The Catholic Social Services Community Assessment

Introduction

The Catholic Social Services of the Miami Valley (CSSMV) is a non-profit, private organization that was started in 1921. It is a non-profit social services agency that caters for the larger Greene, Miami, Montgomery, Champaign, Logan, Preble, Shelby, Darke, Auglaize, and Mercer counties with services for teens, adults, families, children, and seniors continually all through the years since it started. It is based in Daytona, Ohio. The Catholic Social Services is guided by the faith and its commitment towards serving the people and the community at large. The Catholic Church holds and proclaims the sanctity of human life and the dignity of an individual as the basis or foundation for morality in the society unequivocally. The Catholic Social Teaching is the root of its mission to be a caring, committed and innovative community leader. The Catholic Social Services of the Miami Valley is involved in the service, assistance, and empowerment of individuals as well as families in need through the provision of social services guided by Christian values and traditions through actions of service, charity, and faith. The organization's vision is to build stronger futures for all individuals and families without bias as inspired by God's love and teachings (Catholic Social Services of the Miami Valley, 2008). The paper is aimed at identifying the issues facing the Catholic Social Services and offer solutions to these problems.

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The Catholic Social Services has eight programs although some are not available in all the counties. These are listed as follows: Parenting and Educational Outreach Services are designed to help parents through the provision of parenting skills to cope and deal with a different set of behaviors. These are conducted in workshops with collaboration with other related agencies. The Professional Counseling and Mental Health Services offer help to people in stressful situations by offering a wide range of solutions. The use of professionally licensed counselors is critical for this program. In cases beyond their understanding, the people are referred to other related agencies. Passport (Pre-Admission Screening System Providing Options and Resources Today), a Medicaid waiver program is another flagship program of the Catholic Social Services. It is offered in six counties to individuals 60 years and over. It aims to assist people to stay at home instead of moving to nursing homes. It currently assists over 1200 individuals in the counties. Emma's House is a Supervised Visitation Program in Daytona. It offers a safe, warm environment for children to meet with noncustodial parents. It was started to offer a solution for families that find it difficult to interact in a non-threatening manner. It offers a neutral alternative to unsupervised visitations (Catholic Social Services of the Miami Valley, 2008).

Other programs include the Refugee Resettlement program which assists refugees from other nations restart and rebuilds their lives. It is found in Daytona. The Early Childhood Education program offers quality education to children of all backgrounds at the Lincoln Academy. Ride Link program is a transportation program dedicated to connecting the people to reliable, safe, affordable transportation. The transportation is for medical and non-medical appointments within Darke, Logan, Champaign, Miami, Shelby, and Preble counties. The Poverty Alleviation Program is the last program. Its Choice Food Pantry is the largest and busiest food distribution center in the Greater Daytona Area. It avails emergency food aid to the people living in the poor urban neighborhoods west and northwest of Daytona. It has been able to assist a figure of approximately 18000 adults and children every year (Catholic Social Services of the Miami Valley, 2008).

A critical issue facing the Catholic Social Services is in the Refugee Resettlement program. There has been infighting and an argument among the locals about the importance of the Refugee Resettlement Program to the community. Interestingly, the argument has risen from the fact that the Refugee Resettlement Program has grown over the years and as such, it has attracted even more refugees to Daytona. With every new terrorist attack happening anywhere in the world, the argument is growing even more. Proponents of keeping refugees away from Daytona and the larger USA argue that admitting these refugees in their country especially those from muslim war-torn nations have opened a gateway for terrorist activities in the USA. Indeed, the government through president Donald Trump has over the last couple of years has issued travel bans for refugees into America. However, opponents against such orders insist that the refugees are victims of the terrorism and should be helped. As such, the Refugee Resettlement program through a noble cause is facing challenges from the community and affects the other programs that are intended to help the communities (Winkworth & Camilleri, 2004).

