Week #10: News Article - Twylaa

“Governor Nixon creates Ferguson Commission to ‘strengthen region’”

http://www.stlamerican.com/news/local_news/article_8db99672-5966-11e4-a30a-0fab54bfb73a.html

This article highlights, what I thought of as a very positive change to address the socioeconomic issues revealed in the Ferguson community following the killing of Michael Brown. Govener Nixon has planned to create a Ferguson Commission to study these issues and aim towards effectively addressing them. As many people are well aware of the killing of Michael Brown is not the key issue in this community, his death only sparked the many challenges surrounding social injustice faced by African Americans all over the world.

Nixon’s goal is to bring together a commission of 15 members from “all walks of life.” The members focus will be to serve their fellow Missouri citizens, when they need them the most. The Ferguson Commission would include, your everyday citizens, as well as empowered leaders in business, education, public safety and faith communities. The commission would be responsible for looking into socioeconomic factors; education, population trends and other data to successfully unveil the issues and implement positive change in the future. Governor Nixon says the work of the commission will take time but ultimately changes within our society will be made, and people will be angry and their will be conflict as well as fear and distrust. These emotions are expected considering the fact that change is not easily accepted especially when things have been the same for so long.

What I valued most about this article and Nixon’s effort to make a change, was his concern with reaching the youth and getting their view on issues and hearing their voices in the process of creating a more united region.

However, some have suggested that Governor Nixon’s action to strengthen the region is only a way to “pacify” the African-American community if Wilson were not to be indicted. Ferguson protestors are also not too convinced by Nixon’s actions to bring about change within their community. They question his motive and whose needs is he really claiming to address. Some have even expressed that they are far from hopeful.

I am not too familiar with Governor Nixon’s ability to carry out the promises made, so I cannot say that I understand the concerns of the Ferguson protestors. However, I can say that if Nixon does put together a commission and announce the names next month; I feel that he is putting forth an effort to support the African-American community in Ferguson, and we should try to be open minded to the idea. 

Week #10: Reading Blog - Ali

The Role of Community- Based Organizations

​This article discusses the differences in between different types of community- based organizations (CBOs). This article discusses community development corporations (CDCs) and local development corporations (LDCs) and how they operate and have effect and outcomes within a community. It also talks about how neighborhood associations, youth organizations, and faith-based organizations and how they help maintain quality and improve communities. This article first discusses how CBOs are more effective in regards to community action. These authors say how they create power, provide continuity, help develop expertise, and improve ability for residents to respond more quickly to problems. One large advantage that these authors discuss about CBOs is that they have the advantage of local social networks. The networks provide resources and information in order for programs can take off and run smoothly. Having social networks within the community definitely seem like it would be a huge advantage because you are getting the inside scoop of what the community wants/needs.

​CDCs primary goal according to these authors is to serve low-income communities and empower residents. CDCs specifically deal with housing projects and building houses for low-income areas. This article discusses the three generations of CDCs. These three generations include the Activist Organizations (1960s), Specialization (1970s), and Professionalization (1980s and 1990s). Although there are three generations these three all focus on housing projects. Although in the third generation the authors discussed more the organizations having more of a professional staff than the activists that were in the original generation. There are debates over CDCs as well though. Even though they are doing great things, they are not without flaws. These authors say they rely too heavily on external sources for financing. This being said their focus then shifts from the needs of the community and itsresidents to focusing on that financial gain. Another criticism is they focus too heavily on housing projects. Yes, this is a need, but there are plenty more areas at this point in time that need to be addressed. Some of those things that the authors said were workforce development and social service deliveries. These things are what are in more demand now. 

​LDCs make it easier to conduct economic development activities over local governments. These authors talk about three main advantages of LDCs over local governments. 1) Provide a one-stop shop for businesses unlike local governments. 2) Provide stronger and longer lasting relationships in which will help develop policies that have more of a reflection of the communities interests rather than outsiders. 3) Provide more in order to promote development of the community. “LCDs are simply a legal device to accomplish many of these goals for communities.”

​When these authors discussed the neighborhood associations I immediately thought of North Grand Neighborhood Services. They defined neighborhood associations as, “a civic organization oriented toward maintaining or improving the quality of life in a geographically delimited residential area.” I think that these are great ways to get the community involved especially on the issues the residents deem the most important. This article discusses why residents become involved in neighborhood associations and one was the longevity of the residents living in the neighborhood and wanting to protect the value of their homes. After attending the JVL block meeting this factor makes even more sense to me. Seeing the people at the meeting who have lived their there whole lives want the best for where they live, not just for themselves but for their neighbors as well.  

