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Final Project: Creating a Social Program (HSM/240) Larry Calhoun Jr. Axia College of University of Phoenix The program that I chose to create is a community service program for adolescent girls with addiction problems, which will be called Calhoun Community Services, Inc. ” According to Community Support Service, LLC, (2010), a community support service is an agency committed to providing quality family style residential services. There is a strong belief that individuals who are currently institutionalized or placed in group home settings can better benefit from a private home placement.
Community Support Service is founded on the belief that a person can achieve desired goals with the assistance of support systems. At Calhoun Community Services we believe that the most compounding and influencing factors that contribute to one’s ability to establish, implement, and accomplish desired goals are rooted in the makeup of the home environment. ” While many people believe that these types of programs are unnecessary, these programs are beneficial to our youth and families. Problem to be addressed According to Padfield, (2010), our youth now love luxury so much that they have bad manners, contempt for authority and show little respect for their elders. Children no longer rise when an adult enters the room; they contradict their parents, chatter before company, gobble up their food, and tyrannize their teachers. ” That is why we at Calhoun Community Services believe there is a need for this type of program for adolescent youth (females) and their families who happen to have little or no education.
We have decided on a timeline for starting this program and we believe that we can have everything up and running in about six months from the receipt of this proposal. Analysis When it comes to causes and consequences of female adolescents who require some type of placement, there are several reasons why this is the case. “According to Zahn, (2007), the proportion of females entering the juvenile justice system has risen. In 1980, twenty percent of all juvenile arrests were females; in 2003, this percentage had increased to twenty nine percent with the majority of the increase occurring since the early 1990s.
This report shows that the proportion of females committing violent crimes increased from ten percent to eighteen percent and the proportion committing property crimes increased from nineteen percent to thirty two percent. The 14,590 girls in custody in 2003 represented fifteen percent of all juvenile offenders in custody; this was a two percent increase between 1991 and 2003. Although they account for only fifteen percent of the entire population of juvenile offenders in custody in recent years, the proportion of girls in custody has been increasing in the United States.
Along with their growing population, a growing body of research is examining the characteristics of these girls. Researchers have identified basic demographic and offense characteristics of girls in custody, as well as characteristics such as family dysfunction, trauma, abuse, mental health issues, substance abuse, risky sexual behavior, academic problems, and delinquent peers as common features among girls in custody. In terms of demographic characteristics, girls in custody tend to be younger; forty six percent of females in custody in 2003 were below the age of fifteen compared with thirty three percent of males. Even though the causes and consequences of females who require placement are important, it is beneficial to know who the gainers and losers are in this case. In this case the gainers and losers is something that needs to be addressed. We at Calhoun Community Services feel that the gainers of this type of programs will definitely be the females who are helped. These girls will receive counseling from qualified therapists and case managers (Qualified Professionals). As far as losers, we feel that there will be nobody who will lose. There will only be gainers in this program.
We can say this because if one thinks about it, even if the youth does not finish the program, she will take something positive with her. Since there will only be gainers in this program, it is necessary to discuss the policy elements of Calhoun Community Services. Policy Elements Mission, goals, and objectives At Calhoun Community Services we definitely believe in our mission, goals, and objectives. Every organization should have a mission statement. A mission statement is a general and concise statement of how the organization plans to accomplish the mission intended. Our mission statement reads as uch, Calhoun Community Services, Inc. exists to provide a continuum of integrated human services to at risk youth (females) and their families who experience personal, economic and social problems in order to relieve their deteriorating conditions and to develop and enhance their productivity and family life. Our goal is to provide a safe environment where the consumer and their families can receive the proper treatment they desperately need. When an organization initially comes up with their objectives, it is necessary for them to have a clear mind and really think about what they want to say to the people being served.
Our only objective is to give adolescent females a chance to lead a healthy life where they will be able to make sound choices and decisions. Benefits and Services The benefit and service that Calhoun Community Services would like to offer would be giving the parent or guardian a chance to visit and communicate with their child weekly. We had a difficult time coming up with how often their parent would be allowed to visit, but after giving it a lot of thought and discussing it with other organizations; we came up with this sound decision.
We feel that this is the correct decision because if there is too much contact with the parent or guardian it would definitely be hard for the consumer to comply with the rules of the organization. Eligibility Rules “Eligibility rules are the most important vehicle for rationing benefits and services. ” (Chambers & Wedel, 2005). Our eligibility rules consist of mainly one aspect; the parent or guardian has to be receiving Medicaid for the youth. Without having eligibility rules it would be hard to meet the unmet needs of the consumer and their families.
