Social Work Month

When working in a field of expertise the experts in that area need to know what defines that field. Social work, with its roots over a hundred years old, started out simply offering assistance to others, has grown and changed, and is currently reconnecting with its roots (Bisman, 2004). Bisman (2004) emphasizes the importance of being an advocate of justice and keeping the field focused on the “social” part of social work. This push to keep social work focused on the needs of others defines social work today. Social work focuses on providing aide to the needy and increasing awareness of those that are oppressed.

Social workers’ commitment to social justice means they want everyone to have a fair and equal opportunity to an assessment. In line with fairness, social workers should tell carers about their right to refuse an assessment as their permission, and not the person receiving care, is needed before the carer’s assessment can commence. In addition, social workers, bound by legislation regarding confidentiality and information sharing, must reserve the carer’s right to privacy whilst uphold their right to a fair hearing. This is achieved by only disclosing carer’s personal details to 3rd parties with consent, unless a safeguarding concern arises.

This is applied research where a knowledge development objective is the end result (Blanche & Durrheim, 1999: 41).

As I observed the N.A. group, I compared Hepworth 's, Direct Social Work Practice, five stages of group development. The Preaffiliation stage involves observation and feeling out the environment of the group; members may be hesitant to speak or test out certain behaviors to see reactions from other members of the group or the facilitator (Hepworth, Rooney, Rooney, & Strom-Gottfried, 2017, 2013). Returning group members greeted each other with hugs, handshakes, pat on the back, while newcomers sat quietly observing others. The facilitator provided an introduction and instructions for participation. Each member was instructed to introduce the first name, state "I am an addict" and take turns reading from the

In every day life one must make decisions, and with decisions there comes options from which to choose from. One decision from Texas that has caused concerned has ties to one of the provisions in the Affordable Care Act. This provision wants to expand Medicaid coverage to low income Americans. However, the Supreme Court ruled a decision to make the Medicaid expansion optional for states. Therefore, Texas opted out on this idea but is still indecisive on weather or not this expansion is beneficial to the state. As we all know factors like politics enter into the mix, as does the costs of the expansion, availability, and quality of care for these new “enrollees”. The idea of medical care for all seems like a simple effective idea, but the effects overall is detrimental to Texas citizens like myself and my family, who doesn’t necessarily fit into this “mold” of the uninsured citizen the act is trying to attract. The decision Texas made to not expand, in my opinion is a reflection of all citizens who feel that they will not benefit from this implicated Medicaid program.

Poverty and citizens’ rights are two of Texas’ main concerns and issues. It affects citizens health care and welfare. National policies are being implemented to solve and decrease poverty rates. Over two hundred programs like Medicaid and Medicare have been put in place to help less fortunate citizens and poverty-related problems. Controversial subjects like abortion laws and regulations are still being discussed and revised. The state is trying to protect people’s rights and provide for the less fortunate.

This paper covers the topic of Texas refusing to expand Medicaid. We will look at where the social welfare program came from, and also look at Obama and his affordable healthcare act in relation to how that is ties into the expansion of Medicaid and why Obama president felt that it was important. We will look at Governor Rick Perry’s along with Governor Greg Abbott’s viewpoints and why it is they that feel expanding Medicaid would not have been in the best interests of Texas. Finally we will take a look at my viewpoints on all of the issues currently at hand.

Since the passage of the ACA, a total of 14.1 million adults have acquired health insurance coverage, however, a distinction must be made; the ACA was created to expand health insurance, not to better health care (Office of The Assistant Secretary For Planning and Evaluation, 2015). Texas being the number one state in all of the U.S. with "more than 5 million Texans" (19% of the population) uninsured in 2014 (this was a decrease of 700,000 individuals in 2013) would be expected to hold great support in order to lower the high rates of the uninsured (Walters, 2015). In order to understand the impact that the ACA has had on the U.S., but especially in Texas, it is important to look at what state officials say concerning the reform and

