Social Work Personal Statement

According to the Administration for Children and Families (2010), “Head Start is a national program that promotes school readiness by enhancing the social and cognitive development of children through the provision of educational, health, nutritional, social and other services to enrolled children and families” (para. 3). Based on this mission subject, it is possible to subject Head Start to a program evaluation based on the following questions: (a) Is Head Start provisioning educational, health, nutritional, social and other services to enrolled children and families? (b) Is the provisioning of educational, health, nutritional, social and other services leading to an enhancement of the social and cognitive development of children? (c) Is the social and cognitive development of children a social good for which taxpayers should pay $7 billion a year? These questions will be addressed, both directly and indirectly, later in this overview.

I have always had a strong desire to become a Social Worker. My whole life I have been described as a social butterfly. I take every opportunity I can get to be social, which is why no one in my family had any worries about my ability to make friends when I moved away from home to CSUMB. I take advantage of every workshop, every speaker, and every event that my school offers in order to gain more insight on the Social Work profession.

The program serves children from ages 3 to 5. Depending on the community needs, Head Start can offer services in different modalities, many of them are based in centers and schools. Others, function in child care centers and family child care homes. Children are provided with an environment, experience, and services that meet their individual needs and supports their mental, social, and intellectual development through a comprehensive early childhood education program. Parents’ participation is considered a key for the children success and it is encouraged in many ways.

1. Social Work Knowledge I am interested in applying to the Seidel School of Education and Professional Studies. I intend to enroll in the Master of Social Work for the Fall 2018 semester.

Having spent the last two years in multiple placements in the social care field, I am sure my passion is to help people help themselves. I have come to realise that my motivation is to see people better themselves and make changes to their lives for the better. I am a responsible, out going and enthusiastic individual with a general interest in social work. I have chosen social work because I get immense satisfaction in helping people change their lives for the better. My chosen career requires a well established background not only academic but also in relevant voluntary work placements which I possess.

I am Dolores Hatcher and my hometown is Birmingham, Alabama. I am returning to college fulltime after a ten year absence. The university classifies me as a senior transfer / non-traditional student. I am entering my fourth semester at Alabama A&M University. My major is Social Work and it is my passion. My life has been centered on helping people. Twenty plus years ago I joined the military and after a small number of years I changed my job to Chaplain Assistant (religious support). I feel this is why Social Work as a career field suits me more than any other field. I want to work in the health care field of gerontology. Becoming a Clinical Social Worker is the ultimate dream.

I am applying to the Pre-Masters in Social Work because it combines my interests in social justice with my skills and experience in community-based and non-profit social service programs. Since 2008, I have worked and volunteered in a variety of community organizations with a focus on empowering community to make positive change. My current work with Klinic Community Health’s Teen Talk program has been the most meaningful. It strives to incorporate decolonizing practices while using a strengths-based approach to youth prevention education. This increases youth’s capacity to make informed decisions for themselves around anti-violence issues, substance use, mental health, and sexuality.

The interest of pursuing social work developed when I was earning my undergraduate degree. I wanted to help others with a rewarding job that would allow me to empower others. I learned more about what social workers do and the various career choices that are offered during my junior and senior year. Family has always encouraged me to gain a degree in a field that I would be passionate about and that would give me satisfaction. My friends have always thought that I would be an excellent social worker.

As a young girl, I watched about three different social workers come to my house for my older sister. Each social worker took a different approach and had a different effect on my family. Although the social workers were there for my sister, everything that was done included my family as a whole. As I was watching each social worker, I realized some of the pros and cons of the career and I became interested. At that time, I was unsure of what I wanted to become once graduating from high school. The only thing I was sure about was that I wanted to help others and I liked children. I knew my stomach was too weak to become a nurse or doctor, so I had to think of other options. By watching these social workers, it helped to make my decision. No

In human services there are many jobs that someone can work that uses their knowledge or skills. I never wanted to be a social worker, and in college had to change my major my junior year due to unforeseen circumstances. During that time I was stressed and didn’t know what to do, so I decided to major in psychology and become a social worker to help those who have disabilities. I have had many different experiences that helped me determine what I wanted to do when I graduated.

Preschool supports children in their school readiness, and since 1995 early head start has been providing low income families preschool educational support for their young children. Magnuson and Votruba-Drzal (2014) report that disadvantaged children, those from homes suffering from early and chronic poverty, are at risk for lower levels of achievement and discuses education as being an impactful intervention to address poverty. However, like any social program, a cost-benefit analysis will be employed. The cost of preschool is sizable, Duncan (2001) states that the application of effective preschool programs, as well as the cost of research to assess effectiveness, is an investment. An effective preschool program is innately more expensive, characteristics such as low teacher to student ratios, small class sizes, teacher work conditions, and professional development are key to effectiveness as well as a cost factor. Yet, Barnett (2011) indicated that the cost of preschool was better than the cost of potential supports through special education and retention as indicated through a comparison study. Long term impacts also include a reduction in:

Studying social work gave me a purpose in life, I felt like I was given this life for some reason. During my bachelors, I was taught about different values and ethics one should have to be a social worker. It was then when I learned social work is not what everyone can do, you have to learn it, study it, ace it. It’s a profession and it is about helping people to help themselves. Social work is not about giving food to people rather it is to teach them how to earn that food, bring out the best in people, help them to find out solutions for their problems and everything has a right way to do it and studying social work teaches us how to do it effectively, efficiently. Social work has changed me into a completely different person in a positive way and made me realize it is what I am best

Some believe that the best way to tackle the challenge of a high functioning society is to mandate a well-defined preschool program. In 1965, Head Start became a federally funded organization designed to foster early development for families who could not access it otherwise. (Clemmitt, 2014). These families were classified as low-income and benefitted from additional health services, social and emotional skills development, academic skills, as well as education on parenting. So much emphasis has been placed on the development of preschool-age children that in 2014, Congress not

Since 1965, Congress and State officials have debated the Head Start program, many have argued for it and many have argued against it. A program that costs $9 billion dollars annually justifies such a debate (Lips and Muhlhausan, 2010). The continuous debate and the spending the government allocates towards Head Start has led to countless studies dedicated to examining the effectiveness that Head Start has on the child’s social, emotional, health, and educational needs. This research allows for a further examination of the effectiveness of Head Start, and also the role parents play in the impact Head Start has on their child.

Head Start was started by the Lyndon B. Johnson administration in 1965, following Johnson’s State of the Union address in 1964, which he declared a “War on Poverty”. In the past 52 years, Head Start has helped over 32 million minority children by helping develop their social, emotional, cognitive, and physical needs in preparation for kindergarten (Hudson, David). The results of Head Start students in kindergarten up through eighth grade, compared to children who did not attend Head Start are astounding. In the Baltimore School district, Head Start graduates had a higher attendance rate versus non Head Start graduates up through the third grade. Later on in eighth grade, Head Start graduates in Tulsa, OK had higher test scores in math, were less likely to be absent continuously, and were significantly less likely to be held back a year. These positive impacts last longer than either grade. Adults who