Current Trends in Social Welfare Report (Assessment)

Change is usually inevitable and almost every aspect in life undergoes the change process. Some changes come naturally while others are implemented in an effort to achieve better results in a particular issue or field. Social welfare entails the well-being of the society.

This is achieved through looking at different aspects of life for instance the quality of the environment, drug abuse, religious and spiritual aspects, availability and accessibility of social services and crime issues among others (Ambrosino, Heffernan, Shuttlesworth and Ambrosino, 2007). This paper looks at the trends affecting social welfare and their effects in solving social issues.

There have been social policy innovations in various parts of the world especially in western democracies. There is some evidence of change in social welfare state and organizations in the recent past. They have been transformed into empowering units that are characterized by positive attributes such as promotion of work through empowering the society, enhancement of private benefits and services as well as promoting target benefits to the most needy.

The current trends are a positive move in the social welfare function and hence they favor the solution of the social problems suffered by members of the society. This is more so because unlike in the past when social welfare organizations were like a form of business, the current trends have ensured that the programmes and activities carried out by social welfare organizations are derived from community need assessment and hence designed purely towards satisfying the society’s needs.

Transparency and accountability are aspects that have been emphasized in the recent past. These have greatly improved the situation by guiding how practices are carried out, free from corruption and discrimination. Rules and regulations have also played a critical role in streamlining the social welfare function.

For instance, requirements to set up a social welfare organization and exemption from paying tax necessitates that the organization is not for profit but rather operated exclusively to promote social welfare. This ensures that only the genuine organizations enjoy the privilege and thus operate effectively (Kirst-Ashman, 2009).

Although it is difficult to find a social welfare organization that is free from faults, we can come up with some general characteristics that should be possessed by an effective social welfare organization.

It should for example ensure that all its programmes are value-based and thus deals with aspects like social justice, equity and prosperity among others, serves community interest, engage in non-market activities, are accessible to all without any form of discrimination and more importantly be accountable to the public through effective public and social administration among other desirable attributes.

This is because a social welfare organization should be more society-assisting oriented as opposed to other interests. To achieve this, it is necessary that there are proper management and administration practices that ensure accountability and transparency (Ambrosino, Heffernan, Shuttlesworth and Ambrosino, 2007).

Concisely, social welfare is a very critical function that focuses on how individuals, communities, and institutions in a given society carry out activities in an effort to offer some minimum standards and opportunities. The changes that have been experienced in social welfare are aimed at helping people who are less fortunate in the society. They have really helped in allowing for accountability and transparency, elements that allow for efficiency, effectiveness as well as economy in an organization’s undertakings.

Reference List

Ambrosino, R., Heffernan, J., Shuttlesworth, G., and Ambrosino, R. (2007). Social Work and Social Welfare: An Introduction. 6^th Ed. New York: Cengage Learning

Kirst-Ashman, K.K. (2009). Introduction to Social Work & Social Welfare: Critical Thinking Perspectives. 3^rd Ed. New York: Cengage Learning