Social Welfare: Helping Those in Need

Social welfare refers to laws, rules, and regulations that regulate and safeguard the relationships of different sections of society (Hansen, 2019). Community volunteers, sections of the government, and non-governmental organizations provide services to special groups of people who are not able to care for themselves. These agencies offer activities that are designed to improve the livelihoods of these special groups and reduce social problems. The special groups that are attended to by human service workers include immigrants, people living with disabilities, the elderly, and poor people. This paper examines factors surrounding immigrants, laws and programs that have been established to support them, and strategies used by human social workers to assist immigrants. 

The history of social welfare consists of different activities organized to provide charity. These acts of charity are inspired by religion or personal beliefs. In collaboration with government social services, these agencies can identify and improve the lives of certain groups in society (Hansen, 2019). The parliament of England took the first step in organizing social welfare programs. In 1961the parliament established a system in the government to give provisions to the poor. The ELIZA Bethan poor law provided the poor with a financing system away from the church’s finances. With an increase in social problems such as poverty, a large number of people started moving into other countries seeking better lives. The number of immigrants increased, more attention was focused on developing policies to cushion them. 

In the 1980s, following a civil war, several states passed laws governing immigration. In 1876, the Supreme Court authorized the federal government to be responsible for governing immigrants (Hansen, 2019). This led to the formation of the bureau of immigration between the years 1891 and 1895. Between 1900 and 1750s, millions of immigrants moved to the united states. The government responded by passing the regulations in an attempt to limit immigration into the country. A positive response was experiencing the level of immigration decreased over the next 20 years. The bureau of immigration amended the policies in the 1960s to allow the immigrants’ families to be united and encourage immigration of skilled personnel. The Immigrant Reform and Act law (IRCA) was passed in 1986 (Pena, 2013). The policy gave legal acceptance to almost three million immigrants. In the 1090s, the commission passed several amenities. The first one was aimed at giving pardon to illegal immigrants, and it benefited over 578,000 immigrants. The Nicaraguan Adjustment and Central American Relief Act (NACARA) was established in 1997, NACARA approximately a million immigrants attain legality. The LIFE act: legal immigration family equity act was passed in 2000. This allowed immigrants to obtain green cards through employment or marriage. After the terrorist attack in 2001, there was a need to reform immigrant policies due to the rise in skeptics against immigrants. In August 2010, President Obama authorized an act that protected immigrants from being deported. In 2017, president Donald Trump signed an order that denied entry of immigrants from certain countries such as Libya, Somalia, and North Korea; however, the order was revoked later on. 

According to the census bureau of the united states, almost ten million immigrants have entered the united states since the year 1992. Currently, almost a quarter (23%) of the population consists of immigrants. Communication is an important factor in an individual’s life. The language barrier is commonly experienced by immigrants hence affecting their performance in work and at school. Most immigrants fail to secure employment due to the language barrier or inability to meet required language qualifications. The second challenge experienced by immigrants is racial discrimination. Racial discrimination is a social ill that has persisted over the years. Being in a country that does not have diverse populations makes one unique and easily noted. Prejudice has cropped up over the years, especially after the terrorist attack of 2001. Most locals have become skeptical of immigrants. After the terrorism, Arab nationals living in the united states were questioned. Mass deportation of Arab nationals was executed following the discovery of immigration violations. Securing a new accommodation or housing is a challenge to immigrants. This is a result of not only the language barrier but also a lack of knowledge about the new country. People who come from close-knitted communities end up feeling lonely in a new environment. You’ll find out that westernized communities appreciate Individualism and prefer it over communalism. The government acknowledges the challenges faced by immigrants and has come up with measures to assist them. 

In the united states, certain programs have been established to assist immigrants. The food stamp program, currently known as The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) assists immigrants with low income buy food. The program is executed using an electronic card and is illegible to households whose gross income is below 130% of the poverty level. However, households having a member who is disabled or elderly do not necessarily have to meet these requirements. According to research, SNAP has benefited approximately 40 million people enabling them to acquire daily nutrition. Documented immigrants are also eligible for this program. In July 1997, temporary assistance for needy families (TANF) was established to assist families with highly dependent children. TANF also assists families with expectant members. TANF offers financial assistance to cater to needs such as medical care, food, housing, and clothing. TANF helps to stabilize families by offering sponsorship to vocational colleges, providing internship stipends for individuals partaking in unpaid internships, and offering preparation for individuals sitting for GED. TANF also offers services where they assist in cases of substance abuse or gender-based violence by referring the affected family to professionals. 

