A Guide For Providing Social Services In Head Start
 

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TABLE OF CONTENTS 

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FOREWORD

PART ONE: SOCIAL SERVICES IN HEAD START

Chapter One
Overview of Head Start

Chapter Two
Social Services in Head Start
Philosophy and Objectives
Program
Summary of Social Service Functions in Head Start

Chapter Three
Social Services Staff: Roles and Relationships
Staff Roles
Staff Relationships

Chapter Four
The Social Service Process
Gather Information
Study and Assess Information
Establish Objectives
Develop Plan of Action
Determine, and Obtain Skills and Knowledge
Implement Plan
Evaluate Progress or Accomplishments

PART TWO: ELEMENTS OF THE SOCIAL SERVICES PROGRAM

Chapter Five
Outreach, Recruitment and Enrollment
Outreach
Recruitment
Enrollment

Chapter Six
Family Needs Assessment
Purpose
Develop Interview Instrument
Conduct FNA Interviews
Contact Local. Agencies
Prepare Family Assistance Plan

Chapter Seven
Providing Services to Meet Needs
Counseling and Referral
Emergency Assistance
Community Resources
Follow Up
Monitor Absenteeism

Chapter Eight
Coordination of Community Resources and Advocacy
Coordination of Community Resources
Advocacy

Chapter Nine
Establishing and Maintaining Records
Setting Up the Files
Keeping Records Current
Maintaining Confidentiality

Chapter Ten
Head Start's Legacy to Families 

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FOREWORD 

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The primary role of social services in Head Start is to provide support to families as they work to strengthen their family units and improve the quality of their daily lives.

All families need support systems at various times in life. The difference between many Head Start families and their more affluent counterparts is simply lack of information.

One of the main functions of the social services component of Head Start is to supply that information. The social services component of Head Start serves as a link between the family, the program, and the community.

Head Start staff with social services responsibility are hired to provide families with information about the Head Start program and about support services available in the community; to assist families in locating and securing needed services; and to serve as advocates for Head Start and catalysts for change within the community. Additionally, where possible, Head Start social services staff provide direct services to families with enrolled children.

The purpose of this document is to provide Head Start staff having social services responsibility with a guide to the provision of social services to families. The guide will address the overall philosophy of Head Start, the role of social services in Head Start, the major objectives of the social services component, and some means by which these objectives can be achieved. These guidelines are designed to help every Head Start Center develop a social services program which will provide effective linkages between the Center, the family and the community.

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PART ONE: SOCIAL SERVICES IN HEAD START

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Chapter One: Overview of Head Start 

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Head Start was created in 1964 under the Economic Opportunity Act as part of the "war on poverty". The program was designed to provide pre-school children from economically and socially disadvantaged families with a "head start" on formal education. This primary goal of the program was to be achieved through the implementation of a comprehensive child development program which would provide for the physical, social, and intellectual growth of children.

The program was based on the premise that children living in poverty are subject to risks to and unintentional neglect of their health, education, and welfare. From the time of conception, the social and economic disadvantages of poverty have their effect on the child, because health services are usually inadequate and often inaccessible. Experiences are necessarily limited, so that the young child is often handicapped in his ability to communicate, and is frequently stifled in his desire to learn. Head Start was viewed as an opportunity to intervene in the developmental process in such a way as to insure that the children enrolled in the program, and their families received the services necessary to their positive growth and development.

A comprehensive, community-based program, concerned with the health, education, and welfare of its participants, Head Start provided nutritional, medical, dental, and social services, and actively involved the parents, family, and community in the child development center. Outreach to home and community, and the involvement of parents and community members in the program, was one of the most unique features of Head Start, and established a model for similar child development programs.

As Head Start grew and developed, its success became apparent in all areas. Not only did the children enrolled in the program benefit, but the parents, families, and total community reaped the benefits of Head Start. Parents became involved in the program; became active decision-makers; received training and went to work as volunteers and paid employees; became aware of community services, or the lack of them; and began to appreciate the influence that they could have on the community. Total families gained an increased sense of dignity and purpose as they sought and received improved services, learned how to work their way through the often complicated network of community services, and saw their children receiving the rewards of their efforts. A sense of pride and togetherness was instilled in the entire community, as joint efforts produced results - clean up a vacant lot, get playground equipment installed, open a neighborhood clinic, get another bus line operating - and everyone enjoyed the results.

