Macro Practice Paper: Community Based Drug Abuse Programs
This report presents a description of the macro practice skills employed by the writer in working with a drug rehabilitation program located in Kansas City, Missouri, which provides both direct social work services to drug addicted individuals referred for assistance or self-referring. In addition, the agency, Imani House, also provides case management and referral services that incorporate networking with Narcotics Anonymous, Alcoholics Anonymous, and a host of other community-based, public and private sector organizations such as the Kansas City Housing Authority and the Kansas public assistance program.
The report identifies the nature of the Agency, discusses literature relevant to macro practice concerns with respect to this particular type of service agency, and then chronicles some of the activities undertaken by the writer in developing programs at the agency. Reference to cultural diversity and the underpinning theories of macro social work practice is contained in the report.
Kirst-Ashman and Hull (2005) identify a number of significant issues which impact at the macro level with respect to social work practice and interventions. In general, macro practice issues address organizational or community concerns from the social work perspective rather than micro level social work practices which tend to focus on individuals. At issue herein is an explication of this writer's work with a specific social work organization based in Kansas City, Missouri. The purpose of the assignment is to demonstrate the writer's ability to reflect upon practice in order to articulate awareness of macro skills and how such skills are generalized to groups and organizations.
Kirst-Ashman and Hull (2005) note that integral to the macro practice level is an ability to understand the kinds of policies, procedures, and programs that are available with respect to speci...