Educational and Financial Institutions Partnering to Implement CSAs: Evaluation of Financial Partners’ Perspectives from the 2011 GEAR UP Invitational Priority

Educational and financial institutions are increasingly partnering to open Children’s Savings Accounts (CSAs); however, little is known about these partnerships’ effectiveness for planning and implementing CSAs. A 2011 invitational priority from the Department of Education encouraged partnerships between Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs (GEAR UP) programs and financial institutions to open CSAs for low-income students, which provided an opportunity to evaluate these partnerships. In-depth interviews with 10 personnel from 6 financial institutions who partnered with 4 GEAR UP programs revealed that partnerships with stakeholders, time spent on planning, and strategies for overcoming barriers were important for implementing CSAs. Lessons for practice and policy are discussed.     

The contribution of the intervention in social networks and community social work at the local level to social and human development

ABSTRACT

The primary task of community social work is building social networks by reinforcing people's resources and those of the different environmental and social contexts from three dimensions: personal development, social development and organisational development. The new information technologies today establish a relationship of communication with local communities and citizens that promotes proximity to social networks. Social intervention is supported by a set of methods from human geography that can be used as tools to create maps of the territory and the networks for planning, diagnosing and classifying the management of community network intervention. In this discussion we set out to analyse the contribution of the intervention in social networks as a means of achieving a new configuration of social networks at the local level. This information is obtained from semi-structured interviews with social workers and other professionals in the social sphere in municipalities with over 100,000 inhabitants in the Madrid region (Spain). The research results show that intervention in social networks locally multiplies the opportunities to enhance the quality of people's social relationships, thus expanding their social support by strengthening their bonds, their personal network and support systems; secondly, it increases empowerment to facilitate a type of intervention to strengthen human potential and to gain autonomy and full citizenship.     

Neighbourhood-Reminiscence

Abstract

Social cohesion is one of the key concepts of local social policy in the Netherlands, the basic assumption being that every neighbourhood needs a certain level of social cohesion in order to offer the residents a liveable community in which they feel comfortable and included. When working on social cohesion, special attention is paid to those groups who maintain little to no social contact or amongst whom tensions arise: different age groups and communities with different ethnic and cultural backgrounds.

The Netherlands Institute of Care and Welfare (NIZW) has developed a new method for promoting the integration of generations and cultures: neighbourhood-reminiscence. This method uses memories and stories of neighbourhood residents in order to promote exchanges, mutual understanding and respect between different age- and cultural-groups. Neighbourhood-reminiscence is community development, based on the local neighbourhood level, because the neighbourhood is where people live, where they meet each other and where tensions between citizens with different lifestyles and interests may erupt.     

Using social media to engage citizens: A study of Italian municipalities

Local public administrations are increasingly interested in involving citizens in public decisions and public life. In this context, social media represent powerful engagement tools. However, social media contribution to establish relationships between citizens and local administrations is largely unexplored. This brief paper has the objective to examine how social media contribute to public engagement by analyzing 119 Italian municipalities.     

Becoming an American and Liking It as Functions of Social Distance and Severity of Initiation

This paper examines the effects of social distance among a sample of immigrants in the process of becoming United States citizens. Using the Bogardus Social Distance Scale, a positive relationship was found between the degree of social distance and the likelihood of becoming a citizen. Social distance also serves as an important indicator of severity of initiation; the findings suggest that severity of initiation had a positive influence on reported satisfaction with life in America for those who became U. S. citizens. For those who did not become citizens, however, social distance had an inverse affect on satisfaction.     

