Fluent Essays

For any complex social problem, there are typically a number of different strategies that could be implemented to address it and prevent its recurrence. However, it is rarely possible to implement all of the strategies at once given that resources are often scarce. Therefore, it is important to know how to prioritize which strategies to implement first. Suppose, for example, you are interested in creating an afterschool tutoring program to address poor academic performance among students in your community. You might want to meet with stakeholders to develop a curriculum, lease a building where the tutoring will occur, purchase computers and tablets, hire tutors, arrange for afterschool snacks, and so on. Before signing a lease and making any large purchases, it would make sense to develop a curriculum and pilot the program among a small number of students. If the pilot is successful, then the next step might be to lease a building and hire tutors. In this Discussion, you will prioritize strategies that would address the social problem you chose for your Final project and prevent its recurrence.  To Prepare Review the Learning Resources on prioritizing strategies. Consider the instructions and examples for prioritizing strategies when planning a community needs assessment. Reflect on the social problem that you chose for the Final Project. Then, complete the Prioritizing Strategies Worksheet (Parts I and II) located in the Learning Resources.  By Day 4 Post a brief description of the social problem that you selected for your Final Project. Then, describe the top five strategies that you prioritized to address the problem and prevent its recurrence. Explain your reasoning for prioritizing these strategies, including how the time and resources it would take to implement each strategy influenced your decision making. Name: Faiileono Tiumalu Professor’s Name: Dr. Vania Bright Course: HUMN 6785 Date: September 11, 2021 Poverty in Oahu, Hawaii Based on what I have learned from peers, instructors, and learning resources, Hawaii is considered to have the 4th largest gap between its supplemental poverty rate and its official poverty rate. According to the United States Census Bureau, 13.7% of the population or 192,000 individuals in Hawaii are considered to be living in poverty (Moore, 2019). Though the countriesstate’s official poverty rate compares to that of the rest of the United States, research shows that the countryHawaii is struggling more than the other countries. Comment by Vania J. Bright: A statement like this makes a fascinating point but then is not supported by evidence. I don’t know what “struggling more” means. For example, I live in Minneapolis and individuals who are unhoused in the winter suffer a great deal more due to the elements, than individuals in the summer. So really qualify all big statements. What does struggling more mean? Maybe it means that the options to move out of homelessness are less? But I don’t know. Tell me in the next draft. Over the past years, it has been framed that there are more children who live in high-poverty neighborhoods, and more than a quarter of the children living with their families the parents do not have a secure job. Research shows that there were more than 40,000 children under the age of eight lives in poverty by the year 2008, and the number is considered to be increasing over the years. Other surveys show that the census information may have undercounted the Native Hawaiians, who are very low-income people compared to the non-native Hawaiians. As a result of foreigners in Hawaii, there have been economic changes across the Hawaiian Islands, and the change in the economy brought about problems that still affect the country. In the past, most of the Hawaiians had no idea of what poverty was, but now they have been affected by the economic change to the point that they even live in the streets with no fresh water and food. The people-first language is focused on the equality, individuality, and dignity of the individuals experiencing disability. The strength-based language is more focused on eliminating the adverse attribute that makes a person devalue another person. It involves eliminating the stigma that prevents people from assisting in a social problem. For instance, in the case of poverty in Hawaii, the people-first language can explain that individuals who experience the highest poverty rates in Hawaii are the Native Hawaiians who are mostly homeless. More than 200,000 individuals living on the island of Hawaii are experiencing poverty as a result of the high cost of living. Using strength-based language, the social problem of poverty in Hawaii can be explained by the individuals living in poverty in Hawaii who have mostly been affected by the economic change introduced by foreigners who started to live in Hawaii. As the government introduced the new market economy, the people living in Hawaii were not aware of the market economy, and this had a big effect on the Hawaiian natives. Comment by Vania J. Bright: Not just disability Comment by Vania J. Bright: Take this information and put it at or near the very top of your explanation of the social problem. Comment by Vania J. Bright: This too. Comment by Vania J. Bright: This language is problematic. NAME them. “Wealthy Americans” perhaps? But there’s also the history of colonialism, and racism (“wealthy Americans who are White” might be too precise, though, or is it?)… So, you’ll need to overtly grapple with the primary cause of the current situation and find a good term or terms to refer to those “in power” in this situation. MCFL Systems Thinking Framework System thinking is a framework that is applied for reasoning and treating real-world problems depending on the basic notion of the system, which is the purposeful integration of components. The main objective of system thinking is to comprehend the connection between components and their effect on system results and how a similarly interesting system would fit in the context of its environment (Grohs, Kirk, Soledad & Knight 2018). From Stroh's text, he presents the MCFL system thinking framework, which is a catalyst of purposeful change in a system. Stroh suggests that some system thinkers can benefit from comprehending how to manage change and the change agents that can benefit from comprehending the main principles and tools in system thinking. Though systems can be perfectly designed to achieve something, they sometimes do not achieve what they want or expect from them. Using the MCFL system of thinking framework in Stroh's text, the problem of poverty in Hawaii can be described using motivation, collaboration, focus, and learning in the framework. Motivation The social problem of poverty in Hawaii affects more than 200,000 