Community assessment is a process that seeks to identify the assets, needs, challenges and strengths of a particular community setting. Performing a community assessment reveals aspects such as changes that have transpired over time, social demographic make-up and problems experienced ( Soriano, 2012) . This study is a community assessment report evaluating South Carolina community. South Carolina is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States ( Kovacik & Winberry, 2019) . The assessment will analyze how South Carolina community has changed for the past 20 years and describe the social-demographic constitution in the community. The study will also analyze key strengths, identify major institutions and explore policies that would be effective in influencing community change within South Carolina.
Part I: Understanding your Community
Population Growth
South Carolina community has changed in respect to population for the last 20 years. According to a census report undertaken in year 2000, the total population in the community stood at 3.924 million inhabitants ( Slade , 2029). In 2010, the population had grown to 4.597 million residents. Twenty years later, the population has exponentially increased to 5.149 million people. The figures are an indication that South Carolina community has drastically changed in terms of population growth.
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Urbanization
The community has changed in respect to urbanization due to development of new urban areas and movement of people from rural to the urban regions. Although South Carolina had become increasingly urban by 2000, the community was more rural relative to the nation as a whole. From 2000, more counties such as Madison, Haywood, Buncombe, Pickens, Spartanburg, Greenville and Anderson have gained the urban status. Additional urbanized counties since 2000 include Florence, Lexington, Richland, Dorchester, Horry and Charleston. Today, more than four million residents in South Carolina live in urbanized counties with only about 743, 306 residing in rural areas.
Median age and Aging Population
The community in South Carolina has changed with regard to median age ans an increase in number of senior population. In 2000, the median age stood at 35 years. The median age has increased to 39.2 years. Since 2000, the number of elderly population has increased. In 2000, the number of individuals who were 60 years and above was 637,673 ( Slade , 2029). The number has since then increased to about 1.1 million inhabitants. The community has therefore changed in terms of median age and with respect to aging population.
Part II: Community Assessment
Socio-demographic make-up
The current population in South Carolina stands at 5,210,100. In terms of racial characteristics, 3,332,983 inhabitants representing 67.25% are white. The African American population is 1,339,358 or 27.03% of the total number. Individuals with two or more races (mixed races) are 110,208 or 2.22% of the entire population. Asian population stands at 75,084 (2.22%), American Indian and Alaska native are 16,686 (0.34%) while Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander are 3,004 which is 0.06% of the total population in South Carolina ( Sc.gov, n.d) . Females are 2,550,200 representing 51.46 of the entire population while males are 2,405,730 or 48.54%. The median age for males stands at 37.6% while that of females is 40.7%. In South Carolina, the median household income is $52,306. The average income for males is 59.574 that is, three times more than that of females which stands at $44,129. The income inequality measured in Gini index is 0.464. Majority of South Carolina residents about 67% are affiliated to Republican Party while the remaining 33% subscribe to Democratic Party.
Problem experienced in the Community
One of the problems being experienced in South Carolina is homelessness. A significant population in the community lack stable, safe, appropriate and permanent housing. Some of the individuals who experience homelessness live on the streets while others keep moving between temporary shelters including emergency shelters (South Carolina Interagency Council on Homelessness, 2019). A substantial number of children, youths and older individuals remain homeless in South Carolina. In South Carolina, homelessness is a complex social problem. The duration of homelessness in the community remains substantial at 12 months. Data provided by the department of education in South Carolina indicated that during 2017-2018 school year, 12,660 students had been rendered homeless (South Carolina Interagency Council on Homelessness, 2019). The problem occurs more often since every month there are people who are rendered homeless. Every single night, about 4,172 persons in the community spend on either temporary sheltered or unsheltered settings. In 2019, the state of homelessness in South Carolina increased by 6.1% following an addition of 239 more homeless individuals.