​Youth organizations and faith-based organizations were the last two items in this article. I think that after reading both of these sections it strengthened what I already knew about youth organizations but not the faith-based organizations. This article reveals that participation in youth organizations increases success in their lives (academic, life skills, etc.). The shocking part to me was that this article says less than 15% of CDCs are faith-based. This was surprising to me because of all the work of the churches in JVL that I have witnessed. JVL’s faith-based organizations show great accomplishment and I was surprised to see that the percentage was not higher.

Week #9: News Article - Susanna

"Churches Plan Ferguson 'BUYcott' To Support Area Businesses"
http://news.stlpublicradio.org/post/churches-plan-ferguson-buycott-support-area-businesses

This article highlights a positive community response to the negative violence that has impacted area businesses in Ferguson, Missouri. Two main St. Louis area churches have come together to initiate a weekend of "BUYcott," encouraging Ferguson community members and out-of-towners to shop a local area businesses. This stands in stark contrast to other individuals who have called to boycott businesses in Ferguson, seemingly as a protest against racism and police brutality in Ferguson.

In a season where so much media attention is given to the needs and shortcomings of Ferguson, it can be difficult for the strengths and assets of the community to shine through. Initiatives such as these should be talked about more and seen by the rest of the world looking in on Ferguson. Ferguson residents seem to know the power in coming together during times of tragedy and taking the negativity in their city as opportunities to do more good and serve their neighbors.

I really loved this article because I had coffee with a 4th generation Ferguson community member today who said that she and her friends have been trying to eat at Ferguson restaurants every day since the death of Michael Brown. She said owners of businesses have been really hurting for lack of business that has come with a negative stigma due to living in Ferguson. This is something I hadn't thought much about previously, and is a great reminder to think about everyone involved and impacted in the midst of high-profile news.

Week #9 : Reading Blog - Mary

Chapter 10 Summary - "Selecting Appropriate Strategies and Tactics"

“Making assumptions about how members of the target system think without actually communicating with them may lead to misconceptions that will threaten the change effort with failure from the beginning” (Netting et al., p.344)

This first part of the chapter focuses on the first task of how to read the political and economic climate in order to get support to implement your intervention.  The authors say to expect conflict to some degree, and at some level when analyzing the target system. They define “target system” as the individual, group, structure……that needs to be altered in order for the main beneficiaries to receive the desired outcome or benefit (Netting, et al., 2012, p. 334).

There are preparations beforehand to complete before “selling” your intervention.  One should know how long the problem has existed, if the problem is considered an emergency, and if the problem is reoccurring, then how often?

With this information in mind, consider who you have to promote the change or intervention, and how they are thought of by the decision makers. Consider who should speak for the group, and who should take a back seat for the presentation.  For example, if the City of Ferguson decides to implement a change that will largely benefit the black community, but needs the buy-in from the black community for the plan to succeed, then the Chief of Police nor the mayor should be the ones to present the proposal.

The 2^nd tactic is to “Assess Resource Considerations” by determining the cost to implement the change and also the cost of doing nothing.

The 3^rd task it to “Weigh the Likelihood of Success” by considering ahead of time the position of the opposition, and how much of a fight they will put up. And then, also consider the amount of support to be shown for the proposal, and where it will most likely come from.

The 4^th task is to “Select Strategies and Tactics” by considering strategies to promote the proposal, deciding if one or many will be needed, and which strategy to use for each target group.

The rest of the chapter discusses the specifics of tactics and strategies.  One of them called “Consider the Pros and Cons of Campaign Strategies” uses terms that we are all familiar with like education, persuasion, lobbying and mass media appeal.  The term that I was not familiar with specifically, was “cooptation.”  We have been talking about it, but I had not heard that specific word.  The authors define cooptation as a way to “minimize anticipated opposition by absorbing or including members of the target system in the action system” (p. 349).   This goes along with the “buy-in” that we have discussed.  Once these members “cross-over” to buy-in and achieve some ownership, they may also be able to recruit others like them from the target system to move over to the action system with them.

Week #8: News Article - Fashon

Police: Off-duty St. Louis officer shoots, kills man who fired at him

By Ed Payne, CNN

http://www.cnn.com/2014/10/08/us/st-louis-officer-shooting/index.html

"At the scene of yet another young man's death," tweeted St. Louis Alderman Antonio French. "This happens too often in our city. It's a crisis that we should all be concerned about."

