Advocacy in Human Services Essay Example for Free

protagonism in world go Essay at a lower place the Rainbow Inc. began when a group of four affectionately conscious people discovered a dire need for quality, unbiased welf atomic number 18 support without prejudice or borders and became an incorporated association in February 2007.Since its inception, under(a) the Rainbow Inc. has been committed to excellence in the delivery of social welf are services found on their principles of charity, care and compassion. A range of services designed to promote independence and to enhance quality of liveness are provided by down the stairs the Rainbow, all of which encompass care and support of local corporation members, in particular those who require relief from privation and/or the dependents of any such(prenominal) persons. Advocacy is the primary component part of case managers who volunteer at Under The Rainbow and in this compassionate service foundting and any different it is essential for services to be provided acc urately.This essay will define protagonism in a tender-hearted creations services context as well as discuss the type of protagonism that is beneficial to customers in this chosen human service setting. In conclusion, this essay will alike describe issues that Under The Rainbow soak up encountered whilst implementing advocacy and change and the way the current policy-making climate can effect their ability to restrain in advocacy and deliver quality human services.Whilst the definition of advocacy in general is broad, in human service and social change state practice advocacy is essentially the process of protecting human rights or to change discriminatory or abusive treatment to the vulnerable, whether working with an individual or a group (Corey, Corey Callanan, 1998).Human service workers all act as advocates in the course of their work (Sorensen and Black, 2001) and the Australian Association of sociable Workers Code of Ethics (2002) supports this view citing, The so cial worker will advocate for changes in policy, service delivery and social conditions which enhance the opportunities for those most vulnerable in the community however Forbat and Atkinson (2005) represent that advocacy is not social work, but its principles and values resonate closely. Regardless of onesdefinition, the key concept in the notion of any type of advocacy, is that it requires at least three parties the client, the advocate and the other side (School of wellness and Human Services, 2007).Literature suggests that the differing types of advocacy seem as broad as its definition and a itemise of different types of advocacy exist, however within Under the Rainbows human service framework they are predominately implicated with individual or case advocacy. According to Hepworth Larsen (1993), case advocacy is a way to obtain resources or services for clients that would not otherwise be provided and this theory underlies Under the Rainbows belief that to advocate for a cl ient is to bring about some form of personal and/or social change (School of Health and Human Services, 2007).Under the Rainbow is a voluntary community based organisation which now boasts a membership of lxv individuals, many of whom work with clients as advocates for change. The goal for each volunteer who manages cases for Under the Rainbow is to promote fair, equal, and humane treatment through fundraising, charity provision (food and clothing), welfare work and social action against injustice for the disadvantaged. Under the Rainbows social work practice is mainly concerned with implementing changes in the local community to assist in poverty relief to predominately voluntary clients (Barker, 1991), though some are referred.While the majority of Under the Rainbows charity work is concerned with lending a hand materially and financially, they also work one-on-one with clients to determine why they needed a hand in the first place and at that placefore consider twain aspects o f their human service delivery forms of advocating. However there is some argument as to whether charity and advocating is in position the same thing. The assertion by LHirondelle (2002) that charity work simply means offering one-on-one dish out without effort to give people the opportunity to participate in working with others to change their situation is challenged at Under the Rainbow who believe authority of a client is some(prenominal) valuable and essential.Individuals who seek avail from Under the Rainbow a great deal see themselves as powerless and unable to make changes in their lives and sadly, those who are discriminated against, are often the most vulnerable. Under the Rainbow clients can be distinguished by many inequalities involving social issues in areas such as power, authority, and wealth, working and living conditions, health, flavourstyle, gender, education, religion, and culture. Because the nature of Under the Rainbow is predominately a charity, they re alise some of the clients who ask for welfare assistance will not want to be involved in any further actions for changing their situation and staff may only be required to advocate once. However, they know from experience there are just as many of their clients who will want to get involved and connect with others in order to work together for social and personal empowerment.To clarify empowerment further, Shulman (2005) states that the empowerment process involves engage the client, family, group, or community in developing strengths to personally and politically cope and a number of empowerment workshops and programmes covering issues such as budgeting, self-esteem and parenting are implemented at Under the Rainbow to facilitate this.Clients also often need help when dealing with other agencies and a Justice of the Peace service and help with letter writing, telephone and electronic correspondence is also offered. Often clients feel they exhaust been interact below the belt b y other advocacy and law agencys and challenging another organisations reasoning, on a clients behalf or as an individual can be referred to as persuasion advocacy (Reardon, 2001). Many times writing a letter or involving law enforcement agencies to negotiate a point has been successful for Under the Rainbow and their clients to further impress empowerment.Therefore, Under the Rainbow staff believe offering an individual help, whether through the distribution of groceries or an activity resembling to the ones discussed above, is seen as empowerment for social change. Under the Rainbow advocate for and empower their clients, deliverance people together where they are then able to take action to change their situation. Schneider Lester (2001) include empowerment in their definition as part of the practice of advocacy and conclude that this value is based on the belief that individuals