mission? Does the formal "mission" comport with your understanding of the agency?

Yes the agency has defined goals, and these goals will be in accordance with the mission. In examining the stated goals, it can be seen that the Goals and Objectives as stated by the organization are: to: "Provide victims of domestic violence with alternate ways of dealing with physical and/or emotional abuse through education, counselling, shelter, non-judgmental emotional support, legal advocacy and housing assistance, increase community awareness of the problem of domestic violence, Serve as an advocate for all victims of domestic violence, find ways and means to decrease the frequency, magnitude and recurrence of domestic violence" (Alternativestodv, 2013d) The above goals resonate well with the mission because the goals are aligned to the mission statement and there is no dissonance. The organization in the website also proposes to enlarge the goals to 'working on programs and services that address the broader issues associated with family violence.' That may be ambitions at the moment because of the constraints the organization has now. It would be advised not to expand without consolidating and bettering… READ MORE