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.