Ready For School to Be Over!!

So the year is finally narrowing down and I can't wait! I have been here for four years and it is respectively my time to go. There is so much work still left to be done and soemtimes it feels as though, time is going by so slowly... But as time dwindles down, I look over my past years and realized I have learned a lot about myself. I have been able to experience independence as a woman and the many different life long lessons you go through with your transition into adulthood. I have learned a lot about social work, including the skills and methods used in the profession. My hope is to carry the knowledge I have learned into the real word and be the best social worker I can. My short term goals consist of graduating, getting accepted into graduate school, and just succeeding. My long term goals is to graduate from graduate school and acquire and adequate career. Hopefully both goals are met! I am happy to say that I feel as though all my hard work has paid off and I will be reaping the benefits pretty soon!

Lessons Learned for Protection and Education Children after the Gulf Coast Hurricanes- Required Reading

This article speaks about protecting protecting and supporting children in the Gulf Coast that have been affected by hurricanes. Although there have been many conscious efforts done to prevent the issue, there are lessons that should be discussed in order to hurry future responses to severe events and disasters. The following were some ideas that could be implemented in order to improve responses to disaster. "Sate and local disaster plans could better protect children if they integrated the needs of child welfare and education agencies." For example, schools can reopen more quickly when local relief officials work with school personnel to coordinate how resources will be allocated. This will also allow for child welfare and education agencies to better prepare and respond to large scale disasters by maintaining emergency contact information for staff and foster parents and developing evacuation instructions.

The Art of Advocacy- Advocacy Handbook

This handbook is great for those who are interested in advocacy tactics and offers precise guidelines on the concept of advocacy. The first part of the handbook consists of guidelines for registered charity advocacy. This handbook gives us an overview of the types of political activities prohibited by charities, how much charities can spend on permitted political activities, and the different aspects which separate charitable and political activities. The next section discusses six things you must do before you start an advocacy campaign. The article then discusses seven steps to creating an effective legislative strategy. There are different tools that can be used when advocating such as writing letters for a certain cause and so forth. It is also important to participate in government consultations as well as work alongside the media to gain more exposure.

Economic Security Book

This article is composed of many different policy briefs. This article is presented to us by the NASW. It breaks down different social policies such as Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, SSI, and many more programs. The article offers a description of the program, policy challenges that that policy may face, and the potential direction in which the policy is going. The article starts off by giving us a brief description of Medicare and the three parts associated with this policy. The three parts are hospital insurance, supplementary medical insurance, and part C which is the Medicare+Choice Program. The information in this article can be used by advocacy efforts at the national, state, and local levels. The article also goes on to give us a brief over of Medicaid and it's function within the low income communities. Medicaid is the U.S's major financial provider for long term care services.

Humane Society Article: Attending Town Meetings

As a homework assignment, I was asked to read an article from Humane Society.org. The article I chose to read was about attending town meetings. The article focused mainly on the importance of attending town meetings and the positive effect it can have on an issue you are supporting. Town meetings may allow you to engage with your congressmen, legislators, media and the people in your community. The article also offers tips and strategies you can use before attending a town meeting. One of the strategies is to inquire about the Legislator's schedule and keep note of it. This is so you will be able to get your message across and hopefully gain more support for your cause. The article was informing and interesting. The tips which were offered throughout my reading were insightful and good to use if you were ever interested in engaging in a town meeting.

Best Practice Briefs #4

This article focuses on several forms of community mapping. "Community Mapping" is used to refer to a process of inventorying resources or assets available to a specified neighborhood or community ("Best Practice Briefs", 1998-1999). This particular approach is called "community asset mapping". It includes identification of community assets for individual development and the inventorying of public capital and cultural resources. Then there is "community relationship mapping" which includes the visual presentations of relationships. Mapping is widely used for community, social and youth development ( Best Practice Briefs, 1998-1999). It is an appealing approach to building developmental aspects to avoid risky behavior.

WORK WORK WORK!!!

Last week was pretty rough. There were so many assignments that I had to complete for my Social Policy 445 class. Every other day, we had an assignment due, and they were very time consuming, especially when you are tyring to do a good job. We had to complete our policy paper draft which consist of over 40 pages, post comments on websites of our peers, and so many other things. Then next week, we have a set of policy term flashcards completed for Midterm. Then I also have a 10 page paper due in one of my other classes. Who knew college would be so much work? Yet and still, I am proud of myself, because I have been able to keep up...so far but I'm ready for this semester to be OVER! I am also so ready for this week to be over and done with so that I can enjoy a nice break. Luckily for me, this upcoming weekend starts our Spring Break session, which lasts for a week. During this time, I will get some well needed rest and focus on me for a change.