The Role of the Government in Addressing Social Issues in India: The Perceptions of Indian Undergraduate and Graduate Social Work Students

Using a convenience sample of 318 undergraduate and graduate social work students (193 women and 125 men) from a public university in India, this study examined the differences between Indian social work students' perceptions toward the role of government in addressing social issues in India. Using Predictive Analytics Software (PASW) 18, several statistical procedures were conducted to analyze the relationship between social work students' demographic variables and their perceptions of the government's role in addressing social issues in India. The results indicated that older social work students were more likely to perceive that the government should ensure equal opportunities for citizens. Female social work students were more likely to perceive that the government should ensure housing for citizens. BSW students were more likely to perceive that the government should ensure employment of citizens. Macro social work students were more likely to perceive that the government should ensure equal opportunities, housing, food, employment, and health insurance for citizens. The findings of this study may help social work educational administrators and faculty in India to develop a curriculum that provides social work students with the opportunity to critically examine the complex relationship between age, gender, marital status, number of children, socioeconomic status, educational status, area of concentration, and the role of the government in addressing social issues. Doing so will prepare social work students and professionals to think and engage in a manner that will allow them to challenge and advocate for a change to the status quo.     

Improving citizens’ online engagement via community managers: an explanatory study

The role of community manager is gaining importance as the proper usage of social media becomes a key factor for achieving more active involvement of citizens in social and political issues. Focused on Spanish local governments and in line with the literature of Excellence Theory, this paper aims to analyze whether some characteristics of the community manager function are determinant in their fostering of citizens’ online engagement via social media. In particular ‘independence’, ‘having access to the dominant coalition’, ‘gender diversity’, ‘continuous training’ and ‘culture of the organization’ are the characteristics considered in this paper. As to the main findings, this study confirms that community managers have not as yet achieved their goal of embedding the use of social media by citizens as a means of establishing more direct contact with their local governments. Moreover, in line with Excellence Theory, community managers of local governments should be aware of the importance of having direct access to key managers of the organization in order to better achieve the objectives of the organization and, more specifically, to increase citizens’ engagement. Furthermore, continuous training in issues related to social media truly helps develop the skills and potential of community managers. Likewise, an excellent communication department should rely on good professionals no matter their gender, and, in this sense, the gender of community managers is not a significant factor in their performance. However, the results of this study also reveal that in the case of public sector community managers, an authoritarian culture seems to be a determining factor for obtaining better results in enhancing citizens’ engagement.     

Exploring dialogic strategies in social media for fostering citizens’ interactions with Latin American local governments

Although the benefits of social media for enhancing citizens’ interactions with their local governments are well known in a more global context, few studies have focused on Latin America, or on the MERCOSUR countries in particular. This paper examines the use of dialogic strategies in the social media activities of local governments in MERCOSUR countries in order to generate citizens’ online engagement. Analysis of this question enhances our understanding of the use of social media by local governments in less developed countries and highlights the need for empirical evidence on the use of dialogic communication theory regarding stakeholder engagement with social media. The findings obtained reflect the positive influence of dialogic strategies on citizens’ online engagement, particularly those based on dialogic loop, useful information and generation of return visits, aimed at fostering participation via social media.     

Coordinating Theory,Evidence, and Practice:

Concern about the harmful effects of industrial toxins has resulted in growing numbers of citizens fighting against toxic exposure in their communities. This paper describes key concepts derived from theories used to examine collective action in response to the threat of toxic exposure. These concepts are defined, synthesized into a theoretical framework, and illustrated. The framework provides an organizing perspective that social workers can use to respond to the problem of toxic exposure. The framework is one step toward advancing theory and research for organizing communities to respond to toxic exposure and other social problems when collective action is a viable response.     

Opportunities and challenges of the digital lifespan: views of service providers and citizens in the UK

Information about UK citizens’ use of digital technologies is often expressed in statistics – x% lack Internet access; y% get online to engage in online banking, update social media sites, or participate in online auctions. There are many social implications to digital technology use, however – individuals may communicate online as a major way to stay in touch with friends and family, and as Internet access rises and government and public sector budgets shrink, online services become an increasingly attractive way for government and public sector service providers to communicate with citizens. This paper presents selected results of an exploratory study designed to investigate the digital personhood of UK citizens through interviews with participants at three life transitions: leaving secondary school, becoming a parent, and retiring from work. Digital personhood in this paper implies identity information online, and some interaction with others around that information. We then report on our presentation of a selection of these results to thirteen stakeholders who represented UK government departments, public sector organisations, and industry. We found that citizen and stakeholder concerns were quite different, especially at the new parent life transition, and that stakeholders tended to underestimate the willingness and ability of citizens to become involved online with the government and public sector, and overestimate citizens’ vulnerability online. Future research should investigate practical strategies for increasing communication between stakeholders and citizens, and also how to encourage stakeholders to work together to benefit their common clientele – the citizens.     

