As someone involved in the field of Social Work, I am regularly challenged to assist individuals and families to cope through, work on. and deal with internal and external issues that can affect their ability to feel empowered. These factors can undermine their personal sense of well-being and their self-esteem. Therefore, it is important that I am aware of the available ways to effectively assist my client, while at the same time maintaining boundaries and professionalism. In my dual current position as a Resource Specialist and Intake Coordinator, I work with formerly incarcerated individuals that regularly face all different types of oppression in their daily lives. When they are released from jail or prison, most feel basically powerless. Many come out and do not even have a home to go to. On top of that, those in power (Parole/Probation Officers, landlords, employers, etc.) frequently seek to keep them from achieving their goals of obtaining suitable housing, employment, training and education, etc., whether directly or inadvertently. Therefore, they are often forced into positions that may hinder their growth and development, as well as put them into unsafe, unsavory, and unsanitary environments. One particular client that comes to mind was told by his Parole Officer that he could not return to his own home to live with his wife and children after serving 3 years in prison for a non-violent crime. This was because his P.O. deemed the neighborhood that they lived in to be “unsafe” and “not conducive to his successful re-entry into the community.” Consequently, his only available choices were to enter into the shelter system, or to be placed in a transitional housing facility with 39 other men. In either case, h... ... middle of paper ... ...r rental assistance checks have them paid through the month and they have not gotten into any altercations that would warrant a discharge and subsequent eviction. This is also a good thing for the shelter system because since many thousands of individuals rely on three-quarter housing to live, the shelter does not have to absorb these individuals into their already over-crowded facilities. Furthermore, even though many times tenants are mandated to attend a substance abuse outpatient treatment program, this can actually work to their advantage because after a minimum of 90 days in this program, they can qualify to begin the process for a 2010e supportive housing application. They are applicable on the basis that they are technically still considered homeless and/or at risk of homelessness, and have successfully participated in and/or completed a treatment program
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Show MoreGulcur, Leyla, Padgett, Deborah K., and Tsemberis, Sam. (2006). “Housing First Services for People Who Are Homeless with Co-Occurring Serious Mental Illness and Substance Abuse.” Research on Social Work Practice, Vol 16 No. 1.
Programs such as parole and probation have been introduced as alternatives to incarceration. These programs are designed for offenders who are not considered a hazard to society. Parole is typically granted towards the end of a sentence and probation commonly in place of one, but because the organization is overloaded, financially unstable, and carelessly managed, it often operates as well as a feeder organization, guaranteeing prison cells will not be unoccupied for long. Actually, according to a report compiled by the Pew Center for the States parole violators accounted for over a third of all prison admissions in 2005 and "half the US jai...
are often sentencing them to incarceration in a rehabilitation and treatment facility, instead of prison.
Imagine having 10 students fail an exam in a class of 15 people. If over half of the students don’t grasp the content than the root of the issue must be on the way they are being taught. If this was the case the teacher will probably have to take a different approach on the way he/she is teaching in order to ensure the success of all students and not just a few of them. If the educational system fails students, then hope of a better future is very unlikely. Likewise, when the system fails to guide prisoners on the right path, they are not only failing inmates individually, but they are also failing society.
their male inmate counterparts. The very few work assignments that are available tend to often be in cosmetology, office skills, and sewing clothing items. These jobs are supposed to help these women gain skills that can help them earn job upon release. By only offering these gender specific jobs training programs are limiting the job skills that these women could possibly be learning and also putting them in a gender category. The criminal justice system is limiting the opportunities from the incarnated female population. They are often denied many of the opportunities that the male prison population would receive, which can slow down the process of a successful return to the community. According to Covington and Bloom, “They must find employment (Often with few skills and a sporadic work history), find safe and drug-free housing, and, in many cases, maintain recovery from addiction. However, many women find themselves either her homeless or in environments that do not support sober living. Without strong support in the community to help them navigate the multiple systems and agencies, many women fall back into a life of substance abuse and criminal activity.” (Covington and Bloom,
Working as a social worker although challenging, is a rewarding career. Social workers assist people and families to cope with problems they are facing in their lives. To understand more about social workers, I caught up with Margaret Jones, who is on a charitable mission in the country. Margaret, as she prefers to be called, was born in Haiti but after the devastating earthquake, which saw her lose four close relatives, decided to relocate to the United Kingdom where she got her current job.
