Advocacy in Human Services Essay

down the stairs the Rainbow Inc. began when a group of four societally sensible plenty discovered a dire need for quality, unbiased eudaimonia support without prejudice or borders and became an incorporated association in February 2007.Since its inception, down the stairs the Rainbow Inc. has been committed to excellence in the legal transfer of social offbeat run based on their principles of charity, care and compassion. A range of aids designed to promote independence and to enhance quality of flavour are provided by at a lower place the Rainbow, all of which encompass care and support of local corporation members, in particular those who require relief from poverty and/or the dependents of most(prenominal) such mortals. protagonism is the primary role of grimace managers who volunteer at Under The Rainbow and in this human service destinyting and some(prenominal) new(prenominal) it is essential for services to be provided accurately.This essay will define prot agonism in a human services context as vigorous as discuss the type of protagonism that is beneficial to clients in this elect human service setting. In conclusion, this essay will also drag issues that Under The Rainbow earn encountered whilst implementing advocacy and lurch and the way the current political climate buttocks effect their ability to engage in advocacy and deliver quality human services.Whilst the definition of advocacy in everyday is broad, in human service and social reckon make out advocacy is essentially the process of protecting human rights or to change racist or abusive treatment to the vulnerable, whether working with an individual or a group (Corey, Corey & Callanan, 1998).Human service workers all act as counselor-at-laws in the course of their work (Sorensen and Black, 2001) and the Australian Association of affectionate produceers Code of ethical motive (2002) supports this view citing, The social worker will uphold for changes in policy, s ervice delivery and social conditions which enhance the opportunities for those most vulnerable in the familiarity further Forbat and Atkinson (2005) argue that advocacy is non social work, but its principles and set resonate closely. Regardless of onesdefinition, the key concept in the whimsey of any(prenominal) type of advocacy, is that it requires at least three parties the client, the advocate and the separate side (School of Health and Human Services, 2007).Literature suggests that the differing types of advocacy seem as broad as its definition and a tot up of different types of advocacy exist, however at bottom Under the Rainbows human service poser they are predominately refer with individual or case advocacy. According to Hepworth & Larsen (1993), case advocacy is a way to obtain resources or services for clients that would not otherwise be provided and this theory down the stairslies Under the Rainbows belief that to advocate for a client is to found about some form of personal and/or social change (School of Health and Human Services, 2007).Under the Rainbow is a involuntary corporation based organisation which now boasts a membership of sixty-five individuals, some of whom work with clients as advocates for change. The goal for each volunteer who manages cases for Under the Rainbow is to promote fair, equal, and humane treatment by substance of fundraising, charity provision (food and clothing), welfare work and social action against in sightlyice for the disadvantaged. Under the Rainbows social work blueprint is mainly concerned with implementing changes in the local company to assist in poverty relief to predominately voluntary clients (Barker, 1991), though some are referred.While the majority of Under the Rainbows charity work is concerned with lending a hand materially and financially, they also work man-to-man with clients to determine why they needed a hand in the outset place and therefore consider some(prenominal) aspe cts of their human service delivery forms of advocating. However there is some argument as to whether charity and advocating is in fact the same thing. The assertion by LHirondelle (2002) that charity work simply means crack one-on-one assist without effort to go past people the opportunity to participate in working with others to change their speckle is challenged at Under the Rainbow who believe authorisation of a client is both valuable and essential.Individuals who seek befriend from Under the Rainbow often see themselves as powerless and unable to make changes in their lives and sadly, those who are discriminated against, are often the most vulnerable. Under the Rainbow clients hindquarters be distinguished by numerous inequalities involving social issues in areas such as power, authority, and wealth, working and nutrition conditions, health, lifestyle, gender, education, religion, and culture. Because the disposition of Under the Rainbow is predominately a charity, they realise some of the clients who ask for welfare assist will not want to be involved in any further actions for changing their situation and staff may merely be required to advocate once. However, they know from experience there are just as galore(postnominal) of their clients who will want to get involved and concern with others in order to work together for social and personal empowerment.To clarify empowerment further, Shulman (2005) states that the empowerment process involves engaging the client, family, group, or federation in developing strengths to personally and politically cope and a number of empowerment workshops and programmes covering issues such as budgeting, self-esteem and parenting are utilise at Under the Rainbow to facilitate this.Clients also often need help when dealing with other agencies and a Justice of the Peace service and help with letter writing, telephone and electronic correspondence is also offered. Often clients aroma they have been treate d unfairly by other advocacy and impartiality agencys and challenging another organisations reasoning, on a clients behalf or as an individual can be referred to as persuasion advocacy (Reardon, 2001). Many times writing a letter or involving law enforcement agencies to negotiate a point has been successful for Under the Rainbow and their clients to further instil empowerment.Therefore, Under the Rainbow staff believe offering an individual help, whether through the distribution of groceries or an activity similar to the ones discussed above, is seen as empowerment for social change. Under the Rainbow advocate for and empower their clients, bringing people together where they are then able to take action to change their situation. Schneider& Lester (2001) include empowerment in their definition as part of the practice of advocacy and conclude that this value is based on the belief that individuals