Today Head Start serves more than 350,000 children in over 1300 programs across the country. Head Start has four major components - education, health, parent involvement, and social services - which continue to provide comprehensive services to children and families.

Chapter Two: Social Services in Head Start 

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Philosophy and Objectives
The philosophy of social services in Head Start is that of supporting families. The social services component of Head Start represents an organized method of assisting families to assess their needs, and then providing those services that will build upon the individual strengths of families to meet their own needs.

The aim of the Head Start approach to social services is recognition of the need to be treated with dignity and respect and the desire to develop a sense of self-direction and self-esteem. When things are done for you, over and over again, you begin to feel that you are incapable of performing the task yourself, your self-confidence is lessened, and you learn only that this is one thing you do not have the ability to do.

On the other hand, if a friend who has already been through an experience, shares with you your first encounter with the same experience, gives you a few tips along the way, and talks with you about how you made out, your response is likely to be, "Well, that wasn't so bad".

In Head Start, social services are conducted with the families in the program, not for the families. The emphasis is on families and individuals using their own strengths to resolve the conflicts in their lives from environmental pressures.

The focus for the social services staff is on support. Families must make their own decisions concerning which alternatives within the Head Start social services network they choose to utilize which options they choose to exercise. The inter-personal relationships established between staff and family members provide the vehicle through which effective decision-making takes place.

The revised Head Start Performance Standards state that the". . . process of getting families to utilize their strengths to make maximum use of community resources is one of the primary aims of the Social Services component in Head Start". This statement can be interpreted in many ways, depending upon one's point of view. in Head Start it means that the social services component is concerned with supporting families in their efforts to:

• become more aware of their individual strengths;
• maintain a strong sense of family pride and self -worth;
• improve their ability to identify and assess their needs;
• remove obstacles preventing parents and family members from entering into meaningful activities with their children; and
• increase their capacity to find and utilize community supports and resources to the family.

The Head Start social services component will have reached its goal if each family it serves:

• Has developed or increased the ability to identify its strengths and weaknesses.
• Has the capacity to recognize what they need when they are having difficulties, and where to get assistance.
• Feels in control of their own lives.
• Has confidence in dealing with a complex network of community agencies and services.

Program
Staff
Head Start social services staff are charged with the responsibility for providing social services for children and families enrolled in the program. Some staff members may have a graduate degree in social work, others may not have completed high school, but all have one objective in common - concern for the welfare of the families in the program and working together to effect improved quality of life for all.

Services
According to the revised Head Start Performance Standards, the broad basic needs and the specific social, emotional, and/or parenting needs of families can only be met through a comprehensive social services program, coordinated with the other Head Start component efforts, The social services component attempts to meet needs through the following activities:

• community outreach
• recruitment and enrollment of children
• family needs assessments
• providing information about available community resources and how to obtain and use them
• referrals
• emergency assistance and/or crisis intervention
• follow-up
• record keeping
• advocacy

Implementation
The method used for service delivery to families can be either direct or indirect. The staff person can either provide the service directly or take appropriate steps to insure that the family or individual obtains the needed services. In most instances, the role of the Head Start social services program is to act as a catalyst, facilitating the action to be taken by other supportive services within the community.

Head Start staff directly implements the outreach, recruitment, and enrollment activities in order to bring families into the program; they conduct family needs assessments with families directly; they are responsible for making families aware of community resources and how to use them; they are directly responsible for follow-up and record keeping; and they serve as advocates for families by recognizing changes needed in the community and taking action to bring about such change.

It may be necessary sometimes for Head Start, through the social services program, to provide needed services that are either missing in the community or that are presently unavailable to Head Start families.