The UNHCR, in collaboration with other stakeholders, is mandated to resettle refugees (United Nation High Commissioner for Refugees, 1991). They facilitate the transfer of individuals seeking asylum to another country. Because refugees cannot return to their home country due to various reasons, resettling them is the ultimate solution. These organizations provide good reception into the new country; the refugees are properly oriented to fit in the cultural status of the county. By the end of 2019, research indicates that there was a total of approximately 20 million refugees all over the world. The efforts of UNHCR can resettle about 1% of the entire population each year, hence curbing the issues of illegal immigrants and granting them legal citizenship. In 2020 UNHCR put forward over 38,000 refugees to be considered for resettlement. These numbers consisted of refugees from the democratic republic of congo, Eritrea, the Asian Arab Republic, and Somalia. In the same year, approximately 23,000 immigrants were resettled. A three-year resettlement strategy has been forged by UNHCR in collaboration with different partners to provide essential factors to an effective resettlement program. 

Migration is considered to be part and parcel of human lives; hence it cannot be stopped. Research conducted in scientific American declares that human beings are migratory organisms. The early man is said to have explored every region of the world due to differences. Scientific study suggests that humans identified suitable places to inhabit due to migration. Therefore, factors that initiate migration cannot be based on political factors or economic factors but a wide range of different factors that change over time. In the 17 th and 18 th centuries, theorists such as Grotius, Selden, and Kant used immigration as a base to their theories on political obligation. in this context, the theories tend to explain the relationship between leadership with each person’s decision to obey. Here the individual stays in the place they consent without considering the political conformations or whether the state consents to their presence. Hence, a state or country is less likely to control immigration. A good example of a state that attempted to control migration includes the united states in the year 1835. nationalism is considered to be a value that dictates the authority of a country to control migration. David Miller, a political philosopher from oxford, affirms that states can fully control migration since all states have borders (Miller, 2007). Hence it can control the immigration of individuals who have different economic goals and education plans to theirs. He goes further to explain that before dictating migration, states should consider the interest of the residents and prospective immigrants. David Miller also suggests that the state gives substantial reasons for rejecting immigrants. David states that curbing overpopulation and preservation of a county’s cultures can serve as a good reason to reject immigrants. Other political philosophers such as Philip Cole and Caren joseph explain that most immigration policies are unjust. They hold that the military station at the borders of states and countries and detention centers contribute to the moral degradation of the immigration system. Previously cultural identity has been used in the justification of unfair and racist policies governing immigration. For example, in 1920, the United States passed a rule on culture sharing that was aimed at barring the migration of Chinese and Japanese nationals into the United States. This indicates that culture was used as a base for discrimination. Certain misinterpretations by philosophers and writers birth critics and led to the misunderstanding of immigrants. For example, Paul collier, a developmental economist, suggests in one of his economic models that if not controlled, the rate of immigration increases with the expansion of the diaspora. Such a claim confirms the fear that states with political and economic stability will be overpopulated with immigrants. The fear pushes the government to impose strict immigration rules to reduce the rate of immigration. Collier explains that without restrictions on immigration, wealthy countries will not be able to mitigate the problems faced by developing countries. Highly qualified professionals from developing countries will migrate to wealthy states, leaving their own countries devastated. This information is criticized since research does not show the economic improvement of countries whose professionals are barred from moving to other countries. 

According to the immigrants, they require normal basic needs, but these are not easily accessible to them. Such communities face challenges that make it hard for them to acquire such services. These issues include matters concerning education, employment, access to healthcare services, safety, and housing (Clink, 2011). The organizations have been formed to provide services and assist these communities. The center for law and social policy (CLASP) researches ways to promote early childhood programs aimed at protecting children against immigrant laws. CLASP provides sensitization to staff in matters related to children’s issues. Such as who to approach with such an issue. CLAPS also educated the staff on how to store and handle information about immigrants. The education department in the united has formed a page that provides information and other resources to students who are either immigrants or refugees. The page includes guidelines on the rights of immigrant youths in the united states. 

The ACLU immigrant rights project has the mandate of upholding immigrant rights and protecting them against discrimination (Clink, 2011). The ACLU participates in legal matters on behalf of the immigrant. ACLU focuses on challenging laws that impose unfair detention or racial and cultural discrimination. ACLU works at the local level to protect immigrants against anti-immigrant laws that are imposed by the private sector or local government. The Immigrant Legal Resource Center (ILRC) was established in 1979 with the sole mandate of helping law professionals dealing with immigration-related cases to improve their skills. The law professionals are equipped with skills to adequately defend immigrants and to challenge laws. ILRC was founded by Bill Ong Hing, a law professor and works with the office of the public defense immigration and other private agencies. It is funded by individual donors, private organizations, and government donations. 

