Agency Visit Rainbow Place Psychology Essay Research

Do not use first person
Assignment #2 – Agency visit
Value: 25 points
The goal of this assignment is to experience the work of social workers in an actual agency setting; to learn how services are provided and how the systems within an organization function; and to understand the role of social workers and the levels of practice in which they work.
For this assignment students will select a social welfare organization or institution to visit in the Baltimore/ Washington area. This should be an organization of interest to the student (e.g., children, aging, family services, psychiatric problems, etc.) This assignment provides an opportunity to expand the students’ knowledge about how social services are delivered in our community. For this reason, students must select an agency that they are not familiar with; students should NOT select a setting in which they have worked in, one for which they have considerable knowledge, or one for which they have written a previous paper. The organization can be a social service agency such as a nonprofit organization, a county or city department of social services, an institution like a corrections setting, or a health care setting such as a hospital or clinic.
The students must interview a BSW or MSW social worker. It is the student’s responsibility to make sure this person has a social work degree. You can ask the social worker for his/her license number or you can look it up. If the social worker is license, include this information in the appendix. Also, you must ask the social worker to include his/her degree (BSW or MSW) in the memo they will write (see below).
Interviewing a social worker in private practice does not satisfy the requirements of this assignment. Also, students must physically go to the agency. Phone interviews or meeting at a location that is not part of the agency are not acceptable.
The paper should include:
• A properly formatted title page as required by the APA manual (an abstract is not required for this paper).
• A references page as required by the APA manual.
• Cite textbook and at least two (2) peer-reviewed journal articles. These articles must be found in scholarly journals and they cannot be older than 10 years.
• A memo on agency letterhead from the social worker confirming that the interview took place, stating his/her degree, and the date and time of the interview. Please note that it is the student’s responsibility to request this memo and ensure that the social worker delivers it to the student on time to be turned in with the paper.
• A copy of a thank you email sent by the student to the social worker after the interview takes place.
Follow APA format when writing the paper – for example: Use in-text citations for all materials used in the paper; include a properly formatted reference page, etc.
The paper should be 5-6 pages and it must include the following sections:
1. Introduction:
In this section students will provide an introduction to the paper. The introduction should explain the topic, explain its importance, and describe what the paper will cover.
2. Overview, design, and delivery of services:
This section is intended to help students learn about the roles of social workers in different settings, what problems they deal with, and what it is like to work in a social service delivery environment. During the interview, students should collect general information about the organization, and specific information about the services provided by the agency, the staff, how services are provided, and the target population. This information should be obtained from the interview; however, it is acceptable to complement this information from conversations with other staff, or printed or web materials which the agency produces. All materials used should be properly cited.
a. Overview of organization: In this section, students will provide an overview of the organization and the services provided. Clearly state the purpose of the organization and who the target population is. Be sure to provide the mission of the organization, the main goals, the budget, and where funding comes from (general categories, i.e. government grants, private donations, fees for service, etc.) to support the services. Address the specific types of services provided – be specific. Are there different programs or units within the organization? If yes, explain them; if there is only one service, be sure to explain it in detail. For example, do they provide food, cash assistance, clothing, etc.? Do they provide home health care, case management, counseling services, family therapy, etc.?
b. How does the agency provide its services? How do they deliver these services (in home, office, in schools, through counseling, group sessions, home visits, etc.)? How accessible are the services (can clients get into the program right away, do they need to wait, do they have a waiting list)? What are the eligibility requirements to receive services?
c. Who works there – staff? Who provides the agency’s services? What are their job qualifications? Do they have to have a specific degree to do what they do? Do they need to be licensed? What do they do? You can provide a general description of the support staff, but be sure to include a clear overview of who works at the organization.
NOTE: In a large setting like a hospital or institution the focus does not need to be on the entire organization but rather focus on the specific social work services addressed in the unit where the interviewee works. For example, in a hospital, focus on the social work department not the entire hospital.

3. Analysis. In this section, the student will apply class content and materials from scholarly sources to the organizational setting. The following areas should be addressed:
a) Using class materials and scholarly articles that you find, select two roles the social worker interviewed fulfills in the organization. Identify each role and explain how the social worker meets the role. Please consider citing the textbook to show your understanding of the social work roles.
b) Identify one micro area of social work practice, and one mezzo or macro area of social work practice in which the agency is involved. Describe what the agency does and why this specific practice intervention fits into the micro, mezzo, or macro levels. Please consider citing the textbook to show your understanding of the levels of practice interventions.
4. Conclusion: Write a paragraph summarizing the main points of the paper and addressing general implications for social work practice (importance for social work practice).
5. Appendix:
a) Memo on agency letterhead stating that the interview took place, the degree of the person interviewed (must be social work, but he/she must state at what level, BSW or MSW), and the date and time of the interview. The memo should be signed by the social worker.
b) Copy of an email from student, sent to the social worker interviewed thanking him/her for the time spend with the student.
The assignment will be evaluated on the following criteria:
1. The quality, presentation, and organization of the paper.
2. Use of APA format, including the structure of the paper. Be sure to use the APA manual to guide the organization of your paper.
3. Integration of content on how the problem addressed by the agency was perceived and addressed in the past.
4. Clarity, depth, and thoughtful integration of ALL the areas required in the paper.
5. Inclusion of all items required in the appendix.
Interview: Rainbow place
http://www(dot)rainbowplace(dot)org/
Rainbow place
Purpose: Entry level shelter
Mission : The mission of Rainbow Place is to provide women emergency overnight shelter during the hypothermia season and assist them as they transition to a better quality of life.
Population target:
Rainbow Place is an emergency shelter. We work with women at the very beginning of their transition out of homelessness. Our primary focus is to keep the women we serve safe during the harsh winter months and help transition them out of homelessness. We are open from November 1 - March 31. Our clients receive a warm, safe place to sleep, a hot dinner, breakfast, a bag lunch, shower, laundry facilities, access to case management, limited storage space, limited transportation, and referrals to local social service and treatment programs.
Funding: Donations, grants, Community foundations, Freeman Foundations.
Services provided: Shelter, case management, counseling, free meals, dinner, laundry, bathrooms, limited transportation , bus tokens, smart trip card, nurse once a week.
Fred and Bridget Newton ,Sharing Montgomery Fund, Carl M Freeman Foundation
How do they provide : Clients may be referred from the Montgomery County Crisis Center (240-777-4000), one of the local homeless outreach teams, or by self-referral.
All self-referrals will be directed to the Crisis Center for an initial screening before returning for shelter services.
They provide counseling and case management on site. Women seeking shelter usually just show up or they get referred from a different shelter where there is no space.
Can clients get in the program right away: Yes they can as long as there is space.
Eligibility requirements:
Women 18 years of age or older
Meet the definition of homeless (A person is considered homeless if, without HUD assistance, they would have to spend the night in a homeless shelter or in a place not meant for human habitation)
Willing to adhere to the Rainbow Place Rules
Who works there:
Executive Director: full time
Clinical Director: full time
Case managers: part time
Treasurer: part time
Kitchen coordinator: part time
Volunteer coordinator: part time
Job Qualifications:
Clinical Director: Licensed clinical social worker
Case manager: Social work BA or Psychology BA
The rest no degree is required