Ecology of the Community

Need for Community

Psychological

Practical

Economic

Community structured to have 5 functions:

  1. Production, distribution, consumption
  1. Socialization
  1. Social Control
  1. Social Participation
  1. Mutual Support

The imagery of the neighborhood we grew up in involves people who lived there:

  1. How did they earn a living?
  1. How did the people in our community instill in us their normals/values?
  1. How did our community enforce its rules?
  1. How did the people in our neighborhood community socialize with one another?
  1. How did the people in our neighborhood community help one another?

Factors that make a community family-friendly:

Child Care

Recreation

Community Safety

Citizen Involvement

Physical Environment (clean, safe, attractive, well cared for)

Employment opportunities (good jobs, economic growth)

Cost of living

Neighborhood quality (housing affordability, good government, cultural opportunities, etc.)

Education

Physical factors of community which affect how people behave:

Population density & composition

Noise

Community Design

Play settings

Social/personal Factors:

Neighborhood Setting

Patterns of Community Interaction

Size of community

Social diversity

Shared norms

Valued types of social relationships

Basic Social Relationships

Gemeinschaft

Gesellschaft

Mutually dependent, caring, informal, intimate, trusting, kin, friends, neighbors, collectively oriented

Independent, contractual, formal, associative, mistrusting, business associates, employers/managers, employees, individually oriented

Community services necessary for many reasons:

Increasing population

Changing nature of the family

Increasing urbanization of communities

Agencies providing services:

Public agencies

Private agencies

Combination agencies

Categories of community services:

Preventive services

Supportive Services

Rehabilitative Services

Seeks to lessen stresses/strains of life resulting from social/technological changes & to avert problems

Programs which maintain health, education, welfare of the community

Programs that enable/restore people's ability to participate in the community

Child welfare services provide:

Economic/personal aid to children living in their own homes

Foster care for children who have no homes or can't remain with their families

Institutional care when children can't be placed in foster home & can't remain with families

Types of Care for Children:

Protective Care- Usually happens at the result of abuse being reported (by teacher, doctor, etc.)

Child Care: Typically used most when parents are employed. Usually offered mostly to children 2-5.

Foster Care: Provided for children who have been neglected/abused. They need protection, or need a temporary place to stay.

Adoption: Social/legal process where a child becomes a permanent member of the adopting family.

Rehabilitative Services:

Correction: Provided to those who have difficulty abiding by rules/laws of community.

Mental Health: May be referred by teachers, doctors, courts, etc. They may have behavioral issues or be withdrawn.

Special Needs: Services for those with disabilities emphasize/prioritize inclusion.

NCC's 9 Recommendations:

  1. Ensuring income security
  1. Improving health
  1. Increasing educational achievement
  1. Preparing adolescents for adulthood
  1. Strengthening & supporting families
  1. Protecting vulerable children/and their families
  1. Making policies/programs work
  1. Creating a moral climate for children
  1. Providing financing for programs

Meeting children's needs in emergencies:

  1. Physical health
  1. Trauma
  1. Mental health
  1. Emergency medical services/transport
  1. Disaster case management
  1. Disaster preparedness for child care, education, welfare, juvenile justice.
  1. Sheltering standards, services, supplies
  1. Housing
  1. Evacuation/reunification

Federal programs which attempt to alleviate poverty:

Termporary assistance for needy families (TANF)

Unemployment compensation

Supplemental Security Income (SSI)

Veterans' benefits

Social security survivor or disability benefits

Child Nutrition services

5 Factors which have contributed to more families being in poverty:

  1. Inadequate preschool education, public education, job training
  1. Growth of the number of female-headed households (divorce, out of wedlock births)
  1. Inability of parents to earn high enough wages
  1. Persistently high rate of unemployment among parents
  1. Inadequate budgets in government programs

Government programs promoting children's health:

Medicaid

Maternal/child health services

Centers for disease control

Child nutrition programs

Government programs providing support to families:

Child welfare services

Social services block grants (Title XX)

Child & adolescent service system program

How can communities help optimize children's development:

  1. Establish local commission for children/families
  1. Establish neighborhood family center
  1. Foster community projects
  1. Combat alcohol, drugs, violence
  1. Foster youth participation in local policy boards
  1. Plan communities to consider the children which will grow up in them.

Ongoing children's advocacy groups:

Children's defense fund (CDF)

Child welfare league of America (CWLA)

National Congress of Parents & Teachers (NCPT)