Advocacy and Community Organizing

Question 1

Steps of Community Organizing

Answer 1

Step 1: Integrate into the community
- Immerse into the community to gain
understanding of community dynamics, strengths, and concerns, and build trusting relationships.
- e.g. participate in community activities, casual meetings, and 1-on-1 interxns w/ community members
- Learn about structures w/in community, ID existing or potential leaders, and meet w/ community members to gain info and insight.

Step 2: ID the issue impacting the community
- ID the felt needs/probs impacting community and work w/ community members to rank their importance and urgency.

Step 3: ID individuals and create core group
- Engage local leaders and individuals identified during step 1.
- Consider well-respected, influential community members who are passionate
about and committed to working towards change.

Step 4: Set goals and objectives
- Create goals and objectives for issues identified in step 2.
- When setting goals, ID the overall outcome/change you are expecting thru your community engagement efforts.
- Objectives specify details of the community intervention in measurable terms, achievement in objectives will lead to achievement of broader goals.

Step 5: Create an action plan to meet goals
- ID ways to work towards objectives.
- Determine possible positive and negative outcomes and barriers that could arise as you work towards stated objectives.
- ID resources that are needed to accomplish goals and objectives.

Step 6: Execute and monitor the action plan
- Train staff as needed and engage in community meetings and the action plan set
up during step 5.

Step 7: Evaluate the effect of the action plan on the stated goals
- Evaluation is an ongoing process done after each community organizing activity.
- Reflection should take place to ID what worked, what was accomplished, and what
is still being worked towards.
- A final eval should be done to assess the overall impact and the accomplishment of the stated goals and objectives.
- Reassess problem and determine if further intervention is needed.

Question 2

Lobbying

Answer 2

• The process of influencing public policy. - - -
• Lobbyists are professional advocates hired to represent specific causes and interest groups in order to be that group’s voice to
  legislators and members of congress.
• Engage in discussions w/ legislators to gain their support for a bill.
• Lobbyists bring typed summaries of the issues and review key points w/ the
  legislator, additional materials can be provided as needed.

Question 3

Coalitions

Answer 3

• A coalition is a group of people or orgs who share a common interest and work
  collaboratively to achieve a shared goal.
• Can be created to achieve a specific goal and then part ways, or they can become permanent organizations of their own.
• e.g. National Education Association (NEA), largest labor union in US, representing public school teachers and staff, advocate for things like salary, benefits, employee rights, and quality learning environments.
• Internal coalitions - work w/in a specific organization to achieve a goal, e.g. trade union created to represent employees and advocate for benefits, wages, working conditions, etc.
• External coalitions - work w/ multiple orgs to achieve a common goal, e.g. groups, unions, and nonprofits came together
  to form the ‘Coalition to Stop Gun Violence,’ while reasons for the goal may differ, they share the same end goal of stopping gun violence

Question 4

Community Organizing

Answer 4

• Community organizing involves the work social workers do to engage w/ grps, orgs, and communities to bring about positive changes w/in community and solve social probs IDed by members of the community.
• Social worker comes alongside community as a partner, keeping in mind that community is its own best expert.

Question 5

Social Work Advocacy

Answer 5

• Championing the rights of society’s most vulnerable members has been a core aspect of the social work profession
• Advocate for change thru a variety of means, e.g. writing op-ed pieces, lobbying, organizing local protests, and helping to change laws that adversely affect vulnerable and disadvantaged members of society.