individuals who live on the island. Most of the individuals affected by poverty are the native Hawaiians who had adapted to provide for themselves through the natural resources, making them self-sufficient using the trading system rather than the selling of goods. The introduction of a new economy that used the market system of selling what was produced and not the subsistence economy of barter trade greatly impacted their living style and cost. The main cause of poverty in Hawaii is the introduction of a new market economy. Due to this, there is a need for change in the new economy to enable the native Hawaiians to adapt to the new economy. Change is required since the current market economy in Hawaii does not assist the poor hardworking citizens to increase their economic base. Comment by Vania J. Bright: Is it an intro at this point, or a legacy? Comment by Vania J. Bright: An interesting system to focus on. Collaboration The issue of poverty in Hawaii mostly affects citizens who do not have stable jobs that would provide for their families. More than half of the Population in Hawaii are affected by poverty since they struggle financially even if they work three jobs on a daily basis as a result of the poor economic management in the country. Even with minimal expenses, it is difficult for people to save money for future use. The main stakeholder of the high rate of poverty is the Hawaiian government who have failed to take control of their economy, making the lower class find it very hard to manage their finances. The citizens of Hawaii are also stakeholders in the issue of poverty in Hawaii. Comment by Vania J. Bright: You’ll have to get more precise here. Group the citizens. Focus To solve poverty in Hawaii, both the government and the citizens should work together to find ways to solve the problem in their market economy. Citizens, particularly those from the middle and lower class, have to collaborate with the government officials to make the necessary changes that would enable the citizens to adapt to the market economy. The government has to find a strategy of fixing their economy so that it does not greatly affect those in the middle and lower class in Hawaii. Learning Since the public is the ones who are most affected by the issues of poverty in the country, they have to make sure that they are actively involved in stressing for change or improvement in the country’s economy. Even when the public struggle with more than two jobs, they still find it difficult to save money for future needs due to poor economic management. The public has to find a way of improving their economy through the assistance of their government. The only thing missing to reduce the high rate of poverty in the country is government support to balance the economy. Since this is a social problem, the best languages that should be used to frame it is the person-first and the strength-based language since they consider the people involved and eliminates stigma at the same time. The main difference between using the linear approach and the system thinking approach to address poverty in Hawaii is that the linear approach does not focus on the complex system but rather focuses on one of the system's features. On the other hand, the system thinking approach focuses on the complex system and connects the different features of the system (Shaked, Schechter, Ganon-Shilon & Goldratt, 2017). The linear approach is focused on breaking the issues into different pieces of the problem and then trying to fix the problem's symptoms. On the other hand system, the thinking approach takes the problem as a whole and applies the process to find the underlying dynamics of the problem. Great job addressing all aspects of the assignment. The approach you are advocating to look at right now is what we might call a harm reduction approach. Where you look at the struggles of the individual impacted by the social problem and try to figure out how to live within a system that has created the social problem. I think for this project it will be important for you too think more about the system that you very clearly layout above, one that is based on classism and racism and colonialism, to ensure that you are not only looking at how to survive in this very moment, which is a very important piece of the puzzle, but also to address some of the other systems that make working three jobs still unfeasible. Consider thinking about it, continue to hone your problem and make it ever more precise. But you are on the right track! Dr. Bright References Grohs, J. R., Kirk, G. R., Soledad, M. M., & Knight, D. B. (2018). Assessing systems thinking: A tool to measure complex reasoning through ill-structured problems. Thinking Skills and Creativity, 28, 110-130. Shaked, H., Schechter, C., Ganon-Shilon, S., & Goldratt, M. (2017). Systems thinking for school leaders. Dordrecht: Springer. Moore, C. D. (2019). Hawaii: Priced Out of Paradise. California Journal of Politics and Policy, 11(1). Prioritizing Strategies Worksheet Part I: Identify Community Assets, Needs, and Strategies Problem Description (working definition): State the working definition of your problem below. Keep this definition in mind as you complete the following tables. Enter text here. In the table below, list the existing community assets and needs related to the social problem that you chose for the Final Project. Then, identify possible strategies to address the problem, given the existing community assets and needs. Refer to pp. 40–42 in the Centers for Disease Prevention and Control (CDC) Community Needs Assessment Participant Workbook for further guidance, if necessary. Assets (e.g., resources, policies, programs and services) Needs (i.e., an assessment of what is missing from existing assets) Strategies (i.e., steps you would take to address the problem) Part II: Prioritize Strategies Use the following table to prioritize the strategies that you identified on p. 1. Refer to pp. 44–46 in the Centers for Disease Prevention and Control (CDC) Community Needs Assessment Participant Workbook for further guidance, if necessary. Strategy Time (1–5) Resources (1–5) Competing Priorities (1–5) Total (T x R x C) Rank Example: Pilot afterschool mentoring program 1=large amount of time to implement the strategy 3=some amount of resources needed to implement the strategy 3=some competing priorities 1x3x3=9 2 Example: Provide 1 mentor per 3 students 4=a little amount of time to implement the strategy 3=some amount of resources needed to implement the strategy 4=a few competing priorities 4x3x4=48 1 Example: Re-write the post-pilot mentoring curriculum 1=a large amount of time to implement the strategy 1=a large amount of resources needed to implement the strategy 1=a large amount of competing priorities 1x1x1=1 3