Choose a social welfare problem that you believe is in need of change and write a letter to an elected local, state, or federal official regarding the issue you have chosen.

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Assignment: Advocating with Policy Makers

In social work, advocacy is very important to promote social change. Letters are often used as an effective tool to bring attention to social justice issues. This assignment requires you to choose a social justice issue that is important to you, gather current research and data on the subject matter, and write a one page professional and formal letter to your elected local, state, or national representative responsible for your social justice matter you have identified.

Choose a social welfare problem that you believe is in need of change and write a letter to an elected local, state, or federal official regarding the issue you have chosen. You are not required to send the letter; however, it must be written in a professional, well organized, clear, and concise format.

Writing letters to public officials is a form of political advocacy for clients and social workers. For this Assignment, you will write an advocacy letter to public official about a problem and a policy. In addition, you will write a 1-2 page explanation of your letter. Your explanation will provide the rationale behind your chosen issue and the approach you took with the specific representative.

Assignment: In the same document, submit both Part I and II of the assignment (2-4 pages):

Part I: Letter to Representative

Your letter should include:

A description of the social welfare issue

An explanation of how you want the legislator to respond to the issue (vote, create legislation, hold public hearings, etc.) and why.

Support of your viewpoints with credible facts and research.

Part II: Explanation (1-2 pages, double-space, APA format)

For this part of the assignment, provide an explanation of:

Why you selected the issue

How the issue affects social work

The reason you chose the specific representative

The approach you took with the representative (consider the representative’s voting history, political affiliation, and any other factors you considered)

Explain any gaps in service you found in Joe’s case as a result of the drug policies described in the case study.  Describe a strategy you might use to address these gaps or make changes to the policies that affect Joe.

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Discussion: Drug Policies and Ethics

The NASW Code of Ethics provides social workers with guidelines and standards for interacting with clients, colleagues, communities, and society, as a whole. These standards govern interactions and professional behavior of social work practitioners. The NASW has also developed specific standards, which are published in the NASW Standards for Social Work Practice With Clients With Substance Use Disorders. These standards emphasize the importance of the competence of social workers. The standards indicate that social workers should be knowledgeable of evidence-based interventions for substance disorders. The confidentiality standard becomes essential as social workers must be informed and comply with federal, state, and local laws about substance use, as well as third-party payee regulations.

For this Discussion, review this week’s resources, including the case Working with Clients with Dual Diagnosis: The Case of Joe,and consider how social policies affect Joe’s circumstances as described in the case study. Then, think about any gaps in service you found in Joe’s case. Finally, reflect on how you might address these gaps or make changes to the policies that affect Joe.

Explanation of how drug policies affect Joe’s circumstances, as described in the case study.

Explain any gaps in service you found in Joe’s case as a result of the drug policies described in the case study.

Describe a strategy you might use to address these gaps or make changes to the policies that affect Joe.

Support your post with specific references to the resources.

Describe a substance use or drug policy that you believe is unjust or disproportionately affects a certain group or population.

Describe the ethical obligations of social workers to make changes to substance use policies.

Be sure to provide full APA citations for your references.

Describe the location including the demographics such as race and ethnicity, gender, socio-economic status, age, education level, morbidity and mortality statistics, and other common or relevant health statistics.

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Access to Healthcare

Community health centers provide primary health care services to more than 22 million people across the United States. Each health center provides for the unique needs of patients in its immediate community. Many of the patients that are seen at health centers represent uninsured or underinsured patients and/or those with limited access to healthcare. This assignment will help you identify service delivery needs and provide quality recommendations for improving access to healthcare.

Read the following case study from your textbook:

  • Case 20: Big Brother is Watching: Utilizing Clinical Decision Support as a Tool to Limit Adverse Drug Events

Then, do the following:

  • Conduct research on “community health centers” by reviewing the National Association of Community Health Centers website at About Our Health Centers – NACHC
  • Choose a geographic region or location and research the types of services delivered at the community health centers in that area.
  • Describe the location including the demographics such as race and ethnicity, gender, socio-economic status, age, education level, morbidity and mortality statistics, and other common or relevant health statistics.
  • Identify the other social services that are available to your selected community to strengthen and sustain the community health system in the location you have chosen.
  • Identify and discuss the barriers to access to healthcare.
  • Explain how healthcare providers can improve access to quality care and reach their target population.

Write a 3 to 5 page paper in Word format. Apply APA standards to citation of sources.

Use the following file naming convention: LastnameFirstInitial_W1_A3.doc. For example, if your name is John Smith, your document will be named SmithJ_W1_A3.doc.

Make sure to provide evidence-based research to support your work. Provide examples of how particular strategies were previously implemented and worked. Address the policy, systems, and environmental changes that may be needed to help support change in the community health center.

Describe one intervention you might use for the identified client that would address the presenting problem and any related psychosocial factors

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This Final Project is a 6- to 8-page paper and will be due Day 3 of Week 11. Include the following sections in your Final Project:

Section One:Choose one of the three Case Studies focusing on a family in crisis. Each member of the family has unique issues that you must address. You must also determine the primary problems (this may include diagnostic impressions but not formal diagnoses), intervention, prevention, and education required to assist the family. In your project, do the following:Identify the client and the presenting problem or symptoms. Briefly explain if anyone else is involved and how they contribute to the problem. Explain if anyone other than the “identified client” also could be identified as a client. If so, describe who and why.Briefly describe any underlying problems or potential mental health diagnoses contributing to the primary problem that should be noted as you proceed with the client.Briefly describe the presenting problem from the family’s perspective and what theoretical perspective you will use to assess, analyze, and develop a treatment plan for this case.Identify the unique needs of each individual in the family.Briefly describe the culture of the family, societal expectations, gender roles, and cultural norms. Briefly explain how each of these might contribute to the problem.Briefly explain the child and adolescent culture and at least one general contributing factor to the identified issue and explain how this may or may not impact the family dynamics.Describe one intervention you might use for the identified client that would address the presenting problem and any related psychosocial factors.Justify your intervention with evidence-based research to support the use of the interventions you have identified.Briefly describe one preventative technique that you might use to reduce the likelihood of further crisis or the perpetuation of the current crisis.

Section Two:Reflect on your journal entries throughout the course and consider what you may have learned about yourself as a future clinician working with children, adolescents, and families. Explain any areas of strength you have identified by completing this course that will assist you in working with children, adolescents, and families.Explain any areas of strength you identified as you worked on this course that will assist you in working with children, adolescents, and families.Explain any areas of knowledge you might want to further develop to become more effective as a clinician working with children, adolescents, and families.Explain any insights you had or conclusions you drew as you worked on this course regarding your interest in becoming a clinician that works with children and adolescents.

Be sure that the Final Project is written using APA format.

Please see the attachment for the Case Study that was chosen to complete the project. Thank you so much!