Toward the end of the 1920s, in a little town in South Texas named Cotulla, a junior high teacher saw the injustice and poverty among his Mexican-American students (Del Bosque, 2013). After decades passed, that same man became the U.S. President; Lyndon B. Johnson signed the bill that constructed Medicaid in 1965, which is a program that is funded by the state and the federal government to provide health insurance to low-income Americans (2013). Johnson had an idea to create a “Great Society” which he defined as “a society where no child will go unfed, and no youngster will go unschooled” (2013) . Now even in 2015, we see that President Obama is still fighting for this dream of Johnson’s (Ura & Walters, 2014). President Obama’s Affordable Care

Gov. Perry has good points on how to fix the health care problem for Texas, only if he is allow to mandate them, the statement that he made are so true, if we had a health system to assist the lower income people, where they would have the same benefits as others and not have the premium so high where they can’t afford the care, as well as their co-pay. I know the money will have to come from somewhere but do it have to hurt the one’s that make it? The people of Texas work very hard for very little, I should know because I live in Texas and there is not very good pay here, and when you have to work very hard for it and to work that hard and not be able to provide health care for you and your family it’s heartbreaking, and now that the President has pass a law stating that everyone has to have some type of health care insurance. “The states may be allowed to reallocate these monies directly to

Seiber and Berman (2017) conclude that the Medicaid expansion helped the vast majority of enrollees, and there would be no pathway for them to obtain private-sector insurance if the ACA were repealed. Tarazi et al. (2016) believes that if there were no expansion of Medicaid, many cancer survivors would have limited access to routine care. Call et al. (2015) state that there is a clear evidence that the ACA has led to significant health insurance coverage gains. Pickett, Stephen, et al. (2016) analyze the uninsured rate in Texas (one of the highest in the nation) and conclude that Texas health care providers would face grave financial consequences if the 2017 session of the Texas legislature had not pass legislation to expand Medicaid under the ACA. Flint (2014) finds that States that refuse the Medicaid expansions are creating a problem for themselves as we are all beneficiaries of the Medicaid program.

qualified to wait until I have obtained my certificate and have the tool of higher education under my belt. The specifics of what exactly I hope to accomplish by jumping as far as I possibly can in my professional life are to simply be the best social worker for addicts and their families that I can possibly be. The issues plaguing these people and their families are catastrophic, and I understand firsthand how damaging and divisive the effects can be. If I can help even one family understand and shape their family environment into a safer and more constructive one and to give back to even just a single individual who needs the kind of guidance and support that I needed (and thankfully received), then my life will be more than well-lived. However,

Every worthwhile journey begins with one step. My social work journey began when I received my undergraduate degree from the University of Utah in 2003. I thought my next step would be to immediately pursue a graduate degree. In my undergraduate career I had taken numerous classes from the College of Social and Behavioral Science and had done well in those classes. In my Social Work as a Profession course I had an assignment to shadow a social worker and write a paper about my experience. I chose to shadow my father-in-law, a social worker with over 30 years of experience, and in my paper I expressed my desire to go into the social work field. I knew I liked helping people. I knew I liked problem solving and critical thinking. I thought my 22 year-old self was ready to embark on that journey, but I wasn’t. I realize now that what I lacked at graduation was one crucial step… perspective. Over the past twelve years I have gained that much needed perspective and have taken many steps forward in my journey, and with those steps and that increased perspective, I now feel more fully prepared to begin my social work career.

This worker was able to meet with Ms. Mango on 3/10/2017 at her mother Katherine Mango’s home located at 477 Fairton Road in Monroe New Jersey.

On the first page of Keith-Lucas’s, So You Want to be a Social Worker he makes note of how Christianity and social work share a lot of the same values, because of this the practice of social work can be viewed as a form of ministry. For example, most social workers, no matter their religion believe that all people have worth, and see a great importance in the showing of understanding and kindness towards them. Through my studies in APS 101, at Redeemer University College, I have learned that social work was brought up by the Church; I never knew of this relationship. This new knowledge makes me eager to learn more about the field, and the ways in which I can use it to serve not only my neighbors, but God himself, through its missionary characteristics.