Spring 2026 SOWK 531 Week 05 - Implementing Macro Interventions Using Agency, Policy, Projects and Programs
Spring 2026 SOWK 531 Week 05 - Implementing Macro Interventions Using Agency, Policy, Projects and Programs
title: Spring 2026 SOWK 531 Week 05 - Implementing Macro Interventions Using Agency, Policy, Projects and Programs date: 2026-02-20 16:19:13 location: Heritage University tags:
- Heritage University
- MSW Program
- SOWK 531 presentation_video: > “” description: >
Week five is synchronous, with a class session on Saturday, 2/21. Students will read chapter seven of the textbook, which presents strategies for implementing organizational change. The forums this week are a space for students to pitch their community-impact projects before submitting their final proposals. The agenda includes:
Agenda
- Review of proposal assignment
- The why of organizational change
- How of organizational change
- Cultural competence in social service organizations
- Case study
Learning Objectives this week include:
- Analyze organizational dilemmas using macro-level frameworks, including the IMAGINE process, to generate innovative and feasible change strategies.
- Integrate culturally responsive and empowerment-based principles into macro practice planning at individual, family, group, organizational, and community levels.
Plan for Week Five
Agenda
- Review of proposal assignment
- The why of organizational change
- How of organizational change
- Cultural competence in social service organizations
- Case study
Learning Objectives
- Analyze organizational dilemmas using macro-level frameworks, including the IMAGINE process, to generate innovative and feasible change strategies.
- Integrate culturally responsive and empowerment-based principles into macro practice planning at individual, family, group, organizational, and community levels.
Assignment 03a: Community Impact Project Proposal
Assignment 03: Community Impact Project
The community impact project is divided into two parts. During the macro intervention, students will plan, implement, and assess a community project that they facilitate. This will take place at the students’ practicum placement or other community setting. Basic project plans will be shared and approved by the professor before proposals are submitted and should likewise be discussed with the student’s faculty practicum liaison and supervisor. Projects constitute a new or additional service to the agency or its clientele. Examples might include offering an educational training, an outreach event, fundraising/collecting donations to meet a need, or providing a service. The two assignments include, first, the project proposal, in which students will assess their setting to identify a need and develop a plan to implement their project. Second, after the project is completed, a presentation will be held to showcase the results.
Assignment 03 A: Community Impact Project Proposal
Meta: Points 100 pts (20% of final grade); Deadline Monday 03/02/26 at 8:00 AM Completion via Assignments Using Anthology Assignments; Locations: MyHeritage Assignment Detail, Assignment Description and Rubric.
Purpose: Students will author a proposal that demonstrates their knowledge of working with macro systems using research-informed procedures to create a project that will impact the community. They will demonstrate competency seven and their ability to engage in assessment, applying theory and collaborative processes.
Task: Students will develop a written proposal for their community impact project. The proposal will be written in APA style and will include an overview of the agency or community, an assessment of the need the proposal seeks to address, and a plan for the project. Consideration of the assessment and plan should consider every service level (e.g., individual, family, group, organization, and community). Students must apply person-in-environment principles in their culturally responsive plan. Collaborative aspects of the planning should be incorporated, building on strengths and resiliency. After assessing their targeted system, students will create a written proposal using Kirst-Ashman and Hull’s (2018) PREPARE process. The proposal will include the first step of their IMAGINE process (e.g., start with an innovative idea). Proposed interventions need to be goal-driven, evidence-informed, and culturally responsive.
Success: Scores are calculated using the Appendix A Community Impact Project Proposal and Competency Seven Rubric. A successful proposal clearly demonstrates the student’s ability to assess macro systems using culturally responsive theoretical frameworks, collaborate effectively with target systems, and create a well-designed, PREPARE-guided project plan. The paper is submitted on time, and the writing uses strong scholarship and follows APA style guidelines.
Appendix A: Community Impact Project Proposal and Competency Seven Rubric
The Community Impact Project Proposal and Competency Seven Rubric evaluates students’ ability to design a culturally responsive, evidence-informed, and collaboratively developed project proposal that demonstrates macro-level assessment and planning skills. It assesses alignment with Competency 7, the quality of the assessment and plan, cultural responsiveness, collaborative processes, organization, APA style, and adherence to assignment guidelines.