Such examples as arranging for psychiatric care for a child or helping the family to find a nursing home for an aged grandmother represent instances where Head Start helps families locate needed
of a fire in social services not available in the community. In the event the neighborhood, Head Start might provide direct services to families by setting up a temporary shelter in the center, conducting
a clothing drive, and providing meals for the burned-out family. In most programs, direct provision of services can only be implemented to a limited degree, due to staff and budget limitations.

Coordination
Coordination of social services activities with the other activities of the Head Start program, and of the Head Start program with other community agencies is an important function of the social services component. The social services staff must be involved in classroom, parent involvement, nutrition, and health activities in the center in order to have a complete picture of the child and family, and in order to make recommendations to other staff members concerning the social services needs of child and family. The staff also has a responsibility to make other resources in the community aware of the Head Start program and the needs of Head Start families, while working with community agencies to obtain needed services.

It is the role of social services in Head Start to promote community commitment to the goals of Head Start by serving as a bridge between the center, the family, and community resources, so that the needs of Head Start children and families will be met.

SUMMARY OF SOCIAL SERVICE FUNCTIONS IN HEAD START

The outline which follows is intended to summarize the functions of the Head Start social services component for easy reference.

Recruitment and Enrollment

Recruitment
1. Identification of recruitment sources
2. Development of publicity
3. Recruitment follow up
4. Beginning the development of relationship with parents

Enrollment
1. Processing the application
2. Determination of eligibility
3. Interpretation of agency
4. Arranging for required medical procedures
5. Identification of special problems.

Services to Individuals and Families

Counseling (both individual and group)

1. Diagnosis and evaluation of problem situations
2. Short-term casework treatment
3. "Informal" counseling

Referrals
1. Making use of available and appropriate community resources
2. Preparing clients (family members) for referrals

Concrete Services
1. Accompanying families to community resources when necessary.
2. Enabling families to secure needed services.

Planning and Development of Parent Programs
1. Helping parents to organize parent group, programs in various areas (e.g., educational, recreational, social, cultural, self-help such as Clothing Exchanges and Consumers' Cooperatives)
2. Helping parents to "connect" as individuals with established community groups and organizations with which they can maintain, contact after their relationship with Head Start comes to an end

Helping Families to Use the Medicaid Program
1. Planning and implementing campaigns to encourage families to apply for Medicaid
2. Planning and implementing campaigns to familiarize families with benefits available under Medicaid
3. Locating and identifying local providers of medical and dental services that can be used under the Medicaid umbrella
4. In conjunction with the Health Services Coordinator, arranging for local hospitals and clinics to provide medical and dental services (under Medicaid) to Head Start families

Community Relations and Social Action
1. Community profile development
2. Community studies (e.g., identifying unmet needs, fact finding)
3. Information bank on available community resources
4. Development of inter-agency relations
5. Development of parents' organizations
6. Enabling families to develop a social action program
7. Helping family and parent organizations to "connect" with established community groups, organizations and institutions

Evaluation and In-Service Training
Evaluation
1. Evaluating the effectiveness of practices and techniques
2. Self-evaluations
3. Following up evaluations (e.g., through discussion with supervisors, questions at staff meetings, etc.)

In-Service Training
1. Identifying needs; gaps, weaknesses and problems that can be constructively dealt with thru in-service training
2. Using all available in-service training resources (whether -in or out of the agency) to strengthen the program

Work in Support of Other Staff

The social service program supports the Director by:
1. Participating in over-all program planning and in policy decisions related to social services functions and activities
2. Understanding and implementing agreed-on policies concerning the role, function, duties and responsibilities of the social services component
3. Keeping the Director currently informed about on-going programs and problems
4. Requesting authorization or approval whenever necessary
5. Making recommendations for changes in policies and practices

The social service program supports the classroom teaching staff by:
1. Sharing relevant information about, the child and family with the teacher
2. Following up on absentees
3. Coordinating with appropriate specialists in the program (e.g., psychologist, speech therapists, etc.) in the provision of on-going services to individuals and families.