The issue is huge and if it escalates could cause a national disaster. It is possible for these arguments to have an effect on the people of Daytona and the larger Ohio. It is a noble venture helping the needy in the society, offering them a place to sleep and helping them restart their lives again. It is, however, difficult to determine the true nature of a refugee even as you help him/her (Repenshek, 2018). Some refugees come to America from such countries as Iraq or Afghanistan and blame the American government for their situation. As such, radicalization can happen swiftly, and they can influence their family members to assist them in the ungodly act of terrorism against other innocent individuals (Winkworth & Camilleri, 2004). It is why this issue is a growing concern especially with the increasing number of refugees to Daytona. The issue also affects the donations, the involvement in other programs within the Catholic Social Services and the Catholic Church in general.

The Catholic Social Service has made it clear that service to humanity and morality should forever be the driving force for all the agendas that they undertake or plan to undertake. The Social Service has committed to ensuring that all the refugees use other programs within their scope to ensure that the refugees are integrated into the society in the best way possible (Maiello, 1991). Such things as counseling, school assistance, financial and emotional aid are important in providing help to the society. Further, for a refugee to be allowed into the country, they have to undergo critical vetting by government and related agencies that take an average of nine years (Orfield & Luce, 2003). It is, therefore, important to note that all the issues of concern have already been addressed before the refugee arrives and keeping them away will see the church failing in its mandate to offer services to the needy.

Elaine Schweller Snyder, a member of the Catholic Social Services, was kind enough to undertake an interview to answer a few queries about the issues facing the organization, needs, scarcity or availability of resources. She stated that the organization gets funding from the government, the Archdiocese of Cincinnati, and from fundraisers and donations. Even with that, the organization has a shortfall because their budget runs into millions of dollars. Also, some of the programs of the organization face challenges such as the Refugee Resettlement and the increase in poverty levels that stretch their budgets. All in all, the organization has been able to meet these challenges effectively. There is also an issue with volunteers needed to help in certain areas to help see the success of certain programs (Catholic Social Services of the Miami Valley, 2008).

Indeed, the Catholic Social Services is a Godsend to the people of Ohio as it has been able to assist the society in more ways than one. Indeed, the organization has been involved in helping those in the society who are facing challenges and brought them back on their feet. However, the challenge of the Refugee Resettlement has been brewing under the waters for a while and could cause a huge problem for the future. It is important that the organization ensures that the refugees are vetted aggressively and openly so that the society can accept them because of the stringent steps to enter the country. Also, it is important for the people to be taught the importance of helping others in need and to understand where the refugees are coming from and the importance of helping them back on their feet. It could also be appropriate if the Refugee Resettlement and the government agencies keep tab of these refugees when they are in the program and after their time at the program to ensure that they do not pose any danger to anyone (Repenshek, 2018). Building on these recommendations, the community can accept the work of the program and even offer assistance in the long run.

Conclusion

The community can be apprised through weekly meetings with the organization and also, the involvement of security forces (Homeland Security) in the discussions. It is important that during these meetings, the community stakeholders are given the opportunity to raise their issues and why they feel the issues are harming the community and their recommendations. By undertaking these issues and addressing them and after that giving a follow up in the next meeting of solutions to the issues, the community will be made part of fixing the problems (Maiello, 1991). By integrating the community, the organization will be getting solutions from them which in the end will reduce backlash in the future because the recommendations came from the community.

References

Catholic Social Services of the Miami Valley. (2008). Good news.Maiello, M. J. (1991). Modeling organizational culture in catholic social services. Social Thought, 17(1), 3-11.

Orfield, M., & Luce, T. (2003). Miami Valley Metropatterns: A Regional Agenda for Community and Stability in the Miami Valley. SSRN Electronic Journal.

Repenshek, M. (2018). Examining Quality and Value in Ethics Consultation Services. The National Catholic Bioethics Quarterly, 18(1), 59-68.

Winkworth, G., & Camilleri, P. (2004). Keeping the Faith: The Impact of Human Services Restructuring on Catholic Social Welfare Services. Australian Journal of Social Issues, 39(3), 315-328.