Competency 7: Assess Individuals, Families, Groups, Organizations, and Communities
a. Apply theories of human behavior and person-in-environment, as well as other culturally responsive and interprofessional conceptual frameworks, when assessing clients and constituencies; and
b. Demonstrate respect for client self-determination during the assessment process by collaborating with clients and constituencies in developing a mutually agreed-upon plan.
| Description | Initial | Emerging | Developed | Highly Developed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Utilize a culturally responsive theoretical framework in the proposal. | The student does not reference any theoretical framework in the proposal nor make connections to important social work concepts. | The student does not directly utilize a culturally responsive theoretical framework, but the proposal demonstrates a basic understanding of important social work concepts. | The student references culturally responsive practices and theoretical frameworks in the proposal, but may not effectively link them to the project. | The student’s proposal will effectively utilize a culturally responsive theoretical framework in the plan, such as HB, PIE, or interprofessional conceptual frameworks, thereby enhancing the project. |
| The proposal documents collaborative processes and mutually agreed-upon plans. | The proposal provides no evidence of a collaborative process. It is unclear how the interactions with target systems were implemented. | The proposal appears to have been developed using collaborative processes. The interactions are not detailed. | The proposal appears to have input from the target systems, but it is not directly identified. The interactions of the target system are adequately detailed. | The student’s proposal will include the target system’s voice at all service levels (e.g., individual, family, group, organization, and community). The developed plan demonstrates collaboration and a mutually agreed-upon plan. Details about interactions with target systems are included. |
General Assignment
| Description | Initial | Emerging | Developed | Highly Developed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| The proposal includes a clear, culturally responsive assessment of the agency or community and the identified need. | The assessment is missing, unclear, or not connected to the project. | The assessment describes the setting and needs but lacks depth and fails to identify culturally responsive aspects. | The assessment is clear and draws on contextual factors and cultural responsiveness, but connections to the plan could be strengthened. | The assessment is thorough, contextualized, and culturally responsive. It clearly drives the proposal and demonstrates advanced macro-level assessment skills. |
| The proposal includes a detailed PREPARE-guided plan, culturally responsive strategies, and service level considerations. | The plan is missing, vague, or does not follow the PREPARE model; goals and interventions are unclear or inappropriate. | The plan outlines a basic intervention structure but doesn’t include all of the parts of the PREPARE model; goals and strategies could be clearer. It does not consider more than one level. | The plan follows the PREPARE steps and considers most of the service levels, but it does not make direct connections to other required elements of the plan. | The plan is well-developed, goal-driven, evidence-informed, culturally responsive, and fully aligned with the PREPARE model; macro-level considerations are integrated across individual, family, group, organizational, and community systems. |
| The proposal is organized, clear, and it effectively uses APA formatting. | The paper lacks clear organization, and the tone is informal or inappropriate for an academic paper. | Some organization is evident, but ideas may be disjointed; tone is uneven or somewhat unprofessional; Citations and references are mostly missing or significantly flawed. | The paper is generally well-organized and maintains a mostly professional tone; minor APA formatting errors do not significantly detract from clarity. | The paper is clearly and logically organized with a consistently professional, action-oriented tone; APA citations and references are accurate and properly formatted throughout. |
| The proposal follows the assignment requirements. | Does not follow the assignment description. | Somewhat follows the assignment description, but significant errors exist. | Follows the assignment description and requirements but has minor errors. | Closely follows the assignment description and requirements. |
Watch Who Moved My Cheese
I’m going to have us watch short animated video of a famous book, Who Moved My Cheese. This content was suggested in the Kirst-Ashman textbook teacher materials, and it is a book that I listen to a while back and have heard people talk about various times. I think one of the reasons why it is impactful is allegory nature of the story.
We are going to apply it to organizational change, but I want everybody to have an opportunity to be exposed to the stoyr. Also, sorry about the quality of the recording, it was the best that I could find.
[Whole Group Activity] Watch the video Who Moved My Cheese
Discuss Who Moved My Cheese
[Whole Group Activity] Discuss video
- What could “moving the cheese” symbolize in the context of social service systems or funding structures?
