Key Takeaways
- Macro social work focuses on creating change at the community, organizational, and policy levels
- Community organizing involves mobilizing community members to identify shared concerns and take collective action
- Policy advocacy involves analyzing, developing, and changing social welfare policies at local, state, and federal levels
- The ADA, ACA, TANF, and SSI/SSDI are key social welfare policies that social workers must understand
- Program evaluation uses research methods to assess whether programs are achieving their intended outcomes
- Grant writing is a skill that supports program development and sustainability
- Research methods (quantitative, qualitative, mixed methods) inform evidence-based practice and program evaluation
Community and Policy Practice
While the ASWB Clinical exam primarily focuses on clinical practice, it also tests your understanding of macro-level social work practice, including community organizing, policy advocacy, program development, and research methods. Clinical social workers must understand how broader systems affect their clients and how to advocate for systemic change.
Macro Social Work Practice
Macro social work operates at the community, organizational, and societal levels to create systemic change. While clinical social workers focus on individual and family intervention, understanding macro practice helps clinicians:
- Advocate for clients' needs at the policy level
- Understand the systemic barriers that affect client well-being
- Participate in program development and organizational change
- Contribute to community health initiatives
Community Organizing
Community organizing involves mobilizing community members to identify shared concerns and take collective action to address them. Key models include:
Rothman's Three Models of Community Practice:
| Model | Focus | Approach | Social Worker Role |
|---|---|---|---|
| Locality Development | Community building and participation | Consensus, broad participation | Enabler, facilitator, coordinator |
| Social Planning | Problem-solving using data and expertise | Technical, expert-driven | Researcher, analyst, planner |
| Social Action | Power redistribution and advocacy | Confrontational, grassroots | Activist, advocate, organizer |
Community organizing strategies include:
- Asset mapping: Identifying community strengths, resources, and capacity
- Coalition building: Bringing together diverse organizations and stakeholders around shared goals
- Public education: Raising awareness about issues through campaigns, media, and events
- Voter mobilization: Encouraging civic engagement and political participation
- Direct action: Protests, demonstrations, and other forms of collective pressure
Policy Advocacy
Social workers engage in policy advocacy to influence laws, regulations, and policies that affect client well-being. The policy process typically follows these stages:
- Problem identification: Recognizing a social problem that requires policy attention
- Policy analysis: Examining existing policies, identifying gaps, and evaluating alternatives
- Policy formulation: Developing proposed policy solutions
- Policy advocacy: Lobbying, testifying, organizing, and mobilizing support
- Policy implementation: Putting adopted policies into practice
- Policy evaluation: Assessing whether the policy is achieving its intended outcomes
Key Social Welfare Policies
Social workers must be familiar with major social welfare policies and programs:
| Policy/Program | Description | Key Provisions |
|---|---|---|
| ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act, 1990) | Prohibits discrimination against people with disabilities | Reasonable accommodations in employment, public accommodations, and government services |
| ACA (Affordable Care Act, 2010) | Health insurance reform | Medicaid expansion, health insurance marketplaces, pre-existing condition protections, dependent coverage to age 26 |
| TANF (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families) | Federal block grant for cash assistance | Time-limited (60 months lifetime), work requirements, state flexibility |
| SSI (Supplemental Security Income) | Federal income support for aged, blind, and disabled individuals with limited income | Needs-based, does not require work history |
| SSDI (Social Security Disability Insurance) | Federal disability insurance for workers | Based on work history and contributions; requires inability to engage in substantial gainful activity |
| Medicare | Federal health insurance for people 65+ and certain disabled individuals | Part A (hospital), Part B (medical), Part C (Medicare Advantage), Part D (prescription drugs) |
| Medicaid | Joint federal-state health insurance for low-income individuals | Income-based eligibility, varies by state |
| FMLA (Family and Medical Leave Act) | Provides unpaid, job-protected leave for family and medical reasons | Up to 12 weeks for qualifying employers |
In Rothman's models of community practice, which model focuses on using data and expert knowledge to solve community problems?
Program Development and Evaluation
Social workers contribute to the development, implementation, and evaluation of programs that serve client populations.
Program Development Steps:
- Needs assessment: Collecting data to determine what services are needed in a community
- Program design: Creating the program structure, goals, objectives, activities, and budget
- Logic model: A visual framework connecting program inputs, activities, outputs, and outcomes
- Implementation: Putting the program into action
- Process evaluation: Assessing whether the program is being implemented as designed
- Outcome evaluation: Measuring whether the program is achieving its intended results
- Sustainability planning: Ensuring the program can continue beyond initial funding
Types of Program Evaluation:
| Type | Question Answered | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Formative evaluation | Is the program being implemented as planned? | Reviewing whether group facilitators are following the curriculum |
| Summative evaluation | Did the program achieve its goals? | Comparing pre- and post-test depression scores for program participants |
| Process evaluation | How is the program operating? | Examining attendance, participation, and fidelity to the model |
| Outcome evaluation | What changes resulted from the program? | Measuring employment rates 6 months after a job training program |
| Cost-effectiveness analysis | Is the program worth the investment? | Comparing the cost per successful outcome to alternative programs |
Grant Writing Basics
Social workers may participate in grant writing to fund programs and services:
- Identify funding sources: Government grants (SAMHSA, HRSA), foundations, corporate sponsors
- Write a compelling narrative: Clearly state the problem, proposed solution, target population, and expected outcomes
- Develop a budget: Align costs with proposed activities; include personnel, supplies, indirect costs
- Include an evaluation plan: Describe how you will measure whether the program achieves its goals
- Demonstrate organizational capacity: Show that your organization has the infrastructure and expertise to implement the grant
Research Methods
Social workers use research to inform practice, evaluate programs, and contribute to the evidence base:
| Method | Description | Use |
|---|---|---|
| Quantitative | Numerical data, statistical analysis, hypothesis testing | Measuring outcomes, comparing groups, testing effectiveness |
| Qualitative | Narrative data, interviews, focus groups, thematic analysis | Understanding experiences, exploring perceptions, generating theory |
| Mixed Methods | Combining quantitative and qualitative approaches | Comprehensive understanding of complex phenomena |
| Single-Subject Design | Tracking one client's progress over time (baseline, intervention, follow-up) | Evaluating individual client outcomes in clinical practice |
Key Research Concepts:
- Reliability: The consistency of a measurement tool (does it produce the same results each time?)
- Validity: Does the tool measure what it claims to measure?
- Internal validity: Can the study results be attributed to the intervention rather than other factors?
- External validity (generalizability): Can the results be applied to other populations and settings?
- IRB (Institutional Review Board): Reviews research involving human subjects to ensure ethical standards are met
- Informed consent in research: Participants must understand the study, risks, and their right to withdraw
What is the difference between SSI and SSDI?
Which type of program evaluation answers the question "Did the program achieve its intended goals?"
Match each social welfare program with its primary purpose:
Match each item on the left with the correct item on the right
In research methodology, "reliability" refers to:
The maximum lifetime limit for receiving TANF cash assistance is _____ months.
Type your answer below
In program evaluation, a "formative evaluation" is conducted to:
Which Rothman community practice model uses confrontational tactics, grassroots organizing, and power redistribution?
The Affordable Care Act (ACA) includes which of the following provisions?
In research methodology, "validity" refers to:
A single-subject research design in clinical practice involves:
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