Class Help Page: Social Work 340, Professional Intervention & Social Services, Spring 2008

Location of Community:
including physical setting, location, boundaries, and relationships to other communities.

History of Community:
Why did people settle here? Where did early residents come from? What changes have occurred over time in population attitudes, beliefs, and values? Note important social, political, and economic events that have shaped the development of the community.

Directory of US Public Libraries
Historical Societies
Other sources?

Population Characteristics:
including size, age and gender distribution, nationality, ethnicity, religion.

American FactFinder <hint: use the Fact Sheet>

Geography:
What characteristics have helped or hurt the community?

Community Attractiveness:
characteristics that attract and hold residents, such as climate, cost of living, amenities.

U.S. Chamber of Commerce Directory
Statistical Resources on the Web Cost-of-Living from UMich

Governmental Type:
city manager, mayor, city council? Effectiveness? Perceived capacity to influence and bring about change.

Political factors:
role of political parties, voting patterns (who, what percentage), major issues, tax structure, elected versus appointed officials, financial stability, law enforcement, and other city services.

LexisNexis Academic
Newspaper Source
Newspapers

Power distribution:
who holds the power in the community and how do they use their power? For what purposes?

LexisNexis Academic
Newspaper Source
Newspapers

Income & Economic Factors:
major sources of employment by subgroups (women, minorities, etc.), unemployment statistics, poverty rate, local or absentee control of business, role of unions, future prospects, stability of industries.

American FactFinder <hint: to find occupational information, use Data Sets: SF3>

Stats Indiana
Hoosiers by the Numbers - Workforce Development

Illinois Statistics from University of Illinois
Illinois Employment Security

Michigan Statistics
Michigan Labor Market Information

Wisconsin Statistics
Wisconsin Office of Economic Advisors: Labor Force Statistics

Housing:
types, condition & quality of housing, patterns of home ownership.

American FactFinder
Stats Indiana
Illinois Statistics from University of Illinois
Michigan Statistics
Wisconsin Statistics
Other sources?

Transportation:
Mobility of residents, access to public transportation.

Education:
educational characteristics of population, school dropout rates, differences among subgroups (e.g. minorities), financing, buildings, student-teacher ratios, programs for special-needs children, extracurricular programs; perceived quality of education: programs of note, condition of facilities, special problems such as court ordered integration, higher education availability.

American FactFinder
Indiana Department of Education
Illinois State Board of Education
Michigan Department of Education
Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction
Other sources?

Social/Cultural Systems:
parks, cultural resources, recreational activities, social clubs, civic organizations.

Relgion & Churches:
role and influence in community.

Health & Social Service Systems:
number and type of hospitals and clinics, primary social service agencies, problems and limitations of social service network, responsiveness of services, informal helping systems, planning bodies.

Indiana State Department of Health: Indiana Health Care Providers
Indiana Family & Social Services Administration

Illinois Department of Public Health
Illinois Department of Healthcare & Family Services

Michigan Department of Community Health
Michigan Department of Human Services

Wisconsin Health & Safety
Wisconsin Department of Health & Family Services

Sources of information:
radio, TV, newspapers, prominent individuals who speak for population segments, influence of the media.
Federal Communication Commission: Radio & TV search
Newspapers

Miscellaneous:
community attitudes, major community difficulties and steps being taken in response; gaps in services and facilities; concerns of the community, including who is concerned and why; what has been done in the past to deal with problems, conditions that led to situations; strengths and limitations of the community for dealing with community concerns.

Social Work Department http://www.valpo.edu/library/www/socwk.html
Social Worker's Internet Handbook Ref. HV41 .G815 1998
Best Information on the Internet: Social Work http:library.sau.edu/bestinfo/Majors/Social/socindex.htm

National Association of Social Workers Online http://www.naswdc.org
Economic Success Clearinghouse (formerly Welfare Information Network) http://www.financeproject.org/index.cfm?page=24

Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 5th ed. Reference, Reserve, Stacks BF 76.7 .P83 2001

Citing Resources   http://www.valpo.edu/library/citing.html#apa
VU Writing Center  http://www.valpo.edu/writingcenter/

Librarian for Government Information
  Prof. Becky Byrum [info]

Librarian for Social Work
  Prof. Rob Vega[info]

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