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Policy And Practice In Social Service Organizations: Jennings, Louisiana

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SWOK 534 Policy and Practice in Social Service Organizations
Melinda Duplichan
University of Southern California- VAC, spring 2011
Professor: Wells

Community Immersion Paper: Jennings, Louisiana I. Identification and General Description of Community Choosing a community to write about for this community immersion paper was not hard, as I live in one of the most talked about cities in southern Louisiana. Jennings, Louisiana is a city located in the southern part of Louisiana about 80 miles from Baton Rouge, Louisiana. It is the city base for Jeff Davis Parish which combined has 6 cities in the parish (U.S. Census Bureau, 2010). Jennings is considered a rural area with a population of 10,909 people residing in the city. …show more content…

These families have been living here from the beginning and own most of all the businesses in Jennings. Jennings with these power families there is a lot of corruption within the city. According to an interview conducted with a resident of Jennings, it is a visible corruption. They stated that it’s in the police department and in the court houses. The court house is located in central Jennings and shares a building with the parish sheriff’s department. The courthouse has two courtrooms and on judge. One Monday’s, Tuesday’s and Wednesday’s are court days in Jennings. Because this is the parish base surrounding cities in the parish have to attend court in Jennings. The mayor’s office is located across from the courthouse, basically if he is in office the office residents have the opportunity to speak with him. Election for public office are held every two years, however the judge and chief of police have held the same positions for the last 4 years. They were reelected with majority of the vote. Observing and interviewing residents across the tracks with a low economic status on the government of Jennings. Residents of this community fear the police and the government of Jennings. Most of the residents don’t vote because they believe it does not work. On resident showed me the curfew signs located for two blocks in front of the only club in Jennings. Residents reported having to leave the

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