Okay, well before I get into any of the readings, I should explain some logistically changes in the blog, house keeping notes if you will. After asking a few questions about the blog in our library computer lab class session on Tuesday, I found that it’s probably best to organize these posts on an article-by-article basis. Our GTFs will hopefully find it easier to make sure if I’ve read all the articles and textbook chapters, and my fellow “Not for Profit, Just for Kicks” team members will hopefully find it easier to follow my posts. Also, this will probably help me organize my own thoughts more efficiently, although I’m slightly worried that my posts will be slightly more fragmented. Oh well, I’ll take the costs along with the benefits. Without further adieu, let’s get to the fun stuff.
----------------------------------------
Non-Profit Nation – Chapter 4: Social Service
Social service, a.k.a human services, or social assistance, is insanely important in America and thus the non profit social assistance organizations – nearly 50,000 registered plus however many hundred thousand non-registered organizations – are critically important to the success of our nation as functioning system of communities.
The real question we need to be asking, however, is why is ‘social service’ so important in the first place, and why does the government have to bear the brunt of the task of providing social service to America? The obvious answer is that it’s the government’s job to serve and protect the people. Well, of course it is, but it’s also the responsibility of people to serve and protect themselves.
Think about the following quotation from the textbook. “For the most of four centuries of American history, what are now called social services were provided by family and extended family, churches, charitable associations, and government, usually local government” (O’Neill 81). Around the 1960s the model for social services transitioned to a system where the government pays for it and the non-profits provide it. How did that come to be? Why exactly did it change?
Personally, I see this as a problem of the American sense of community and family slowly disintegrating away. I don’t want to speak on behalf of all Americans, but overall I think our culture does not value family relationships as much as we once did, and this lack of family connection is costly to our standard of living.
St. Vincent de Paul
Terry McDonald, non-profit entrepreneur. Interesting article. I found some of the comments at the end interesting as well, particularly the one that asked, “Is this a business or a non-profit at this point?” St. Vincent de Paul’s is blurring the lines between the private sector and the charitable sector. It sounds likes Terry McDonald is taking the business savvy skills normally found in the private sector and applying them to get ahead in the non-profit sector. He’s just a great businessman working for a moral social service organization, and I don’t see any harm in that. After all, non-profits are businesses trying to stay afloat in the economic market by providing a service to the community. Good work, Terry.
Louisiana Housing Assistance
Here’s a good example of what I was trying to articulate earlier at the end of my response to the text reading. The US Department of Health and Human Services announced that Louisiana will receive an additional $10.5 million to help low-income residents pay their utility bills through the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program.
It’s awesome that the government is using America’s tax money to reinvest into communities that some extra help. Lord knows the Louisiana coastal communities need as much help as they can get after Hurricane Katrina, and now the BP Oil Spill. But I have to wonder whether or not these federal government initiatives are sustainable.
The Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program, like other social service initiatives, was enacted to provide temporary help. The program offers “a helping hand to get back on your feet.” Is throwing money at a problem really a helping hand though? Or is it a temporary crutch to lean on? What happens when the crutch is taken away? Are people able to land on their feet or do they just fall right back down to where they started? Again, I’m not trying to bash these programs because they provided much needed relief to people in need, but we just need to ask if this is the right type of aid or not.
Affordable Housing Toolkit
Again, this article brings up the same questions of sustainability for me. Section 8 vouchers are a great idea with marginal implementation. Too many people need them, which has made the process for qualifying for vouchers a two year long at a minimum. Furthermore, only 7,000 people nationwide receive vouchers, which is nothing!
The ability of federal government to fix problems on a local level is very, very limited, and it’s essentially based on throwing money at a problem. There has to be a better way to solve this problem, and it will likely involve reworking the human services system on a deeper level, much deeper than the financial aspect of it.
Auburn Family Residence Problems
I feel like a broken record, but I just keep thinking that these issues with social services cannot be fixed solely by government. When I hear things like the following quote from the article, I can’t help but think that these people are just looking for someone to blame.
“Craig Hughes, an organizer at Fort Greene SNAP, said some of the blame for Auburn’s condition falls on OTDA (Office of Temporary and Disability Assitance), which he said could have done more to push DHS (Deparment of Homelessness Services) to correct the shelter’s deficiencies...Still, he added, ‘The ultimate blame lies on DHS. DHS prioritizes certain things in its budget and doesn’t prioritize others.’”
You can point fingers as long as you want, but it doesn’t change the fact that something is wrong and needs to be fixed. Stop looking for someone else to fix it, and figure out a way to do it yourself with whatever tools you have.
MAAC Project
The MAAC Project is a great example of the cons of government involvement in non-profit work. Antonio Pizano, CEO of MAAC Project, said that the most challenging part of his company’s work is “giving help to everyone that needs it. There simply is not enough to go around. As big and complex as MAAC is, a major challenge is to keep up with the bureaucratic demands imposed by our funding sources.” The government may have money, but they just don’t move as quickly and nimbly as non-profits or private organizations.
----------------------------------------
Well, I guess this new method of organization proves that I read each article, but now I know I don’t need to write as much for each section. I apologize for the length of this post. I’ll try to be more succinct in the future.
HEY DER TRAFTON BUDDY! I have to sadly agree with you about current American culture in which family connection or community is not as strong as it should be and this does great damage to our society. And I too have to wonder if government funding for non-profit social services is the best decision.
ReplyDeleteI too liked Terry and his savvy, entrepreneur ways! I would love to meet that guy and have some great discussions! Anywhoo, I think you brought up a good underlying issue when talking about the Louisiana Housing, Affordable Housing, and even the Auburn Residence article, which is that giving money to a problem doesn't always fix it. It take the smarts of certain individuals to provide the help that really gets to the root of the problem and can provide tools for the creating a positive future. Money of course can help a cause but it largely depends on the hands in which it is in.
Hey Trafton. good post and good insight on all the articles. I did find your lay out easier to read, and I changed mine because of your prime example. What I found most interesting was the article and readings on social servies. These servies have become such a big and dependent part of our society. It is sad when people will not make as much money having a job than receiving unemployment benefits. These services need to be given but when it turns to a source of dependency our government needs to rethink these strategies. I think a source of this dependency is because of exactly what you discussed, a lack of community and family values. When these values are brought back into our society, we will make great strides in pulling people out of poverty.
ReplyDeleteI found the St. Vincent de Paul article interesting as well. I like what you said about non-profits being like business staying afloat. I think in tough economic times it is even harder for nonprofits to stay afloat because the sector relies on donations and grants. And when people are less likely to give because of their financial situations it becomes tough for these organizations. At the same time it is great to see an organization like St. Vincents prosper in these difficult times. Great post, keep up the good work.
Excellent Trafton--your analysis is spot on. If you could just take a few minutes to pull in a link or a graphic or an article outside of the class materials, this would be PERFECT!
ReplyDeleteHey Trafton. I agree with everyone..layout is awesome. I might try it myself.
ReplyDeleteYour analysis was great, easy to read and understand. The point that stood out to me the most was when you wrote, "its the responsibility of people to serve and protect themselves." I completely agree and get tired of people pointing fingers to blame. It's an easy thing to do, easier than actually trying to solve the problem yourself. I think some organizations need to re-evaluate what it is they do and bump up the work ethic. Yes, I don't know everything about the organization and their struggles in serving others, but the articles didn't prove to me that the nonprofits were trying hard enough to solve problems on their own. Money is annoying sometimes.