Chapter Three: Social Services Staff: Roles and  Relationships 

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STAFF ROLES
The focus of the social services program is on the child, the family, and the community as a group of interacting personalities. The role of the social services staff is to provide support to the child and family, to serve as a resource to the family, and to act as a liaison between the Head Start Center, the family and the community.

Personal growth and development and self-sufficiency are some of the major goals of Head Start. Supporting families as they improve their ability to recognize, examine, analyze and select their own choices; and to recognize the risks involved and the consequences of making a decision to choose one alternative over another, is the function of the social services staff.

The mission of Social Services personnel is to insure that resources and services are available to each child and his family in the Head Start program. The impact of social services on family living and on individual growth and development should be guided by the social services program and the social services staff. Within the resources of the classroom there should be growth incentives and developmental provisions for each child. Within the local and larger community, the social services staff serve as advocates to insure that needed resources and services are available not only to Head Start family members but to other residents as well.

Head Start social services staff have six primary roles to fulfill:

1. Provide support and serve as a resource to families.
2. Act as a liaison (a bridge) between Head Start, the family and the community.
3. Provide training and education to families in using available resources and services, and in locating those that are unavailable or inaccessible.
4. Serve as a resource within the Head Start program for other staff members.
5. Maintain accurate records for the benefit of families and other staff members.
6. Act as an advocate (a supporter) of the children and families enrolled in the program, both within the center and in the larger community.

STAFF RELATIONSHIPS
Each of the roles described is carried out through the relationships established and maintained by the social services staff with families, with other staff members and with community representatives. The social services personnel are the public relations experts for Head Start.

Families
The first direct contact that a family has with Head Start is usually the social services staff. This first contact is crucial to the degree of comfort the family is going to fed with Head Start and to the amount of involvement the family will have in the overall program.

Parents and other family members must be perceived, accepted, and treated as responsible adults who desire to help their children, their families, and themselves through action, and who are capable of making decisions concerning their actions. It is critical during the first interview for the social services staff to make parents feel comfortable with Head Start, worthwhile as individuals, and important' to their child's development.

The child absorbs his family's beliefs and feelings and reflects them in his own self-image and in the way he views the world around him. Self-concept is very powerful in the emergence of potentialities of human beings. Therefore, if Head Start is going to help the child, it must also help his family maintain its dignity, stability, and have confidence that the conditions under which' it lives can be changed. Head Start is designed to help the family achieve a sense of well being. When a family participant in the program has the feeling of well being, he is proud of who he is as a person, he feels able to stand on his own feet, and he sees hope for the future. Professional people in social services call this having positive mental health - a state or condition in which an individual feels secure physically, mentally, and emotionally and is able to cope with his problems.

By establishing good relationships with the families being served, the social services staff can more effectively provide support to families, because family members will trust them. They will be better able to fulfill their roles as resource to families, because they will know the family members and their wants and needs, and they will be familiar with and able to"draw on. the strengths of the family as resources for themselves. They will be more likely to obtain accurate information for the family's records, thus providing another resource to the family.

Linking the family with the center offers the opportunity for social services personnel to determine what the people themselves see' as the urgent needs they have to face what steps they have already taken in dealing with problems; what resources are lacking; what steps should be taken and how these might lead to involvement in the opportunities and program activities offered at the Head Start Center. This approach is designed to see that the kind of social services provided are those most needed by the children and families being served.

Perhaps most important, this relationship can represent a source of comfort and support to both family and staff members. Head Start is people, caring about each other, and helping one another to grow and develop - Head Start is. friendship.

Staff Members
Social services personnel occupy a unique position on the Head Start staff, in that they represent the most direct link with the families enrolled as total entities. The education staff relates primarily to the children in the classroom, and with families only as they are concerned with classroom activities. The health staff's main concern is the physical and mental well-being of the children enrolled in Head Start, and the staff interactions with families center around health concerns. The parent involvement staff focuses on the specific needs and interests of the parents, and again, see only one side of the family.

