SWPPS

• Social Work


  The profession which is primarily concerned with organized social service activity aimed to facilitate and strengthen basic social relationships and the mutual adjustment between individuals and their social environment for the good of the individual and of society by the use of social work methods
• Philippines is one of the few countries that enacted a law about social work
• Social Work (IFSW definition)


  A practice-based profession and an academic discipline that promotes social change and development, social cohesion, and the empowerment and liberation of people. Principles of social justice, human rights, collective responsibility and respect for diversities are central to social work. Underpinned by theories of social work, social sciences, humanities and indigenous knowledge, social work engages people and structures to address life challenges and enhance wellbeing.
• Social Welfare Definitions


  • Walter Friedlander: The organized system of social services and institutions, designed to aid individuals and groups to attain satisfying standards of life and health
  • Gertrude Wilson: Organized concern of all people for all people
  • Elizabeth Wickenden: Includes those laws, programs, benefits, and services which assure or strengthen provisions for meeting social needs recognized as basic to the wellbeing of the population and the better functioning of the social order
  • Thelma Lee Mendoza: Encompasses the wellbeing of all members of the human society, including their physical, mental, emotional, social, economic, and spiritual wellbeing
• Ways society responds to unmet needs/problems

  • Individual and Group Effort - systematic and voluntary efforts
  • Major Societal Institutions - which have their designated roles and responsibilities for meeting human needs
  • Social Agency / Organization - public or private
• Equality


  Providing the same level of opportunity and assistance to all segments of society, regardless of their individual circumstances
• Equity


  Acknowledges that each person faces unique circumstances. It involves allocating resources and opportunities based on specific needs and or abilities. The goal of equity is to level the playing field by addressing disparities and ensuring that everyone has a fair chance to reach their full potential.
• Needs-Based Approach (NBA)


  Introduced by the International Labour Organization's World Employment Conference in 1976. Proposed the satisfaction of basic human needs as the overriding objective of national and international development policy. Includes minimum requirements of a family for private consumption (adequate food, shelter, clothing, household equipment/furniture) and essential services provided by and for the community (safe drinking water, sanitation, public transport, health, education, cultural facilities).
• Rights-Based Approach


  A conceptual framework for the process of human development that is normatively based on international human rights standards and operationally directed to promoting and protecting human rights. Seeks to analyze inequalities which lie at the heart of development problems and redress discriminatory practices and unjust distribution of power that impede development progress and often result in groups of people being left behind. Uses participatory and empowering approaches and starts by identifying violations of human rights rather than focusing on human needs.
• Social Welfare Programs


  • Social Security - the whole set of compulsory measures instituted to protect the individual and his family against the consequence of an unavoidable interruption of the earned income
  • Personal Social Services - the service functions which have major bearing upon personal problems, individual situations of stress, interpersonal helping and the provision of direct services in collaboration with Go's and NGO's
  • Public Assistance - the material/concrete aids provided, usually by government agencies, to people who have no means of support for themselves and their families for reasons such as loss of employment, natural disasters, etc.
• Social Services


  The programs and services and other activities provided under various auspices, to concretely answer the needs and problems of the members of society. Social Welfare would be meaningless term unless there are concrete demonstration of its "concern for the wellbeing of human society" through social services.

  
• Important Goals of Social Welfare

  • Social Justice - Rooted in the democratic ideal of social justice and based on the belief that man has the potential to realize himself, except that physical, social, economic, psychological, and other factor sometimes hinder them from realizing these potentials. Involves the identification of the most afflicted, most dependent, the most neglected, and those least able to help themselves, making them the priority target for the investment of scarce resources.
  • Social Control - Based on the recognition that needy, deprived, or disadvantaged groups may strike out, individually and/or collectively, against what they consider to be an alienating or offending society. Society therefore has to secure itself against the threats to life, property, and political stability.
  • Economic Development - Places priority on those programs designed to support increases in the production of goods and services, and other resources that will contribute to the economic development. The immediate beneficiaries of such a program may be the able bodied, relatively better off members of the community.
• Social Policy


