Social Work Practice in Community Organization, Management and Policy/Evaluation

Week 1: Introduction: The History and Components of Macro Practice

• The values, history and components of macro practice
• The challenges of macro practice in a multicultural society

Week 2: Advocacy as a Form of Social Action

• Models of advocacy
• Policy advocacy

Week 3: Models of Community Organization Practice and Their Implications

Understanding Communities: Their Problems & Their Populations

• Defining the community
• Different conceptualizations of community and their implications
• Typologies of community organization
• Empowerment theory and community organization practice

Week 4: Organizing and Mobilizing Communities

• Roles of the organizer
• Group skills in community work
• Selecting appropriate strategies and tactics
• Social capital and community mobilization

Week 5: Assessing Community Needs and Strengths

• Constructing a community profile: Frameworks for community analysis
• Conducting a community needs assessment
• Asset mapping: Identifying community strengths

Week 6: Understanding Community-Based Organizations

• The structure, mission & goals of nonprofit community-based organizations
• Management theories
• Decision-making, power, authority, and politics of nonprofit organizations

Week 7: Human Resources Management: Managing Staff in Organizations

• Inter-Organizational Practice Visioning and Strategic Planning in Community-Based Organizations
• Personnel Policies/Supervisory Roles and Functions
• Staff Development
• Assessing Organizations
• Issues of power
• Inter-organizational practice in multicultural communities

Week 8: Ethical and Legal Issues in Macro Practice

• The meaning of ethics and ethical analysis in macro practice
• Ethical issues in macro practice
• Legal foundations of community-based nonprofit organizations
• Program Development, Implementation, Monitoring, and Evaluation Social Policy and Community Practice
• Policy development & implementation at the community level
• Analyzing the community impact of social policies