Ecology of the Community

Community

Preventative, Supportive, and Rehabilitative Services

Creating Caring Communities through

Macrosystem Influences on Services - political ideology determines the services worthy of support. The need for funding involves economics of public, private, and/or combination agencies.

As a Support System - can manifest itself in formal and informal ways. Is needed because of increasing population and longer lives and their associated ailments, because of the changing nature of family, and because of increasing urbanization.

Mesosystem Influences: Linking Services to Families and Schools - examples, Head Start, BEEP, and BBBF

As a Learning Environment - the presence of alternative schools and services (zoos, museums, etc...)that engage learning affect environment. Businesses can offer financial and material support, human resources, professional support, serve on school councils and boards, and offer job placement and work experience programs.

Involvement: Volunteerism - service helps us feel valued and contributes to meeting needs in the community. Service groups exist at national, state, and local levels.

Influence on Socialization - the types of people living in an area and the area itself affect the imagery of the community.

Involvement: Advocacy - The CDF (Children's Defense Fund), the CWLA (Child Welfare League of America), and the NCPT (National Congress of Parents and Teachers) are all examples of advocacy groups.
It is important to report maltreatment to the correct agency. If action is needed, they will either employ family preservation, parent education, child care, family therapy, kinship care, foster case, parent support groups, institutionalization, or adoption based on the scenario.

Structure and Function - meets practical and psychological relationship needs. Has 5 functions: 1) Production, distribution, consumption 2) socialization 3) social control 4) social participation 5) mutual support

Physical factors like Population density, composition, noise, community design, and availability/types of play settings affect socialization

Economic Factors types of jobs in an area affect the money invested into housing, education, transportation, and healthcare. 22% of children are living in poverty, rises to 45% when adding in low-income and there are many types of people and many situations involved.

Social and Personal Factors size of community - small closer interpersonal relationships, large less personal and more informal relationships. Social diversity - a lack of diversity creates narrow points of view. Social norms - in small communities are more shared and need less written rules, in large communities formal laws and sanctions are needed. Valued types of relationships are more gemeinschaft in small communities and more gesellschaft in large communities.

Supportive Services involve family and child agencies for referrals to address issues, economic support, family preservation support, and counseling of various types. They also include senior assistance, child welfare services, child protective services, foster care, and adoption.

Rehabilitative Services involve correction services for those who struggle to obey laws, mental health services for behavior issues, and special needs services to help with language for immigrants and to assist those with disabilities.

Preventative Services include parks, recreation, and educational programs to provide space to socialize, be physically active, and have mental stimulation.

Health Care - Medicaid, Maternal and Child Health Services, CDC, and Child nutrition programs.

Social Support - Traditionally from private agencies, now also Child Welfare, SS Block Grants (Title XX), and Child and Adolescent service system program.
Plus child income tax deductions and subsidized day care for child care issues of working parents.

Economic Assistance - TANF, unemployment, Social Security Survivor and Disability benefits, SSI, Veteran Benefits, Child nutrition services, and others.
Programs not helping because high unemployment persists, can't earn enough to escape poverty, number of female headed households increasing, inadequate education and job training, and inadequate program budgets.

Special Services - for disabled, maltreated, abandoned, runaways through IEPs, foster care, adoption, Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act, and Family Violence Prevention and Services Program.

Planning Our Day vs. Seeking a Higher Plan

But the above was also used by Korihor the Anti-Christ: And many more such things did he say unto them, telling them that there could be no atonement made for the sins of men, but every man fared in this life according to the management of the creature; therefore every man prospered according to his genius, and that every man conquered according to his strength; and whatsoever a man did was no crime. (Alma 30:17)

Alma and Other Prophets indicate true change and self-improvement come from:
"O Jesus, thou Son of God, have mercy on me." (Alma 36:18)
"no other name given nor any other way nor means whereby salvation can come unto the children of men, only in and through the name of Christ," (Mosiah 3:17)
"for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted. (Luke 18:13)

Assumptions that the secular world and LDS seem to cherish:

  1. Every person fares in this life according to his or her ability to manage. If I can become a better
    manager, I can overcome my weaknesses and become a better, more productive person.
  2. Every person prospers according to his or her genius. If we are to succeed, we must use our heads.
  3. Every person conquers according to his or her strength. I need to rally my willpower. I need to dispatch
    waste and maximize good.

3 Life management views, different from the world: 1.) Growth and renewal are less about setting goals than submitting to His will.
2.) Growth and renewal are less about fixing ourselves than in being fixed by Him.
3.) Growth and renewal are less about using psychology (and management and finance and...) than
about using covenants.

Solutions for Families and Communities

Pressures on Families - our culture does not place enough value on children/family, so children spend too much time outsourced to the care of others, out of self-interests or work demands.

A New Family Ethic - We need: 1) Job schedules structured so children come before work. 2) Ongoing nurturing relationships in the family. 3) Opportunities for developmentally appropriate emotional and intellectual interactions. 4) Involvement in children's school and the community. 5) Cultural and Family Continuity

Urgent changes are needed in family roles, day care, government regulations, and corporate policies

Community Support - communities need to become more like extensions of the family, not bureaucratic entities. Some suggestions would be more and better day cares, to build more community centers and use schools as community centers too. Also make community entities like the police and hospitals more personal

The Freedom Principles - The answer to America's problems is to return to the constitutional principles of freedom the book, "The 5000 Year Leap" lists 28 principles, including equality, rights, morality/religion.

Taxes in Sweden - Sweden and Canada pay lots of taxes for the government to take care of them, when something happens.

The Jones Center - Bernice Young Jones and her Husband Harvey ran a very successful trucking company and used their success to give back to their employees and others. As they got older, they sold the company and Harvey died a within a year of two of the sale. Within a few years, the company who bought the trucking line was going bankrupt, so Bernice bought back the original trucking facility and turned it into a family center that is free for all who use it.

Hurricane Sandy Helping Hands - A video clip showing a day of assistance by the LDS members and community, in the aftermath of hurricane Sandy, and the gratitude of some of the people that they helped.

Santa Ana Building a Healthy Community - The city of Santa Ana was given a grant to improve their community and reached out to the residents to see where they felt the funding should be applied. text

Timing - Elder Oaks

The Lord's Timing - The Lord has his own time table and it is our job to learn to trust his time table over our own.

Agency of others - sometimes it is not just about the Lord's time table, sometimes it is also about the agency of others, like with baptism, a missionary can set a goal of 5 baptisms but that requires the agency of 5 other people to make that come true.

The most significant talks he has heard, change the way we think about something we already know. Timing is vital, we need to do the right things at the right time. See Ecclesiastes 3

Applications to our lives - We will not achieve everything we desire in life, some important things that occur will not be in our plans and not necessarily openly welcomed. In such times, we need to exercise our faith, keep the commandment and do our best. We should still make plans, but should be more focused on important commitments than planned goals.