Service Delivery We at Calhoun Community Services believe that the best way to deliver our services is the Case Management delivery service. “One strategy for solving integration and coordination problems in the complex system for service and benefit delivery is the system we chose. Case management relies on settling the responsibility for organizing and delivering services and benefit packages on a single person; the case manager. This practitioner must assess consumer need, plan for provision of services and benefits to eet those needs, and identify and acquire commitments from other organizations and service providers to deliver those services and benefits for a whole range of consumer needs. This can range from constant monitoring for quality to responsibility for seeing that consumers get to the right places at the right times. It can also extend to actively advocating for consumers rights of benefits and services that may be unjustly withheld. ” (Chambers & Wedel, 2005). Program Design, Theory, and Specification Program theory is important for obvious and nonobvious reasons. First, it obviously is the source from which the program activities are drawn; absent a program theory, program activities can amount to random choices or at best, assorted and uncoordinated good ideas. ” (Chambers ; Wedel, 2005). We at Calhoun Community Services believe that this is the best design I. Program Theory Parent of child expects his/her daughter to be free of drugs. Parent expects his/her child to be emotionally stable and to be able to say no to drugs II.
Program Design (a) Teaching the parent appropriate ways to deal with his/her frustration 1. Teaching not expecting child to be stable 2. Teaching not expecting child to be a leader (b) Case managers model these expectations (c) Parents model these expectations and express their frustration III. Program Specification (a) Content of program to be taught and learned by parent Emotional Stability: What to be expected of child 1. Communication 2. Self-Esteem 3. Personal Hygiene 4. Sense of self worth (b) Educational processes must include: 1.
One on one discussion of emotional stability 2. Video presentation of what drugs do to the body 3. Role-play with parents (child) of expectations Financing We at Calhoun Community Services strongly believe that financing is the most important aspect of our organization. We plan to keep a tight hold on our budget and plan to have quarterly audits to keep everyone on the same page and to check for mistakes. These quarterly audits will hold everyone accountable for all funds spent at our organization. We plan to have an annual budget of $410. 0, which includes the salaries of four case managers and one clinical therapist. We have leased a building for $1500. 00 a month (including utilities) which is on the east side of Greensboro, NC. As we stated earlier, the program will be funded by Medicaid and we will accept private donations. There will be a fuel check handed out bi-weekly to the therapist and case managers of $125. 00 which is more than enough to pay for their travel to and from specified appointments. Staffing Calhoun Community Service will search for only the best employees with the highest credentials.
The clinical therapist will possess a Masters Degree and a clinical license and each of the case managers will have to have at least a Bachelors Degree in the Human Service field along with at least two years experience. There will be strict rules for all employees at Calhoun Community Services and they are as followed: “There will be no insubordination or refusal to carry out assignments or instructions, no unauthorized personal business, and no unauthorized disclosure of confidential information or records. Failure to report promptly to work will result in consequences.
There will be no unexcused or excessive absenteeism without notifying immediate supervisor. There will be no unauthorized use of property and all employees will be held accountable for their personal appearance. ” (Human Resources ; Workforce Diversity, 2010). Evaluation There are several ways to evaluate success or failure within an organization, but we at Calhoun Community Services will evaluate ourselves by seeing the girls that we accept walk out our doors as young women who we can trust to make sound decisions.
Furthermore, even though people feel that these types of programs are unnecessary, we believe that our program is a beneficial part of a young woman’s life to enhance her chances to live a healthy and productive life. References Chambers, D. & Wedel, K. (2005). Social Policy and Social Programs: A method for the Practical Public Policy Analyst. Retrieved April 4, 2010 from University of Phoenix, HSM 240 Interdisciplinary Capstone Course website Community Support Service, LLC. (2010). Mastering the Art of Residential Services.
Retrieved April 5, 2010 from http://www. communitysupportservice. com Human Resources & Workforce Diversity. (2010). Classified Employees Work Rules. Retrieved April 5, 2010 from http://www. uwsa. edu/hr/work. htm Padfield, D. (2009). The Problems of Youth. Retrieved April 5, 2010 from http://www. padfield. com/1993/youth. html Zahn, M. (2007). Special Issue: The American Bar Association’s Youth At Risk Initiative: The Causes of Girls’ Delinquency and their Program Implications. Retrieved April 5, 2010 from http://www. litigation-essentials. lexisnexis. com