Social Action Project

In January 2011, the Executive Director of The Salvation Army (TSA) Center of Hope (COH), Cassandra L. Scott, LLMSW, oriented a new cohort of interns to complete their clinical internship at COH from January through August. Five of these eight interns were enrolled in a research class with Dr. Eva Nowakowski, PhD, LCSW, MPH, Site Coordinator and Assistant Professor at Barry University School of Social Work. Dr. Nowakowski approached Ms. Scott about expanding the students' experience into a community organization research project with core elements of Barry's academic program as a framework for practice in communities. Such a project included the student's need for access to data and homeless service providers, COH's goal of including COH homeless residents in an advocacy project, and the County's goal of providing research-based, accurate data for the Homeless Coalition and the Board of County Commissioners.

The three goals of the social action project included:

1. Create opportunities for persons who are homeless to register to vote;

2. Participate in the Homeless Coalition's Project Connect event;

3. Complete a three part Community Needs Assessment Research project / paper.

  1. Part 1: Gather information about existing homeless services and providers
  2. Part 2: Create a map indicating available services to homeless persons in Palm Beach county
  3. Part 3: Identify gaps in service

Part 3 included completing a Community Needs Assessment to identify subpopulations among homeless persons whose needs had not been met by the array of services found in parts I and II of the social action project. The goal was to conduct a research study that answered the following research question, "What are the gaps in service?" This exploratory key informant approach garnered qualitative data among three sub populations in Palm Beach County: Children, veterans, and residents re-entering the community from prison.

Findings indicate the need for subsidized childcare for parents, greater availability of mental health services for children, affordable housing, more employment opportunities, and reduced stigma that comes with being homeless or having a criminal background.

The final report, which included a life size map of available services in Palm Beach County, as well as a collection of such services on disk, has been shared with the Homeless Coalition of Palm Beach County. This project serves as a real testament to the efforts of community based action; it demonstrates how social service administrators, students and clients can work together toward education, advocacy, and ultimately positive change.