The national organization for human services describes the subject of human service as a wide field consisting of services aimed at sustaining human needs. Its main objective is to improve human lives and well as improving the social standards of a community. Human service workers assist different domains of society to function effectively. A human service worker spends each day of their lives finding ways to improves lives. Human service workers find prevent social problems as well as finding ways to mitigate challenges experienced in society. The human service research institute (HSRI) an organization established in 1976. The main objective of HSRI is to research activities and means to improve communities and ensure that standard human service works are rendered. Human service workers consist of a number of professionals work in an organization advocating for family care, medical care, organization that take care of orphans, disabled, and shelters for the homeless. The responsibilities of human service professionals are categorized into five groups; offering services directly, working with society, advocating, evaluating, and taking administrative roles. The main responsibilities of human service workers when offering direct services include handling mental and psychological problems through counseling, leading community organizations that provide support to special groups of people such as recovering alcoholics. Human service workers provide conflict resolution and advocate for problem-solving. Human service workers coordinate between non-profit organizations and the community in terms of applying for donations and distributing donations among members of the community. In cases involving immigrants, human service workers help them to find services such as housing and medical care. Human service professionals offer legal action when necessary. An immigrant community may need the help of a human service worker to understand minor laws governing the local government. In cases of discrimination, they are there to identify the situation and refer them to a profession. 

In recent years immigration has become common in third-world countries (Janiewski, 2007). Since in memorial sections of the population migrate in search of better education, employment, or escape from harsh political environments. The united states receive a large number of immigrants than other countries (Davis, 1974). In 2015 only, the United States experienced an increase in the number of immigrants to almost 47 million (Journal of Statistics Education Referees 2015–2016, 2016). In research on immigration statistics in 2016 shows that the united states increased with 1.18 million being immigrants. According to pew research in 2019, more immigrants arrived from Chinese than Hispanic. Asians are expected to highly immigrate to the united states up to the year 2055. 

Human service workers are characterized by compassion (McNeely, 1989). They mainly deal with special groups in society who require compassion and patience in their handling. A good example is mentally challenged individuals. Human service workers have a great understanding of the community, their religious beliefs, cultural afflictions and their political standing. This information is crucial in understanding and maintaining a healthy relationship with the community. Human service workers are equipped with skills that enable them to understand to apply government policies and regulations effectively. Human service workers are equipped with skills that enable them to identify, analyze social problems and come up with the best ways to handle them. The methods of intervention include referring a client to a specialist, offering guidance and counseling, or offering community sensitization. Excellent verbal communication is important since the entire service is achievable through dialogue. The knowledge of the legal system is essential since human service workers may be required to take legal action in cases such as child abuse. 

Human service professionals play a range of roles in society, which involves one on one interaction with people (Levitt, 1991). Empathy is important in understanding these issues and handling them. According to Levitt, through basic empathy, the professional is able to understand the situation at a personal level. In subtractive empathy, the professional listens to the client but is unable to understand the situation. In addictive empathy, the profession listens and understands the client’s situation beyond the professional limits. If addictive empathy is utilized properly, it enables the client to get new ideas and a positive view of handling the problem or situation at hand. Research indicates that empathy has a positive impact on the process of guidance and counseling. Critical thinking is quite essential in our everyday life (Osipow, 1979). For human service workers, it is important to analyze situations, understanding and coming up with solutions. The best strategy in conflict resolution is active listening. Listening is often accompanied by asking questions, and taking notes for future reference is necessary. 

Immigrants originate from diverse countries that, apart from speaking different languages, have different religious beliefs. Being bilingual is effective in establishing rapport with a client and facilitating basic communication before a professional interpreter is consulted. It is important to understand the immigrant status, whether its permanent residence, undocumented individuals, or naturalized residents. Most households are characterized by mixed immigration status, which means that some members can access public services while others are left out. Partnering with the local government and the office of immigration improves knowledge on immigration matters. The human service worker is in a position to refer a client to a more qualified professional. Most families have different immigration experience; understanding one’s story puts the human service worker in a better position to provide assistance 

In conclusion, research indicates that the rate of immigration increases every year. The united states receive a large number of immigrants every year. Policies and regulations are set up to improve the ease of acquiring legal status. However, some are passed with the aim of reducing the number of immigrants. Human service providers play an important role in assisting immigrants to settle in the community, hence they should be appreciated. 

References 

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