Perceived facilitators and barriers to saving among low-income youth

Asset-based social welfare programs focus on helping low- to moderate-income citizens to accumulate wealth in the form of homeownership, savings, small businesses, and higher education. Individual development accounts, savings accounts in which account holders’ deposits are matched, are a vehicle often used in these programs. In a national demonstration of individual development accounts for children (children's savings accounts), low-income youth were interviewed to learn what helped them to save and what made it difficult to save. We describe the young people's perceptions of these factors, and conclude with implications for policy and program design.     

推进养老服务体系建设的思路与对策——以广东为例

发展社会养老服务、完善养老服务体系是我国应对人口老龄化的一项长期战略任务。广东作为我国老年人口最多的省份之一,养老服务体系正面临着养老服务资源短缺失衡、居家养老支持系统缺乏、机构设施与专业人才不足等严峻挑战。为改变广东养老服务建设的滞后局面,必须明确广东养老服务体系的发展目标、理念和原则,大力推广居家养老模式,重力建设社区养老服务设施,调整机构养老服务结构,开放养老服务市场,深化养老服务领域的改革,完善养老服务的配套制度,构建广东新型养老服务的制度体系。     

Is the Problem of European Citizenship a Problem of Social Citizenship? Social Policy,Federalism, and Democracy in the EU and United States*

The development of supranational (European) social rights, and therefore social citizenship, is undermined by strong, direct relationships between citizens and national welfare states. Social policies contribute to national identities because they entail direct relationships between states and citizens. In well‐developed European welfare states strong relationships between citizens and their member‐states are expected. This may prevent the development of a similar relationship at the European level. The U.S. provides a comparison case, wherein a successful transference of citizenship identity from a lower to higher level has occurred, partly as a result of the building of national‐level social citizenship, at least for certain classes of people. Revolutionary War Pensions provide an example of how social policy influences national identity. The lack of EU‐level social policy precludes the possibility of this type of identity formation. Finally, the interplay of social citizenship and democracy in both cases is explored. T.H. Marshall’s work regarding citizenship as the basis for democracy is used to understand how the inability to create a common social policy in the EU is harmful to democracy.     

Denied Citizens of Turkey: Experiences of Discrimination Among LGBT Individuals in Employment,Housing and Health Care

The purpose of this article is to explore experiences of discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans (LGBT) individuals in three domains of social policies: employment, housing and health care — domains in which LGBT individuals are not openly recognized as equal citizens and anti‐discrimination legislation is absent in Turkey. Drawing on qualitative content analysis of the data collected from 14 focus group interviews with 139 LGBT individuals conducted in ten provinces of Turkey in the first half of 2014, this article sheds light on diverse forms of discrimination facing LGBT individuals in employment, housing and health care in a largely under‐researched country. The article concludes that the contemporary understanding of Turkish citizenship and its practice are rooted in heterosexist universalism that does not recognize LGBTs as equal citizens, which, in turn, leads to systematic breaches of LGBTs' social rights in employment, housing and health care. The article shows that even strong and universalistic social policies fail to serve LGBTs on an equal footing with other citizens unless equal citizenship rights of LGBTs and anti‐discrimination principles are recognized and realized.     