have strengths to advance knowledge, become assertive, and develop skills, and through social wor k advocacy, these strengths can be set in motion.Vanessa, who has worked with Under the Rainbow for nine months states, when I interview clients, I encourage and pay attention to the capable person I see in front of me. My focus as an advocate is never on their previous history, as there is nothing I can do personally to change it. The importance for me is what the client wants from life and how it can be achieved (Pers comm. 2/4/08). Whilst working as an advocate Vanessa does not expect nor require a client to self-disclose, however they usually do, which Vanessa defines as a relationship based on trust and mutual respect.Respecting the privacy rights and confidentiality of Under the Rainbows clients is extremely important and they believe that excellent honourable conduct must be practiced in order to be a credible community advocate. Cultural, language, disability and other accommodations are also provided for. If personal conflicts of interest should occur the advocate will d ance step aside and ask for help from another party. As Under the Rainbow is are self-regulating, ethical decision-making and the process of life-sustaining reflection, evaluation and judgment through which a practitioner resolves ethical issues, problems and dilemmas (Trevino, 1986) is extremely important in both a personal and professional context.As well as individual and personal advocating, dissolving barriers and expression a sense of community on a local level, Under The Rainbow promote global consciousness and pride themselves on their broad worldview and high awareness of the inter-relatedness and sacredness of all living things. All Under the Rainbow Inc. members are active, both personally and professionally, in many social arenas confronting a broad range of social and political issues. Advocacy of this type, which refers to a connection with social movements, is known as activistic or cause advocacy (Healy, 2000) and often involves active criticism of or engagement with governmentpolicies and practices (School of Health and Human Services, 2007).Many members of Under the Rainbow have strong lobbying and media skills and some of their more prominent contributions and support include subscriptions and memberships to other advocacy groups and organisations such as refreshful Internationalist Magazine, Bush Heritage Australia, Amnesty International and Greenpeace as well as Indigenous organisations, animal and environmental protection groups and interests in many other diverse global activist platforms. Under the Rainbow has also purchased and helped plant thousands of trees in South East Queensland through the Queensland Folk Federation at the Woodford Folk Festival site.Under the Rainbow is self-sufficient and as yet to receive any government funding. Relying on donations from its members and the general public to support their services is successful, but often unpredictable and can cause thwarting when resources are limited. However, being an incorporated association means that Under the Rainbow is only accountable to themselves, their donors, members, clients and community. Not being affiliated with any government, church or social agency means they are not overmaster to any other types of accountability usually required under public auspice and this is preferable. Under the Rainbows projects, which are both broad and long-range, draw only on individual and group advocacy skills from its membership pool, preferring to remain sole(prenominal) and not out-source help from other agencies.In recent years, new set of ideas, such as advocacy, consumerism, empowerment, participation, and anti-discriminatory practices have all influenced social work practice and this has had an impact on social work values. This new set of ideas is referred to as radical values (Adams et al, 2002) and are concerned with challenging oppression and discrimination, it is within this value establishment that Under the Rainbow continues to opera te.Advocacy is essentially the process of standing up for the rights of others who are being unfairly treated (Sorenson and Black, 2001) and has the potential to bring significant and sustainable change for the better. It canempower individuals and communities and generate many resources whilst bringing diverse organisations together to work on common issues. Effective advocacy takes specific skills, commitment, effort, resources, perseverance, wisdom and collaborationism all of which are faced by the Under the Rainbow volunteers on a daily basis.The case managers at Under the Rainbow realise they need to successfully master the skills needed to be an advocate, which takes time and experience. They are also aware that learning to be persuasive and using resources available to them will increase their level of competency and better assure a positive outcome for both themselves and their clients.I am proud to be a member of Under the Rainbow and my involvement in the challenging albe it very rewarding endeavours to facilitate advocacy for change in this small but powerful association.REFERENCE LISTAdams, R., Dominelli, L., Payne, M., (2002). Social Work, Themes, Issues and Critical Debates (2nd ed.), Palgrave, Basingstoke.Australian Association of Social Workers (2002), Code of Ethics, Retrieved April 2nd, 2008, AASW Website http//www.aasw.asn.au/adobe/about/AASW_Code_of_EthicsCorey, G., Corey, M., Callanan, P., (1998). Issues and Ethics in the Helping Professions, Brooks/Cole, USA.Forbat, L., Atkinson, D., (2005). Advocacy in Practice The Troubled Position of Advocates in Adult Services, British Journal of Social Work, 353, pp. 321-335Healy, K., (2000). Social Work Practices Contemporary Perspectives on Change, Sage, London.Hepworth, D., Larsen, J., (1993). Direct Social Work Practice Theory andSkills (4th ed.) The Dorsey Press, Homewood, Illinois.Trevino, L.K., (1986). ethical Decision making in Organizations A Person-Situation Interactionist Model, The A cademy of Management Review,Vol. 11, No. 3, pp. 601-617.LHirondelle, C., (2002), Characteristics of Remedial Work vs. Social Change, Retrieved April 4th 2008, Victorian Status of Women (SWAG) Website http//pacificcoast.net/swag/index.htmlReardon, K.K., (1991), Persuasion in Practice, Sage Publications, Newbury Park, California.Schneider, R.L., Lester, L., (2001). Advocacy A New Definition, Social Work Advocacy, Brooks/Cole Publishing, Pacific Grove California.School of Health and Human Services, (2007). cultivation Guide Advocacy and Change, Southern Cross University, Lismore.Shulman, L., (2005). Skills of Helping Individuals, Families, Groups and Communities, Wadsworth Publishing Company, USA.Sorenson, H., Black, L., (2001). Advocacy and Ageing, Australasian Journal on Aging, Vol. 20.3, Supplement 2, pp. 27-34.