The social services staff are the only members of the Head Start staff who meet regularly with the entire family, often in the home. By having a complete picture of the family, the social services staff can serve as invaluable resources to their colleagues in Head Start, by providing information about the family which can help other staff members to improve the delivery of education, health, and parent involvement services.

The Head Start staff can best serve children and families by working as a team, and the relationships established between the social services staff and other staff members can be effective tools for the establishment of a team approach to serving children and families.

Community Representatives
The quality and amount of. social services in any given Head Start center are dependent on available community resources and services. Connecting the needs of families in the Head Start center with community resources and services is the responsibility of the social services staff. These resources and services should be used for information, training and education as well as for referrals for treatment and rehabilitation on an individual basis.

The social services staff's role in making and maintaining personal relationships with community agency and organization officials is critical to the total effectiveness of the social services
component. It is important for social services staff to get out into the community and meet people concerned with the provision of support services; explain the purposes and the benefits of Head Start; obtain a working knowledge of the procedures which one must follow in order to obtain a given service; and maintain an on-going relationship with people in key positions within service agencies and organizations. By so doing, the staff make their job easier and more effective. When support services are needed, they can make immediate referrals, provide the necessary information on process and procedure, and follow-up with a contact to the right person within the agency.

The following page provides possible job descriptions for social services staff. The first description represents a staff person working as a coordinator, and serving several centers having at least one person on staff responsible for providing social services. The second description represents a center-level staff member with responsibility for 'the provision of social services to all families with children enrolled in that center.

SAMPLE JOB DESCRIPTION Family Services Coordinator Duties of Coordinator 1. The Family Services Coordinator will see that the ACYF Performance Standards are carried out in cooperation with each Family Worker. This includes the areas of Social Services, Parent Involvement, and Mental Health.
2. The Coordinator insures that the parents of Head Start children are fully integrated into each center's program, and that their needs are being met to the extent of the program's capabilities.
3. The Coordinator helps organize and oversee the procedures for program recruitment and enrollment.
4. The Coordinator will work with the Family Worker to set up parent training activities for the program and each center.
5. The Coordinator is a member of the Central Staff meetings. Also the Coordinator will attend various state meetings and workshops, as well as set up and run regular component meetings. Minimally, weekly visits to each center are encouraged.
6. The Coordinator assists in organizing the In-Service and Pre-Service programs for each year.
7. The Coordinator is responsible for seeing that the Social Services Plans are updated each year.
8. The Coordinator supervises the utilization of all available resources and supervises the completion of all required files and insures their confidentiality.
9. The Coordinator is expected to take part in Pre-Service and In-Service training and attend various staff meetings when requested. SAMPLE JOB DESCRIPTION Family Services Worker Duties of Worker 1. The Family Worker will have to be familiar with all aspects of. the Head Start program including the Performance Standards, the program plans and all program policies. This person must have an awareness of the philosophy and goals of the program in order to help the parents become active advocates for their children.
2. The Worker is responsible for child recruitment and enrollment for the program year in each respective center.
3. The Worker will also assist the Education staff in the classroom placement of children.
4. The Family Worker is responsible for setting up the preliminary screenings of all children-and for carrying out the medical and dental program in each center including setting up child physicals, immunizations and transportation to and from appointments.
5. The Worker is responsible for facilitating parent involvement in the center, including participation as volunteers in parent training sessions.
6. The Worker familiarizes the parents with available resources in the area served, makes and accepts referrals for the children and families to and from other agencies.
7. The worker makes periodic home visits.
8. The Worker is responsible for maintaining current and accurate records as required by the program and for insuring their confidentiality.
9. The Worker will help organize and carry out. parent training activities and support groups.
10. The Family Worker will attend Pre-Service, In-Service and all staff meetings.

Chapter Four: The Social Service Process 

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The method by which social services staff plan for and implement services to meet needs is called the social service process. The process involves seven steps designed to help the staff develop and carry out a comprehensive social services program which will best meet the needs of the Head Start families for which they are responsible.

GATHER INFORMATION

Some of the information needed for social services program planning will have been collected by staff members during outreach, recruitment, and enrollment activities. Additional information will be available from the family needs assessment. Staff can further supplement information by making home visits or telephone calls to families.