This article stood out to me in amazement because yet another black young male was killed by an officer. My initial thought was why does this keep happening. After reading this article it led to me to think of how the citizens of St. Louis, MO. need to come together on a macro level. Everyone needs to come together as one community and recognize right from wrong. 

In reading this article I noticed two similarities to Michael Brown, they were both black and young. This article allowed me to open my eyes and realize that police officers have jobs and families as well as everyone else, their jobs happen to be more challenging because they have to think fast with weapons. I think if everyone would remove prejudices from their heart and open up their mind to right and wrong us as an entirety would have a different mindset. People being killed is not justice and destroying police cars, vandalism, and retaliation definitely doesn’t help. I wish everyone would rise above. This article is sad, but it is the world we live in. We need to be careful not to conform.

Week #8: Reading Blog - Fashon

Chapter 9: Building Support for the Proposed Change

Chapter 9 focuses on information being used to develop a plan for change to be accepted, and making rational decisions about strategies and tactics. The proper intervention and strategies will be used in this chapter to conduct and develop plans and refine intervention through a series of task. There are four task which point out the foundation to move toward change. The macro-macro level changes focuses on a segment of a community or organization.

Under Task 1: Develop the Intervention of Hypothesis, you must refine the working hypothesis of etiology and develop a working intervention hypothesis.  Once there is an adequateamount of information about the issue at hand and its etiology, only then can an intervention hypothesis be composed. While developing a hypothesis all issues may not automatically form nor seem relevant in the beginning. To help weed out the non-relevant information it important to look for cause-and-effect relationships among the community that you are dealing with. The intervention is meant to be designed to address the needs specified to see and track the results clearly. During this task developing a support team is important because it allows you to understand each of the systems in which you are aiding to help.

Task 2: Define Participants, while defining your participants you have to establish individualswho are willing and readily to help. In order for change to be effective in macro communities it is necessary to have allies. When going into a community the residents may not always be acceptable to change and may have to do some negotiating to see what the participants may need. It is important to have a variety of participants so that you can have everyone’s perspective on issues/concerns (i.e. women, men, ethnic groups). In defining participants a system is developed, which includes initiator system, change agent system, client system, support system, controlling system, host and implementing system, target system, and action system. The subsystems have been created to assist who should be involved and why. The information below details each system used.

(1) Initiator System: contains individuals who have recognized the existence of a problem and have called attention to it. 

(2) Change Agent System: is the individual designated as coordinator of the change effort. They take on initial planning or task. The change agent should be carefulnot to assume that the positions and perspectives about the proposed change on the part of the controlling system, host system, and implementing system are identical.

(3) Client System: which is made up of individuals who become direct or indirect beneficiaries of change if it is implemented. The client systems intend to benefit from the change effort.

(4) Support System: refers to everyone in the macro level who is interested in change coming about. 

(5) Controlling System: is the person/group of individuals that have delegated authority to approve and order the implementation of proposed change. 

(6) Host and Implementing System: two systems combined to one. The host system is the organization responsible for the area of proposed change to be addressed. The employees and volunteers are referred to as the implementing system. 

(7) Target System: composed of individual, groups, structure, policy, or practice that needs change for the primary beneficiaries to achieve the desired benefits. 

(8) Action System: made up of individuals from other systems who have an active role in planning change and moving forward in implementation. 

Under Task 3: Examine System Capacity for Change, it is addressed to assess openness and commitment to change. Informal assessment, based on experience and prior interpersonal and decision making skills conduct earlier pertinent information/business. Determination of availability and resources to sustain chance is major. As we discussed in the last actual class setting limited resources seem to be the major issue in community because individuals need help but have limited resources to achieve progress. Outside opposition to change must be identified and explored. 

The final task is Task 4: Select An Approach to Change, this approach makes clear what needs to be changed. It also focuses on selecting policy, program, project, personnel, or practice approach. The policies are represented by a formally adopted statement about what is to be done and how it should happen. The programs are the structured activities designed to achieve a set of goals and objectives. The projects are much like programs but may be smaller in a scale, have a time-limited existence, be more flexible, and can be adopted to the needs of a changing environment. The personal are those persons who are in interaction within the change arena. The most important is that change is recognized and the needs to be involved are important components of successful change.

