Essay Example on Protecting Children From Abuse: The Mission of the Children's Advocacy Center

Introduction

Children's Advocacy Center (first Judicial District) is a private, non-profit organization whose objective is to fight sexual cruelty against children and deliver better services to the victims in a secure, caring situation. The organization is involved in conducting law enforcement, prosecution, mental health, education, medical support as well as education in the community in responding to child abuse. The organization is also involved in the provision of forensic interviewing services to facilitate investigations against child abuse (Children's Advocacy Center: First Judicial District, n.d.). The organization conducts trauma based therapy for children victims involved in serious sexual or physical abuse cases. Additionally, the organization coordinates medical examination to collect physical evidence and cater to children's physical needs as well as conducting investigations on child abuse cases.

Is your time best spent reading someone else’s essay? Get a 100% original essay FROM A CERTIFIED WRITER!

Save 25%

The vision of the Children's Advocacy Center (First Judicial District) is to create a community where children can live in a secure and nurturing environment free from physical and sexual abuse. Some of the programs provided by the Child Advocacy Center include offering safety lessons for children to recognize inappropriate touches by emphasizing "it's your body" concept. Another program involves offering lessons on sexual assault, internet safety, and usage of social media concerning dating and ensuring body safety. Another program offered by this organization pertains to informational training for professionals relating to children's well-being. Informational training is mainly directed to teachers, daycare centers, and churches.

Relationship of Servant Leadership to Contemporary and Future Human Service Organizational Management

Servant leadership theory focuses on the final goal of the people being led. In the management of human services, this theory ensures that leaders have no self-interests, and many are the times that leaders will hold back and back up their followers' interests. Servant leadership is tasked with providing guidance, empowering, and building a trust culture in the provision of human services to ensure that the followers align themselves with the goal set by the leader (Northouse, 2019). Much of the focus under servant leadership theory is towards meeting the needs of the followers in an organization.

Leaders have the responsibility of influencing while the servants, on the other hand, follow. Servant leadership theory calls for leaders to pay attention to the needs of their followers, nurture them, empathize with them, and help them attain their full capacities. Additionally, servant leadership is an ethical based theory that calls for leaders to serve in ways that guarantee the good of the community and the entire society.

Under this theory, leaders' priority is to serve then seek to lead. In ensuring contemporary and future human service organizational management, servant-leadership theory works to promote the growth of the people being served so that they feel more free, healthier, wiser, and independent. The leadership approach is well applicable among the less privileged people in the society to help them overcome their situations and prevent further deprivation.

Application of servant-leadership theory is, at most times, naturally occurring while, in some cases, it is learned. Servant leadership helps people to support each other through communication, where one individual can openly share his/her concerns with another individual or society, and they all link up to address and solve the issue (Northouse, 2019). The leadership theory provides a one-on-one opportunity for people to experience trust, respect, interdependence, and personal growth.

Servant Leadership Theory in Multidisciplinary Human Services Organization

Servant leadership is applicable in especially in areas relating to healthcare and non-profit environments where the caring culture is the order of the day. An apparent situation is where leaders involve themselves in voluntary work in protecting sexually and physically abused children, feeding the hungry, and offering shelter to the homeless (Northouse, 2019). In an organizational setting, servant leadership serves a driving force that makes people go beyond their basic responsibilities and duties to help the organization in achieving overall functioning and productivity.

Servant leadership enhances team effectiveness in an organization by boosting members' shared confidence. Team members are, therefore, able to form a strong bond towards helping the less privileged or people suffering in society. In ensuring organizational management in human services, leaders need to have humanistic and altruistic character. As opposed to using power to dominate over the followers, servant leaders should use their positions to share power and help others grow and achieve their independence.

Values of servant leadership in The Children's Advocacy Center (First Judicial District)

The Children's Advocacy Center (first Judicial District) and its leaders are characterized by servant leadership as they step in to fight sexual abuse against children create a better environment for them to grow. One of the fundamental principles of servant leadership applied by leaders in the Advocacy center is empathy (Northouse, 2019). The organization, through its leaders, knows how children feel when they are abused either sexually or physically.

The First Judicial District Children's Advocacy Center is always there to offer a helping hand to ensure that the victims are well taken care of and that the perpetrators are brought to face the law. The empathy principle makes children feel secure and free to report any case pertaining to abuse. Leaders at this organization are also characterized by the listening attribute, which makes them stand out as the only reliable place where children can report cases relating to abuse.

The healing principle also describes servant leadership in the Children's Advocacy Center. Leaders in this non-profit organization as so concerned about the well-being of young children that they voluntarily conduct medical examinations on victims to collect evidence and cater to children's physical needs as well as to conduct investigations on child abuse cases (Northouse, 2019). The Children's Advocacy Center (First Judicial District) plays a very crucial role in helping affected children recover from their nightmares.

The First Judicial District Advocacy Center also offers characterized by the value of awareness whereby it offers advisory services to children on safety lessons for children to recognize inappropriate behaviors by adults and peers that need to be reported. The organization has made it the order of the day to teach children on "it's your body" concept. It also teaches on sexual assault, internet safety, and usage of social media concerning dating and ensuring body safety (Children's Advocacy Center: First Judicial District, n.d.).

Conclusion

Servant leadership is well applicable in agile situations as it builds a high level of cohesiveness and openness among a group of people, making it simple to solve an issue or even decide the way to approach an issue. Other than exercising authority, servant leadership focuses on power-sharing through active listening, healing, creating awareness, and also empathizing. Such principles make the Children's Advocacy Center (first Judicial District) stand out as the right place to handle cases facing young children. On overall organizational management, servant leadership develops a cohesive and much stronger corporate culture, which yields high productivity.

References

Northouse, P. G. (2019). Introduction to leadership: Concepts and practice. SAGE Publications, Incorporated.

Children's Advocacy Center: First Judicial District. (n.d.). Children's Advocacy Center. Retrieved from https://www.cac1st.org/#services