- How does fear of change show up in organizations, and how can it affect program implementation?
- How might a macro-level social worker help an agency move from resistance to adaptation?
- Other thoughts on the story?
Applying IMAGINE Process to Dilemmas
I want us to continue to be thinking about why and how we might engage in organizational change.
Last week we briefly mentioned IMAGINE
- Start with an innovative Idea.
- Muster support and formulate an action system.
- Identify Assets.
- Specify Goals, objectives, and action steps to attain them.
- Implement the plan.
- Neutralize opposition.
- Evaluate progress.
[Whole Group Activity] Review process, and relate it to the work I did in helping start MyFriends Place
I have three dilemmas, I’m going to have groups go through and discuss
- Dilemma A: A VA social worker recognizes that homeless veterans need meaningful job training to achieve stability and dignity, but faces the absence of institutional programs or resources to meet this need.
- Dilemma B: An intake worker sees that older adults could maintain independence with basic social and practical supports, yet is constrained by a system that offers only assessment or institutionalization.
- Dilemma C: A school social worker confronts high teen pregnancy rates while being restricted by school policies that prohibit providing students with comprehensive, evidence-based sexual health information and contraception access.
[Whole Group Activity] Dilemma Review and Sharing
Students will consider the dilemma in small groups, discussing what they would do based on the scenario and framing their discussion with potential ideas from the IMAGINE process. Group will share out their plans to the class.
- Print 5 Copies of pp. 2-4 of IMAGINE Dilemmas Handout to make three groups week-05-handout-IMAGINE-dilemmas.pdf
Cultural Competence in Social Service Organizations
What does this look like at your practicum site?
[Whole Group Activity] Discuss cultural competency in agencies
Workers may need to look at issues of cultural competency in agencies. Some areas for consideration are the following:
- The responsiveness of the agency to the needs of culturally diverse people it services.
- The level of empowerment the agency fosters in its staff and the staff in turn foster in their clients.
- Could the agency offer services in a manner which might be more responsive to the cultural diversity of its clients?
- Does the agency have a mission and vision with respect to fostering an inclusive workplace?
- How will one know that the goal of cultural competency has been met within an agency?
(Kirst-Ashman & Hull, 2018)
Case Study
You are the social worker at a middle school, where you have noticed that an increasing number of children come from turbulent homes. With each passing year, these children present more problems with truancy, while their grades deteriorate and their illicit drug use soars. They obviously need some help but you are not sure what to do. Your job is to intervene individually with children suffering the most severe crises. You do some individual counseling, make some family visits, run a few support and treatment groups, and attend numerous assessment and planning meetings.
In a social work journal, you read about a new type of alternative approach, called the “Friendship System,” for children at risk for the very problems you’re seeing. As part of this program, volunteers solicited from nearby university social work programs attended training sessions to learn how to interact with these children. Each volunteer was then paired with a child and became the child’s “special friend.” The volunteers’ responsibilities included spending time with the child at least once a week, being available when the child needed to talk, and generally being a positive role model for the child. The required commitment period was one year.
The program seemed similar to Big Brothers/Big Sisters, in which volunteers work under professional supervision, usually by social workers, providing individual guidance and companionship to boys and girls deprived of a parent. But children in the Friendship System might or might not be from single-parent homes. The only prerequisite for children to participate in the Friendship System is that school staff designate them as at-risk due to truancy, deteriorating school performance, and drug use. Additionally, school staff have substantial latitude in determining a child’s eligibility for the program. Typical criteria include a recent divorce in the family, extreme shyness and withdrawal, academic problems, or other social problems. You decide that this program would meet the needs of your students perfectly.
- What are some characteristics of macro-level change that are important for you to consider in this situation?
- Whatever the type of macro-level change, a change agent must determine what assets are available to implement the change. What are some potential assets in this situation and what are some assets that still need to be assessed?
- You are going to recommend that the school implement a program similar to the Friendship System to meet the needs of at-risk students. Identify and describe three action steps for implementing this program.
Taken from MindTap site for course of Kirst-Ashman and Hull (2018)