Mezzo- and Macro-Levels of Social Work

Topic: Social Work Words: 1104 Pages: 4

The different levels of social work all aim to achieve social justice and human well-being. However, the ways in which they accomplish this can be different, usually depending on the scope of the practice at hand. Micro-level social work, or the traditional approach, entails working closely with individuals, families, and small groups to provide one-on-one guidance for navigating social challenges (Ashcroft et al., 2021). However, both mezzo- and macro-level social work can be used to support people that experience various challenges through a broader and comprehensive approach (Hill et al., 2017). The agencies operating at these levels work with their clients on a broader scale and consider the systematic causes of social challenges and injustices that burden populations. The table below includes a breakdown of available agencies that are operating on mezzo- and macro-levels of social work.

Agency Name	Brief Agency Description	Specific areas of mezzo practice & Skills Required	Specific areas of macro practice & Skills required
The Atlanta Children’s Shelter (Social Services Program)	Underlines the importance of offering continuous and coordinated care to families with children that face multiple social challenges. The Social Services Program of the agency focuses on the general coordination and provision of social services to children and their families. Specific services include housing, employment, and aftercare.	Works with communities of families in need to develop programs to find permanent housing for families, employment, provide education to children of low-income families, as well as strengthen social relationships within the community. Requirement: taking the leadership and mentorship role to educate families about best practices to improve their quality of life and enhance opportunities.	Campaigns for promoting equality in the community and the state of Georgia, addresses the need for external financial support for underserved families along with their education and workforce adjustment. Requirement: taking on the role of advocates for children without families or in high-risk situations.
Georgia Division of Family and Children Services State Office	Investigates child abuse reports, finds foster and adoptive homes, issues SNAP, TANF, and Medicaid, helps parents access work, and provides innovative programs for communities in need.	Works with communities to facilitate an environment conducive to social improvement for children and families. Helping endangered and abused children find homes and preventing them from being re-victimized. Requirement: being a partner, having free time to dedicate to children’s cases.	Supports a federal initiative to offer resources to children and young adults affected by inequalities, especially in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic. Requirement: taking on the advocacy role, being an educator for children, young adults, and low-income families.
Office of Human Services (OHS)	Works to enhance and improve the delivery of social services to all Atlanta citizens by means of coordination, the development of programs and initiatives, as well as advocacy and the mobilization of resources.	Through the Summer Foods Service Programs, collaborating with Bright from the Start, participates in USDA’s Child Nutrition program. The program cites available at schools, community centers, churches, parks, playgrounds, etc. Requirement: the coordination of multiple services for the community.	Manages a comprehensive network of social services to meet the needs of Atlanta’s citizens. Receives financial support from Community Development Block Grants, Emergency Shelter Grants, etc. Requirement: comprehensive knowledge of programs serving at-risk populations.
Atlanta Downtown Improvement District	Works to improve the conditions of Atlanta’s downtown by addressing economic disparities: homelessness, unaddressed mental illness, substance abuse issues, panhandling, and so on. Implements solution-focused efforts to address key issues related to life quality. Helps launch innovative and comprehensive initiatives and invests in programs expected to bring tangible results.	Addresses homelessness in the community through outreach public outreach. Builds capacity within the homeless services system while encouraging the resuming of interrupted services to communities experiencing homelessness in the city (ADID, 2021). Engages socially aware and responsible stakeholders from the Downtown business section to draw investment into the services for the homeless and provide immediate responses to emergencies that affect communities. Requirement: analyzing the needs of communities and identifying key issues to be improved through consistent program implementation.	Supports the implementation of large-scale projects to support the continued vitality of the city and the state. Oversees the introduction of appropriate infrastructure, environment, as well as amenities required to support the expansion of the Downtown area. The gradual improvements made allow for enhancing the quality of life in Atlanta’s community while and creating and environment conducive of socioeconomic equality within the community. Requirement: working with local government agencies to develop a plan for improving populations’ quality of life.
Hands on Atlanta	Aims to mobilize the community of Atlanta to address the most persistent needs of the community. Puts together resource guides to build a community of citizens in need and those who can provide support to them. Focuses on housing assistance, homeless shelters, community mental health, pantries and delivered meals, etc.	Provides assistance to communities by referring groups to various services that are close to them. Acts as an advocate designing when referring clients to various services. Requirement: taking on the advocate role for communities in need.	Works with other organizations in Atlanta and Georgia in general to meet the needs of communities. Initiates discussions on a larger scale to ensure that the state government considers the pressing social issues. Requirement: understanding community dynamics and finding solutions to pressing issues (Pradeep & Sathyamurthi, 2017).
Center for Pan Asian Community Services	Promotes self-sufficiency of immigrants, refugees, and underserved groups through multi-dimensional social and health care services, advocacy, and capacity building.	Local services include Food Stamps, Refugee Services, Health Insurance Consultations, Domestic Violence, as well as Employment Training and Career. Requirement: acting as the group’s advocate.	Initiates discussions on the larger problem of underserving pan Asian communities in the state and the country. Gets support from non-profits and for-profits to support programs for the target groups. Requirement: facilitate a discussion of racial and socioeconomic inequalities in society.

While mezzo- and macro-level practice may often be used interchangeably, the assignment showed that the primary responsibility of social workers at the mezzo level is to help vulnerable populations at community, large group, and organizational levels. Social workers usually take on the roles of advocates and educators for their clients and work collaboratively with them to develop appropriate solutions to address the challenges that they face (Ambrose-Miller & Ashcroft, 2016). On the macro level, it is imperative that social workers look at issues from a broad perspective and engage with governmental and other agencies to improve the conditions in which people live and address inequalities on a systematic level rather than case-by-case (Miller et al., 2017). Through consistent engagement with groups and communities, it is possible for social workers to address disparities in the existing systems through a complex and interdisciplinary approach.

References

ADID. (2021). Social impact.

Ambrose-Miller, W., & Ashcroft, R. (2016). Challenges faced by social workers as members of interprofessional collaborative health care teams. Health & Social Work, 41(2), 101-109.

Ashcroft, R., Sur, D., Greeenblatt, A., & Donahue, P. (2021). The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on social workers at the frontline: A survey of Canadian social workers. The British Journal of Social Work, 2021.

Hill, K. M., Erickson, C. L., Donaldson, L. P., Fogel, S. J., & Ferguson, S. M. (2017). Perceptions of macro social work education: An exploratory study of educators and practitioners. Advances in Social Work, 18(2), 522-542.

Miller, D. P., Bazzi, A. R., Allen, H. L., Martinson, M. L., Salas-Wright, C. P., Jantz, K., Crevi, K., & Rosenbloom, D. L. (2017). A social work approach to policy: Implications for population health. American Journal of Public Health, 107(S3), S243-S249.

Pradeep, M., & Sathyamurthi, K. (2017). The ‘community’ in ‘community social work.’ Journal of Humanities and Social Science, 22(9), 58-64.