I have had some experiences with a certain client over the last couple of months which is inspiring this post. I have a client who is currently in a drug diversion program in this county . . . he came to me to be referred to the appropriate program. During our conversation, I learned that he was homeless, with no family in the state, and absolutely no resources. Now, I have been dealing with clients who have little or no resources for years, however, this experience has truly given me insight into how very little our resources connect with one another. The specific focus of this post is about homeless shelters.
In this county, we have one major homeless shelter, the Salvation Army. Otherwise, we have a couple of other resources that require upfront money. Although I was aware of this information, and have been previously frustrated by it, I have never been so smacked in the face by the inadequacies of our resources for the homeless.
This particular client had been sleeping outside for weeks when he came to me. I have placed him in the Salvation Army on several occasions. However, like any facility, they have their rules . . . and, they should have their rules. However, when someone breaks their rules, there are no other potential shelters in this area. Again, I will say, I am not faulting the Salvation Army. They are a wonderful organization who provide a great service. It is not their fault that no other consistent shelters exist in this area. It has just become blatantly clear to me in the last few months that one facility and you're out should not be the norm. This client has slept in the woods one too many nights . . . in fact, any night, for any human being is one too many nights.
I am attaching a link from a story in the Tuscaloosa news that illustrates the issue.
Rather than just talking about the problem, what can we, as social workers do about this terrible problem.
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The only thing I feel social worker can do is implement the NASW code of ethics. This lets the clients of all races know they are important. This also let allows the clients to be treated equally in services provided by means of the social worker. If we aas social workers show that we are competent in what we do, we can motivate the client to have positive attitudes and focus on other thing that are important in life, rather than on negative cooments made by others,
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