As a national program concerned with families, Head Start considers the family as being more extended than the classical description of a nuclear family constellation of father, mother and children. The family in this instance is likely to include one or more grandparents, cousins, uncles and aunts and even persons who are not blood relatives, but who live in the household. We must assume that all those living in the household exert some influence on the life of the child, and that the home environment plays a critical part in his development. It is important for the social services staff to include all those living in the home in the information gathering process.

STUDY AND ASSESS INFORMATION

Once all sources of information have been identified and used, staff should list the social services needs of each individual family, for inclusion in that family's file, and then compile the individual lists into a master list of social service needs. In most instances, a given need will appear on several individual lists, but need only be noted once on the master list, with a number indicating how many families need the service.

SAMPLE LIST OF NEEDS improved Housing (2) Clothing for School-Age Children (10) Shoes for School-Age Children (6) Eyeglasses for Family Members (2) Dental Care for School-Age Children (3) Medical Care for Family Members (1) Food Stamps (15) Nursing Home for Elderly Family Member (1) In-Home Care for Informed Family Member (1) After School Care (8)

ESTABLISH OBJECTIVES
Once the social services staff have a list of family needs, the next step is to establish realistic objectives. Staff members should meet to review the list and rank items in order of greatest need. Then prioritize items in terms of those things which can be accomplished immediately, and those which will require continuous work over a period of time. The two lists (greatest need and order of accomplishment) may not always coincide, but by looking at the problem in this way, staff can begin to develop a plan of action which will be successful.

Although some items of great importance may not be dealt with immediately, staff can show families how they are working on the problem, and can demonstrate their effectiveness by obtaining immediate solutions to other problems. This method of working through situations lets families know that the staff really do care and are trying, and it provides staff members with some sense of achievement and effectiveness.

To undertake monumental problems at the outset, knowing that it will be months before the problems can be resolved only lessens the credibility of the staff with the families concerned, and heightens the levels of frustration and feelings of inadequacy which staff members may already have.

DEVELOP PLAN OF ACTION

Social services are human services that represent the blending of various essential community services in order to provide the necessary supports to families for strengthening the individual members and the family as a unit. The collective efforts and interests of many are made available for the support of one person or a group of persons within the family. The long range objective of Head Start as a community action program is to effect a permanent increase in the ability of individuals and groups within communities to improve their own conditions with the use of appropriate supports.

It is the job of the social services staff to develop a plan of action (based on the objectives established in Step 3) which can be carried out realistically, and which will assist families to further develop their own strengths. A plan of action which involves doing things for the families in need of services, will only help family members to develop dependence upon Head Start and the social services staff.

The ultimate goal of the social services program is to assist families and individuals to develop greater independence and an increased ability to utilize their own resources to identify and assess their own needs, and to obtain the services to meet these needs. Therefore, the plan of action which the social services staff develops should be one designed to support families to achieve the objectives they have identified. If the objective is to obtain better housing, then the plan might be to help the family by providing a resource list of available subsidized housing and assisting family members with completing necessary applications and forms. A plan which involved finding and securing improved housing for the family would work against the ultimate goals of independence and self-reliance. Head Start, as a comprehensive program, provides social services as developmental tools for the child and his family, to strengthen their own capabilities.

DETERMINE AND OBTAIN SKILLS AND KNOWLEDGE

Few Head Start centers are able to maintain a full-time, professionally trained social services staff. Most centers operate with a staff that represents a number of different levels of training and expertise, or with a staff which consists of only one individual, who may have other duties as well. It is virtually impossible for any one person assuming the responsibility for the provision of social services to possess all of the skills and knowledge necessary to do all that the job calls for.

This step in the social services process requires the staff to do some self-evaluation. Staff members must assess their individual skills and knowledge base in order to determine whether additional help is needed to achieve the objectives they have established, and if so, from what source they can obtain additional help. The answer may be as simple as asking some questions of another staff member, or consulting a handbook or guide such as this one. Then again, staff members may need to seek additional training or call in outside help.