A multiplicity of factors in South Carolina cause homelessness. Domestic violence is a common occurrence which drives homelessness in the community. In South Carolina, intimate partner aggression and domestic violence are major criminal concerns. Every year, an average of 36,000 assaults are recorded by law enforcement. Domestic violence leads to estrangement where spouses no longer live with each other. Most victims of domestic violence are women, youths and children who are rendered homeless in case of family break up due to domestic violence. Upon freeing the domestic abuse, women and children are forced to depart from their homes with nowhere else to shelter. Poverty is also a common cause of homelessness in the community. The US Census Bureau reported that in 2019, 777,871 people in South Carolina representing 15.3% or one in every seven individuals live in poverty. A substantial number of homeless individuals in South Carolina cannot afford a permanent shelter or live in substandard accommodations due to poverty.
Bad governance and high levels of corruption are key characteristics that make the community vulnerable to homelessness. A national poll described South Carolina as one of the most corrupt communities across the nation. Corruption drive misappropriation of funds which could otherwise be channeled to create employment for the unsheltered or construct permanent homes for the homeless.
One of the key strengths that adds to the resilience of the community in addressing homelessness is high level of community engagement. Residents in South Carolina respond to challenges by coming up with variety of voluntary associations. Majority of inhabitants volunteer to provide temporary shelters and food for the homeless. Community cohesion in South Carolina is also another strength that can help in overcoming the problem. The togetherness and bonding bring the community together to collectively address prevailing challenges such as the homeless.
Some of the major institutions in South Carolina include education institution such as Clemson University, college of Charleston, Wofford College, and University of South Carolina. The Transformation Church, First Baptist church or Columbia and Seacoast Church are some of the religions institutions in South Carolina. Some of the factories in the community include Cryovac, PruittHealth, Greenville, North Augusta, Sonoco and Michelin. The institution’s failure to provide vocational skills and gainful employment has contributed to the current prevailing problem. The groups most affected by homelessness problem are women, children and school going youths. In case of domestic violence, most victims are women and children who in most instances are rendered homeless.
Part III: Community & Policy Action Plan
The proposed plan for community change will focus on providing vocational skills to the community residents who are unable to secure employment for lack of requisite skills. The plan will entail provision of basic training particularly to the homeless population to enable them secure gainful employment and permanent shelters. The training will cut across occupations such as hair stylists, electricians, medical records technicians, truck drivers and emergency medical technicians. The training will be open not only to the homeless population but also to other interested individuals. One of the strategies that will bring about change is construction of additional vocational training centers within the community. An additional strategy will focus on hiring qualified instructors who will impart the vocational skills to the interested individuals. Funding will be solicited from non-governmental agencies and governmental bodies to finance the operation of vocational institutions.
One of the policies that will influence the proposed community change is cost free policy implying that enrollment and training of community residents will not be charged. The policy will encourage more people to enroll for vocational training. Sustainability of the proposed plans will be ensured through a solid finance policy that will provide necessary resources to keep the vocational institutions running. The management of the vocational institutions will draft a crowd funding policy that will allow well-wishers from the community to contribute or donate via the internet to support the proposed plan. The proposed plan will positively impact South Carolina community by creating a more skilled and employable population.
References
Kovacik, C. F., & Winberry, J. J. (2019). South Carolina: a geography . Routledge.
Slade , D., (2029). SC’s population has doubled over the past 50 years, but its demographics hardly changed, Retrieved from https://www.postandcourier.com/news/scs-population-has-doubled-over-the-past-50-years-but-its-demographics-hardly-changed/article_2c7f2392-9145-11e9-b771-238a93f55c15.html
Soriano, F. I. (2012). Conducting needs assessments: A multidisciplinary approach (Vol. 68). Sage Publications.
Sc.gov (n.d). Residents in South Carolina, Retrieved from https://sc.gov/residents
South Carolina Interagency Council on Homelessness (2019). 2019 South Carolina State of Homelessness Report, https://www.schomeless.org/media/1163/scich-report-731-final-draft-electronic.pdf.