  Concerned with the ways societies across the world meet human needs for security, education, work, health, and well-being. Addresses how state and societies respond to global challenges of social, demographic and economic change, and of poverty, migration, and globalization. Analyzes the different roles of: national governments, the family, civil society, the market, and the international organizations in providing services and support across the life course from childhood to old age. Aims to identify and find ways of reducing inequalities in access to services and support between social groups defined by socio-economic status, race, ethnicity, migration status, gender, sexual orientation, disability and age, and between countries.
• Policy


  Deliberate statement (or set of statements) of principles or courses of action intended to achieve some predefined outcome
• Policy


  Set of plan or ideas about what to do in a specific situation to achieve a certain goal
• Policy


  The process of translating needs and problems and link them to resources, organized services, and people
• Who has policies


  • Governments (International, National, Local)
  • Businesses
  • Institutions
  • Individuals
• Generic policy formulation process

  1. Community demands and resources

  2. Agency considers, processes and develops policy

  3. Performance of policy is constantly evaluated

  4. Information is fed to community and agency

  5. Agency develops specific program activities

  6. Program activities are constantly evaluated
• Policy categories


  • Policy demands
  • Policy decision
  • Policy statement
  • Policy output
  • Policy outcome
• Social welfare policy


  Laws, rules, regulations that govern benefits and services provided by government and government funded organizations that help people meet their needs
• Social welfare policy is created to address social problems
• People affected have banded together to voice their concerns
• Policy makers, researchers, donors, media, the elites, have pointed out that social problems exist
• Why do social workers study policy

  • Policy determines what we can and cannot do in social work roles
  • Policy affects our clients
  • Social policy and social work's overlapping goal is social justice
• Basis of social welfare policy mandate


  • The basic law of the land (The Philippine Constitution)
  • It directs the government, particularly the DSWD to develop comprehensive policies and programs for distressed Filipinos
• Social welfare policy


  Enhancement of the quality of life of the disadvantaged and marginalized sector of society
• There have always been poor people in every society. But it becomes serious and disturbing if a large and significant part of society is poor
• Welfare is a human right, and as a right, it implies that every institution of the society has the responsibility to address the welfare needs of its constituents
• No person shall be deprived of welfare services
• Why "reduce poverty" instead of "eliminate poverty"

  Eliminating poverty completely is very difficult, so the more realistic goal is to reduce it
• Objectives of social welfare policy

  • Reduce poverty
  • Maximize welfare
  • Pursue equality
• Models of policy making

  • Rational model (optimizing: make the best decision)
  • Bounded rationality model (satisficing: make a satisfactory decision)
  • Incremental model (muddling: successive limited comparison)
  • Mixed scanning model (an adaptive strategy)
• Concept of power in policy making

  Policy making is a struggle between groups with competing interests, some in favor of change and others oppose it, depending on their interests or ideal
• Three sources of authority

  • Traditional authority
  • Charismatic authority
  • Rational-legal authority
• Social welfare policy approaches

  • Safety net approach
  • Community approach
  • Welfare state approach
• Stages in policy formulation

  1. Identification of the problem or issue

  2. Analysis of the problem

  3. Informing the public about the problem

  4. Development of policy goals

  5. Building of public support

  6. Legislation of enunciation of policy

  7. Implementation

  8. Evaluation
• When policies fail to have the intended effect it is usually due to theory failure or program failure
• Critical thinking in social welfare policy

  • Ability to analyze and organize facts, develop opinions based on validated evidence, argue and position, and evaluate alternatives, leading to problem solving
  • Enables a free flow of ideas while recognizing that some biases are impossible to disregard
• Policy advocacy


  Organized initiatives that seek to change official policy or legislation, or the manner in which these regulations are applied
• Policy advocacy efforts typically try to establish new policies, improve existing policies or challenge the development of policies that create difficulty or an injustice for specific groups in society, particularly more vulnerable or disadvantaged groups