As the current prison structures and sentencing process continues to neglect the issues that current offenders have no change will accrue to prevent recidivism. The issue with the current structure of the prison sentencing process is it does not deal with the “why” the individual is an social deviant but only looks at the punishment process to remove the deviant from society. This method does not allow an offender to return back to society without continuing where they left off. As an offender is punished they are sentenced (removal from society) they continue in an isolated environment (prison) after their punishment time is completed and are released back to society they are now an outsider to the rapidly changing social environment. These individuals are returned to society without any coping skills, job training, or transitional training which will prevent them from continuing down th...
The largest function of the Housing First program is to ensure that people with mental illness have somewhere to stay on a permanent basis. This will help the government to take better care of their health since they can easily be accessed. The program helps deal with the senior demographic in the country and helps ensure that medical care can be provided in the comfort of a home. In most cases, service participants that are suppo...
The United States Parole system has been the longest running form of rehabilitation of inmates that have served time in the prison system. Parolees are granted parole by a committee that feel like the individual is ready to function normally back into society; in which case most are “maxed out” of the system, meaning that there is no more room in the prisons and due to good behavior within the prison walls these are the prisoners that are paroled out. Caseloads are at an all-time high due to the fact that parole officers are over worked and under paid, therefore there it is easier for the ex-cons to re-offend due to the lack of supervision that should be taking place. More often are the parolees just being released into society without supervision
In class, I was giving the assignment to reflect my thoughts about the social work profession and what I like to pursed in the future. I knew since I was young that I wanted a career where I could help people who were in need or do not have a voice to speak up. I wanted a career that helped change peoples’ lives and made me feel like I was making a differences in someone’s life. A career that I got to wake up every day that made me feel like I was changing the world. However, I did not know what major to consider. So, my senior year in high school, I had the opportunity to get into a program called Medical Topics. Through this program, I had the opportunity to shadow nurses, doctors, and other people in the hospital. I got to understand and
While working at Riker’s I can see the emotional strain that parole causes on clients. The constant checking in, and meeting here, and drug testing is overwhelming and cumbersome. My clients specifically committed there crimes almost 20 years ago. They are both in well into their late 40’s and 50’s. My clients find it difficult to consider themselves an adult. They both maintain drug free lives but still have to report to parole. They constantly have an authority figure about them dictating their lives. Clients reported their mishaps with parole stem from their resistance to report to parole.
With inmates learning how to function in society, they may be less likely to commit another crime. This means that there will be less victims susceptible to harm and the communities will be safer to live in. According to Kayleen Wardner, inmates realize that when they get released, they’re having to deal with institutional issues as well. Many of the inmates struggle with mental illnesses and substance abuse in which they don’t receive treatment for. Over 75% of adult offenders have a substance abuse problem. To make things even harder, over half haven’t received there diploma or GED. Some have children that they cannot mentally or financially take care of, which is another stress point in getting
Presently, one of the main causes of homelessness in American is the lack of affordable housing. New York researchers claim that affordable housing is the answer to homelessness. Researcher, Mary Beth Shinn, states, ?homelessness is first and foremost a housing problem not a psychological one? (qtd. in Franklin 15.) Nearly all the families in their study became stably housed regardless of substance abuse, mental illness, physical illness or incarceration. This study indicates that homelessness is not a permanent condition. People do get themselves out of the problem when an intervention occurs to provide them with access to the housing market (NYU 2.) Without permanent housing, people are unable to keep jobs and are more likely to become ill. Permanent housing provides stability that enables them to find and retain employment with health benefits.
The National Association of social workers (2008) defines the unifying primary mission or purpose of social work as “enhancing human well-being and helping meet the basic human needs of all people, with particular attention to the needs and empowerment of people who are vulnerable, oppressed, and living in poverty.” (Dubois & Miley, 2014).
Social work is a profession which promotes social change, problem solving in human relationships and enhance well-being. It is important to acknowledge the history of social work and the purpose of social work and why it exists. Social work is a questioned theory with different perspectives on what it is and how it should be practised. Social work helps people to deal with personal and social problems so that people can overcome or adjust to any personal difficulties. Social work is a combination of social stability and social change. Social stability promotes individual and social welfare and social change seek to change negative aspects of society. Values are implicit within the law and policy and these tend to reflect the values within society. Personal values can influence the way social workers interpret and implement their profession.