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Tag: #research # communities

  • The Cost of Providing Services

    Thinking back to my younger years in human services a common refrain was “no matter the cost, if we only helped one person, it was worth it.”

    Fast forwarding to recent times, I have not heard anyone say this.   Times are tough, budgets are tight, funding levels decease…if they exist at all.   Human services has become much more business orientated and goal driven.   At the same time, money has changed the field forever.   Salaries have increased, we follow medical models, yet clients are being served at lower rates than ever before.   Agencies are saying yes to almost anything in hopes of staying afloat.

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  • You, Me and Participatory Research

    McSpirit, Faltraco, and Bailey’s book titled Confronting ecological crisis in Appalachia and the South: University and Community Partnerships (2012) is all about community involvement, social justice, and community development skills from different parts of Appalachia. It challenges the traditional role of universities and introduces ideas that are the basis for Participatory Research. One thing that stuck out to me in the early chapters was that true community change starts with people who care and are involved.

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