have strengths to acquire knowledge, become assertive, and develop skills, and throug h social work advocacy, these strengths can be set in motion.Vanessa, who has worked with Under the Rainbow for nine months states, when I interview clients, I encourage and pay attention to the capable person I see in front of me. My focus as an advocate is never on their previous history, as there is nothing I can do personally to change it. The importance for me is what the client wants from life and how it can be achieved (Pers comm. 2/4/08). Whilst working as an advocate Vanessa does not expect nor require a client to self-disclose, however they usually do, which Vanessa defines as a relationship based on trust and mutual respect.Respecting the privacy rights and confidentiality of Under the Rainbows clients is extremely most-valuable and they believe that excellent ethical conduct must be nice in order to be a credible community advocate. Cultural, language, constipation and other accommodations are also provided for. If personal conflicts of interest should occur the advoc ate will step aside and ask for help from another party. As Under the Rainbow is are self-regulating, ethical decision-making and the process of critical reflection, evaluation and popular opinion through which a practitioner resolves ethical issues, problems and dilemmas (Trevino, 1986) is extremely important in both a personal and professional context.As well as individual and personal advocating, dissolving barriers and building a sense of community on a local level, Under The Rainbow promote global spirit and pride themselves on their broad worldview and high awareness of the inter-relatedness and sacredness of all living things. All Under the Rainbow Inc. members are active, both personally and professionally, in many social arenas confronting a broad range of social and political issues. protagonism of this type, which refers to a connection with social movements, is known as active or cause advocacy (Healy, 2000) and often involves active criticism of or intricacy with go vernmentpolicies and practices (School of Health and Human Services, 2007).Many members of Under the Rainbow have blind drunk lobbying and media skills and some of their more prominent contributions and support include subscriptions and memberships to other advocacy groups and organisations such as New Internationalist Magazine, Bush Heritage Australia, amnesty International and Greenpeace as well as Indigenous organisations, animal and environmental protection groups and interests in many other diverse global activist platforms. Under the Rainbow has also purchased and helped plant thousands of trees in South East Queensland through the Queensland Folk Federation at the Woodford Folk Festival site.Under the Rainbow is self-sufficing and as yet to receive any government funding. Relying on donations from its members and the customary public to support their services is successful, but often unpredictable and can cause frustration when resources are limited. However, being an inc orporated association means that Under the Rainbow is only accountable to themselves, their donors, members, clients and community. Not being affiliated with any government, church or social agency means they are not subject to any other types of accountability usually required under public auspice and this is preferable. Under the Rainbows projects, which are both broad and long-range, draw only on individual and group advocacy skills from its membership pool, preferring to remain goop and not out-source help from other agencies.In recent years, new set of ideas, such as advocacy, consumerism, empowerment, participation, and anti-discriminatory practices have all influenced social work practice and this has had an impact on social work values. This new set of ideas is referred to as radical values (Adams et al, 2002) and are concerned with challenging oppression and discrimination, it is within this value system that Under the Rainbow continues to operate.Advocacy is essentially t he process of rest up for the rights of others who are being unfairly treated (Sorenson and Black, 2001) and has the potential to bring significant and sustainable change for the pause. It canempower individuals and communities and generate many resources whilst bringing diverse organisations together to work on common issues. impressive advocacy takes specific skills, commitment, effort, resources, perseverance, wisdom and collaboration all of which are face by the Under the Rainbow volunteers on a daily basis.The case managers at Under the Rainbow realise they need to successfully master the skills needed to be an advocate, which takes time and experience. They are also aware that learning to be ingratiatory and using resources available to them will increase their level of competence and better assure a positive outcome for both themselves and their clients.I am proud to be a member of Under the Rainbow and my involvement in the challenging albeit very rewarding endeavours t o facilitate advocacy for change in this small but powerful association.REFERENCE LISTAdams, R., Dominelli, L., & Payne, M., (2002). Social Work, Themes, Issues and decisive Debates (2nd ed.), Palgrave, Basingstoke.Australian Association of Social Workers (2002), Code of moral philosophy, Retrieved April 2nd, 2008, AASW Website http//www.aasw.asn.au/adobe/about/AASW_Code_of_EthicsCorey, G., Corey, M., & Callanan, P., (1998). Issues and Ethics in the Helping Professions, brook/Cole, USA.Forbat, L., & Atkinson, D., (2005). Advocacy in Practice The troubled Position of Advocates in Adult Services, British Journal of Social Work, 353, pp. 321-335Healy, K., (2000). Social Work Practices Contemporary Perspectives on Change, able, London.Hepworth, D., & Larsen, J., (1993). Direct Social Work Practice Theory andSkills (4th ed.) The Dorsey Press, Homewood, Illinois.Trevino, L.K., (1986). Ethical Decision making in Organizations A Person-Situation Interactionist Model, The Academy of Mana gement Review,Vol. 11, No. 3, pp. 601-617.LHirondelle, C., (2002), Characteristics of Remedial Work vs. Social Change, Retrieved April 4th 2008, Victorian Status of Women (SWAG) Website http//pacificcoast.net/swag/index.htmlReardon, K.K., (1991), Persuasion in Practice, Sage Publications, Newbury Park, California.Schneider, R.L., & Lester, L., (2001). Advocacy A New Definition, Social Work Advocacy, Brooks/Cole Publishing, Pacific Grove California.School of Health and Human Services, (2007). muse Guide Advocacy and Change, Southern Cross University, Lismore.Shulman, L., (2005). Skills of Helping Individuals, Families, Groups and Communities, Wadsworth Publishing Company, USA.Sorenson, H., & Black, L., (2001). Advocacy and Ageing, Australasian Journal on Aging, Vol. 20.3, Supplement 2, pp. 27-34.