The second section of this course looks at “Fields of Service” and how the mezzo layer of social welfare defines need, shapes and implements policy, and then, with those legal requirements in place, provides and delivers services to meet those acknowledged needs. These services are provided privately and publicly from agencies and organizations based locally, regionally, provincially, nationally and internationally.

Your assignment requires you to arrange a visit to a social welfare agency/organization and interview one of its representatives. By now, you should be able to determine what a social service agency is. If you have questions, do not hesitate to ask me.

(You do not have to contact an agency, instead you may reference other research notes as information acquired from the agency)

The purpose of the agency visit is to gather information from the interview, and any written material such as annual reports, organizational charts, program descriptions, funding sources, promotional brochures, etc as well as drawing upon concepts from the “Fields of Service” section of the course (notes and text).

From the material collected, you are required to a paper describing the details of that organization. The paper should address the following themes:

1. type of agency (non-profit, public, commercial) and level (macro, mezzo, micro), agency origin and brief history,

2. purpose and function, how is it part of the appropriate “Field of Service”,

3. organizational framework funding,

4. method of service delivery,

5. pertinent legislation that affects the agency,

6. effectiveness and efficiency review,

7. your thinking about the future needs and direction of the agency,

8. bibliography and citing.

The organization you select to study will likely fall into one of the 7 areas discussed in Part II of the course notes, “Fields of Service”. That can be a helpful place to start and you should bring in appropriate concepts from the course notes and the text in your agency description in addition to information you gather from your research. (I HAVE ATTACHED THIS FILE BELOW)

Remember to cite your sources (APA, MLA or footnotes) and bibliography – this is a requirement for your paper to be read.

The internet can be a useful source for information about most agencies.

As well, reviewing the course notes “Fields of Service” section and the Text, Chapter 14, “Agencies in General” and Chapter 15 “Industries and the Provision of Social Services”, can give you additional overview information and help you prepare your questions to adequately cover the required content.