The important element in this step is honesty with oneself. Staff members must be able to recognize when they are in need of additional help, and willing to seek it. Only when they are fully prepared to assume the task at hand, can staff members serve as effective resources and supports to Head Start families.

IMPLEMENT PLAN

This step indicates that the task for the social services staff is to see to it that resources and services in the Center, within the classroom, and within the community be made available to each child and his family, as needed. While each child and each family must be regarded and approached on an individual basis, and full recognition given to that fact, the child and his family must be considered also as part of a larger group of people involved in an effort to effect institutional changes. Parents, as citizens, and other residents in the community must be a part of the planning and implementation of any plan of action that will effect the direction and the rate of change of conditions under which they live. So parents and other family members should be involved in each step of the social service process. Even during step 5, there is no harm in making parents aware of the fact that the staff may need additional information and/or knowledge in order to provide the needed support.

The social services personnel should be able, by preparation through in-service training and education, to examine with parents and families situations as they are, and to take steps to build from there. It is the families who have to face the day-to-day experience of struggling to exist with dignity within their present circumstances. They can best express their relative needs and explain the efforts they have made to survive. They are aware of the high possibility of a better life. But, it often seems to be far away. The social services staff should provide supports to families as they struggle to improve their lives. It is the job of the staff to show families how community resources and services can be helpful, and to help them identify the gaps in group and community life, so that they can realize their own goals. The staff should put at the disposal of the people all of their knowledge and experience that is relevant.

By approaching problems as a team, working toward a common goal, staff and parents can put a realistic plan into action, and achieve at least a measure of success - together.
 

EVALUATE PROGRESS OR ACCOMPLISHMENTS

Periodic review and assessment of goals and objectives provides both staff and parents with a feeling of accomplishment, and forms the basis for future planning. The social service process is an on-going one, which may take place several times during a program year. The following chart illustrates the process by using examples for each step, using the sample list of needs outlined earlier in this chapter.
 

THE SOCIAL SERVICE PROCESS
Step 1 Gather Information Review all forms completed during outreach, recruitment, and enrollment, Review family needs assessments. Make additional home visits and conduct personal interviews, Make follow up telephone calls.	Step 2 Study and Assess Information Clothing and shoes needed for school-age children.  Improved housing needed.  Nursing home care needed for elderly family.  After-school care needed.		Step 3 Establish Objectives Secure clothing and shoes for school-aged children.  Secure housing in newer, more spacious facility,  Secure placement for family member in nursing home.  Establish after-school program in center.		Step 4  Develop Plan Of Action Develop plans for center clothing exchange.  Locate listings of all available subsidized housing in area, and eligibility requirements.  Locate all accredited nursing homes in surrounding area, and determine length of waiting list and acceptance requirements.  Develop general plan for staffing and operation of  after-school program.
Step 5 Determine and Obtain Skills and Knowledge Find out how many families have school children.  Contact churches in area and list sources of help.  Call area HUD office for resource list. Consult local realtors about possible assistance,  Contact local clinic for resource list.  Ask P1 staff for availability of parent volunteers to help with program. Approach Director with plan and request review and approval,		Step 6 Implement Plan Get families and churches to donate clothing and shoes.  Arrange for collection, sorting and tagging of items.  Develop list of available housing.  Contact managers for application forms. Make lists and assistance available.  Develop list of acceptable nursing homes. Drive family to homes for tour and inspection. Assist family in completing application forms.  Develop list of parent volunteers.  Work on list of appropriate activities with parents.  Secure approval from Director.  Set-aside space.		Step 7  Evaluate Progress or Accomplishments Two clothing drives conducted.  Items collected, sorted and tagged by parents. Ten families have used the exchange.  One family relocated.  One family wait-listed for  3 bedroom apartment.  Application forms completed and submitted to Rest Haven Home.  Director has approved project.  Cafeteria area made available from 3-6 p.m. Ten volunteers committed.  Program of activities still being worked on.

   

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