Week #7 (10-8): News Article - Kara

How Partnerships Build Communities

http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20140903/OPINION01/309030011

This article talks about the partnership between Michigan Strategic Fund (MSF) and the Michigan Economic Development Corporation’s Michigan Community Revitalization Program for two plans to rebuild parts of Detroit. One plan is to build 20 new building that will provide housing and the other plan is to build 463 low-rise units that will include storefronts along the river.  I really liked this article because I am from Michigan and I think we are always drawn to things from our past or childhood.  I remember when I was growing up my father would always talk about Detroit and how rundown and broken it had become.  He would always say it use to be a place “we” as “Michiganders” could be proud of.  It was a place “we” built and now it makes me sad what it has become.  I love to see that the people of Detroit and of Michigan are starting to reinvest in their communities.

I also found this article I didn’t summarize it because it is really short but I thought it was a really good idea.

http://www.wncn.com/story/26681445/building-communities-one-cup-at-a-time

Week #7 (10-8): Reading Blog - Kara (Additional Reading)

Creating Whole Communities

Enhancing the Capacity of Community Development Nonprofits in the St. Louis Region

The main purpose of this article is to address why the “Core” of St. Louis is losing its population and what needs to be done to help solve this problem.   

Over the past decade the “Core” of St. Louis has seen a decline in population while the suburbs and surrounding areas have seen an increase in population.  This transferring or shifting of populations is putting a strain on the metropolitan area.  It is creating more traffic congestion, pollution and loss of interest in preserving the history of St. Louis.  So what can St. Louis do to build a stronger and more stable communities?   

This article suggests three interventions that need to take place.  1. St. Louis needs to increase its capacity for strategic community development, which basically means they need to provide more services that result in making more “whole communities.” This article states that a “whole community” is one that has a diverse housing stock, multiple modes of transportation, successful schools, sustainable energy practices, vibrant public spaces and strong civic participation. 2. Create a supportive community development system.  This requires that government, public policy, agencies and community resources come together to create a community development plan that works for everyone.  3. Increase community development corporations (CDC).  These CDC’s need to come from within the community, its residents and key stakeholders in order to be effective.   

By doing these three things we can create a more stable structure for not only the residents of St. Louis but also for the surrounding areas.  I think the most important thing that I took away from this article is the importance of the CDC’s to the vitality of the community, regardless of whether they are small or large.  The CDC’s provide resources, ideas and stability to a community.  Without these organizations it will be almost impossible for a community to become a “whole community.” 

Week #7 (10-8): Reading Blog - Kara (Ch. 6)

Chapter 6 - 

Communities are complicated systems that are made up of many smaller micro systems and without them the larger community would not function.  In order to facilitate change in a community one needs to understand how each micro system within the community functions, how they impact each of the other parts of the community and how the micro systems coalesce to make up the framework of the larger community.  As social workers, we will use a variety of assessment tools to gather information for our evaluation of the framework and the structure of a community.  In gathering information about a community it is best to personally immerse yourself in the environment to observe firsthand how the individual functions in the community. It is important to understand the community’s larger historical context and major historical events and milestones.  Finally, it is imperative to understand that communities are living organisms that are continuously changing.

There are three tasks that will help gather the critical information necessary to evaluate a community (see table 6.1). 

1.  Focus on the target populations; the people in the community you are trying to help. Gathering data about the community will give you a deeper understanding of the target population and the full extent of their needs.  A good question to ask is “What population is in the most need or being the most oppressed and why?”  Once the target population has been accurately identified, the demographics, the psychology, and the resources of the group must be determined.  Specifically, how many people make up the target population, how do they view themselves, how does the community view them and how much of the community’s time and assets are spent on the target population. Lastly what are their needs, how does the community view those needs (important/not important), and how are those needs being addressed within in the community.  This can be done through community meetings, individual interviews, analyzing data, and the review of data previously collected.

2. Determine community characteristics “boundaries; strengths, issues, and social problems; and values” (pg. 182).    Some good questions to ask are “What is the size of the area being included (i.e. city, neighborhood, block)?”, “What are the community’s strengths, major issues, and social problems?”, “What are the dominant values (traditions, beliefs)?”, and “Where is the oppression and discrimination occurring?”

3. Identify the community’s hierarchy, who runs the community? Who controls the money, who controls the access to resources, and how easily are those resources accessed by the target population? What kinds of resources are available (ex. TANF, OAA funding, education)?

To fit all the pieces together and effectively help the target population we must understand how each piece communicates, cooperates, coordinates, and collaborates with the other pieces within the community.  As social workers, we need to be able to look at and study a particular community and gather data about their strengths, problems, needs and resources so that we can properly affect, influence and facilitate changes that will help the target population.