The Resilient Community: Implications for Out of School Programming

Out-of-school programs are often adult dominated, with minor involvement of youth in programming. Youth are seen as future citizens, not citizens of the present and expectations are set low for youth’s ability to lead. The combination of low expectations and lack of opportunities for youth to meaningfully participate fails to promote youth development and social responsibility. In contrast, out-of-school programs which act as resilient communities support youth autonomy, social competence, and problem solving skills. This article presents a case study of a resilient community. The findings from this cross sectional exploratory study suggest that this resilient community promotes positive youth development outcomes.     

Mechanisms for participation in the public system of social services in Spain: opportunities for the development of social work with a citizenist approach

ABSTRACT

This article presents an analysis of the opportunities for participation of citizens in the public system of social services in Spain and their impact on the design, implementation, execution and evaluation of public policies of social services at a municipal level. The study also involved performing a comparative analysis of cases, assessing the impact, in terms of contributions and possibilities of the councils, upon the increased democratization of local public policies in terms of social welfare and the improvement of the efficiency with which social services and benefits are managed. The results of these investigations permit us, first of all, to present the diverse opportunities on offer for participation at a regional level in social services in Spain and then to identify, from its participants, dimensions that intensify processes of democratization and therefore help to improve efficiency of public well-being policies at a municipal level. In the case of the autonomous communities, we must highlight the changes that new social services laws have brought about in terms of widening citizens’ participation and opening up feedback for users of the system at a local level. In addition, this article discusses the role of different typologies and explores mechanisms, bodies and processes of participation that are applied in the design, management and assessment of social services policies at a local level. Finally, we determine which factors help to increase the efficiency of social public policies, as revealed by increases in citizens’ participation in local governance.     

“I Really Belong Here”: Civic Capacity-Building among Returning Citizens

This article focuses on unlikely movement actors whose civic engagement has been understudied: people with criminal records (“returning citizens”). We present findings from 18 months of ethnographic research with members (leaders) of Fighting to Overcome Records and Create Equality (FORCE), a civic group led by returning citizens. FORCE leaders received institutional support from Community Renewal Society (CRS), a larger faith and community-based organization, to lead a rights reform movement in Chicago. Findings suggest that FORCE leaders constructed notions of kinship, recognition, and power through civic capacity-building efforts—and that social belonging was core to such capacity-building efforts. While bonding social belonging occurred as FORCE leaders formed kinship with people facing similar social and economic marginality, bridging social belonging emerged as leaders felt recognized by CRS staff organizers, affiliates, and elected officials. Bonding and bridging social belonging enabled FORCE leaders, who faced constant social exclusion in society, to experience much needed kinship, recognition, and power. Future studies should continue to uncover how local capacity-building processes have life-changing relational effects on movement participants from socially and economically marginalized groups.     

“新市民”家庭教育对儿童社会融合的影响

近年来,随着城市化进程的加速,许多大城市在外来农民工落户政策方面有所宽松,使一大批学历较高、有稳定收入来源的新一代农民工得以在大城市或者省会城市落户扎根,成为了真正意义上的"新市民"。这些正值婚育期的"新市民"随着户籍身份的改变,其家庭教育也呈现出新的特点,这些特点中既有"新市民"对城市生活的主动适应,也有对原来农村家庭教育文化的扬弃,城乡家教文化的杂糅相陈在一定程度上影响到了这类家庭儿童的社会融合。     

The European Community and Disability Discrimination: Time to address the deficit of powers?

Disabled citizens are overlooked and ignored in the Treaty on European Union and as a result the European Community has limited competences to address disability related issues, and specifically disability discrimination. This article argues that this situation needs to be remedied at the present Inter Governmental Conference, which is being held to review the Treaty. There are sound justifications, based on political, economic and social grounds, for extending the competences of the Community in this way. Disability discrimination results in many disabled citizens being unable to fully exercise the rights conferred on them by Community law, such as the right to free movement and the right to vote: furthermore, European economies are suffering as disability discrimination artificially restricts the contribution which disabled citizens could make as both consumers and workers; and, lastly disability discrimination is leading to poverty and social exclusion throughout the European Union today.