Preventing Child Abuse as Challenge for the State Department of Social Services - Article Example

Preventing Child Abuse: The Challenge for the Department of Social Services Table of Contents I. Introduction 3 II.Descriptive Framework 3 a)Description of Organization/Unit 3 b)Problem Identification/Description 5 III.Critical Analysis 6 a)In-Depth Analysis of Performance-Related Problems or Issues 6 b)Definition of ‘Most Critical’ Problem 7 c)Decision on Course of Action 8 IV.Proposed Plan of Action 9 References 11 Appendices 12 Appendix 1 – The Department of Human Resources 12 Appendix 2 – The Department of Welfare Organization 12 I. Introduction The State Department of Social Services have been playing a pivotal role in offering varied social services to the populaces of Atlantic coast state for several years. The mission as well as the purpose of this Department is to make better decisions following state governing mechanisms and implementing better ideas towards delivering the needed social services to the residents of the state. With this concern, the prime intention of this paper is to identify and analyze two critical issues being witnessed by the department currently, in preventing child abuse. While analyzing these issues, the description of the organizational units possessed by this Department and performance related problems or issues faced by this Department would be discussed in the paper. Moreover, a critical analysis of the performance related problems or issues in the form of recognizing various problem sources along with underlying causes, defining ‘most critical’ problem and presenting the decisions based on action courses would also be taken into concern in this paper. Ultimately, a realistic, specific and a “readings-based” action plan would be proposed to the Department in order to redress the identified most critical issues to improve organizational performances. II. Descriptive Framework a) Description of Organization/Unit In its recent performances, the State Department of Social Services of Atlantic coast, with a yearly budget of $2.6 billion and employing nearly about 6,000 employees, was involved in offering social services, such as prevention of child abuse to the citizens of the state. The various units persistent within this Department include Department of Social Services (DOSS), Department of Human Resources and Department of Welfare Organization. Correspondingly, the Department of Human Resources constitutes an organizational structure (see Appendix 1) involving Governor, Secretary of Human Resources, Agency for Children, Department of Youth Services, Department of Correction, Rehabilitation Commissioner, Commission for the Blind and Department of Welfare. On the other hand, the Department of Welfare Organization (see Appendix 2) comprises Department of Welfare, Commissioner of Welfare, Deputy Commissioner, Social Services and Assistance Payments. As apparent, controlling daily operations through the complex and multidimensional setting of the State Department is a particular challenge for the governing authorities. It was with the intention to mitigate this particular challenge that the Governor of the State appointed a Secretary of Human Resources entitled to oversee and monitor the performances of numerous human services agencies operating within the state being involved in effective state governing mechanisms. The organizational position of the Secretary of Human Resources was observed to be quite demanding in the state for providing quality social services to the residents. Besides, the Governor also took the decision of appointing a Commissioner for one of its operational units, i.e. DOSS, in order to ensure that any sort of social services, such as preventing child abuse can be performed efficiently with the deliverance of better outcomes. The Governor of the state strongly believed that the appointment of the aforesaid officials would eventually result in tracking down the quality and the level of social services offered to the people. b) Problem Identification/Description As evident, the State Department of Social Services confronted certain challenges and dilemmas, which responded to a reorganization-mandated legislation, following a recent fatality related to child abuse. These challenges and dilemmas were mainly dealt with inadequate planning and major organizational problems that the Department experienced while providing social services to the public residing within Atlantic coast state. In relation to the case study provided, amongst the prime issues or problems faced by the State Department of Social Services, decreased morale of the employees and lack of effective planning in segregating the welfare department along with transferring the workers of social service were noteworthy. Concerning the issue of diminished morale of the employees, it can be apparently observed that the direct line workers as well as the Social Service supervisors were mainly affected due to the planning procedure adopted by the State Department of Social Services, which rendered their respective job status in an ambiguous manner. The employees’ morale in this similar context was found to be quite low and decreased incessantly, as they were particularly scared of layoffs. It can therefore be affirmed from a broader understanding that the planning procedure, adopted as well as executed by the State Department of Social Services, was quite inflexible in nature and was not process or goal-oriented as well. It was rather observed to be irrational wherein the opportunities and other various options to be delivered to the personnel were not duly considered as the prime concerns. Consequently, the social workers associated with the State Department of Social Services claimed to be increasingly frustrated, as the administrative officials were unaware of numerous important aspects of their respective job tasks. This ultimately raised the problem of ineffective planning in appropriately dividing the welfare department along with transferring the workers of social services. In this similar concern, The State Department of Social Services strongly believed that the appointment of a Commissioner for one of its operational units, i.e. DOSS and a Secretary of Human Resources would certainly aid in addressing the above identified issues in a more systematic and all-inclusive manner. III. Critical Analysis a) In-Depth Analysis of Performance-Related Problems or Issues Based on the above discussion, it becomes apparent that the major performance related problems faced by the State Department of Social Services were lack of effective planning in segregating the welfare department along with transferring the workers of social service and experiencing decreased operational performance of the employees. It can be critically argued in this regard that the issue concerning low morale of the employees had affected their operational performance at large in the state department, which resulted in the need to develop a reorganization-mandated legislation, followed by a recent child abuse death. The major cause of this fatality can be identified in terms of lack of surveillance practiced by the social workers, which is quite essential for preventing such fatal incidents. Thus, in order to make the DOSS more effective in restricting the occurrence of such fatal incidents, the State Department should design proper surveillance policies and also increase the awareness of its staff members to mitigate risks to these issues in future. In this similar context, as per the provided case study, the prime sources or the underlying reasons of the above discussed problem encompassed ineffective planning procedure adopted by the State Department of Social Services concerning the maintenance of job security and restriction of layoffs. According to the viewpoints of the direct line workers and the social service supervisors attached with the State Department of Social Services, the above discussed planning procedure was criticized as insensitive concerning the civil service protection needs. With regards to the other major performance related problem i.e. lack of effective planning in segregating the welfare department along with transferring the social service workers, a critical understanding of the fact reveals that the reorganization approach adopted by the Department was one of the prime sources to ignite this particular issue. In this context, the workers of social services were much worried about certain factors that further limited the effectiveness of planning made by the State Department of Social Services in segregating the welfare department along with transferring the workers. These factors comprised determining what kind of evaluation mechanisms would be taken into concern as a foundation for dividing the welfare department as well as transferring the workers and identifying what sort of effective processes will be established in implementing the change program, resulting in employee dissatisfaction. b) Definition of ‘Most Critical’ Problem It is quite obvious that every individual and organization have to face certain problems while performing their operational or business activities. These problems are often identified to be complicated that can be solved by taking certain effective measures. With this concern, it can be stated that any problem, which is big as well as complicated and cannot be solved easily, is fundamentally regarded as the ‘most critical’ problem (United States Department of Labor, n.d.). It would be vital to mention in this similar context that the problems, which are most critical, are largely prevalent in this modern day context due to the factors like increased level of globalization and complexities, gaining momentum of internationalization as well as liberalization along with the strong prevalence of extreme business market competition. Relating to the provided case study, it can be stated from a broader understanding that the problems or the issues confronted by the State Department of Social Services cannot be regarded as the ‘most critical’ problems, as these can be solved easily by adopting certain effective measures. c) Decision on Course of Action After conducting a critical analysis of the performance related problems faced by the State Department of Social Services and identifying the rudimental problem sources along with the underlying causes followed by a child abuse death, it can be affirmed that the Department had to experience major performance challenge in terms of its personnel. In this similar context, the personnel constituted the social service personnel, direct line workers and social service supervisors. It is strongly suggested that the responsible authorities of the State Department of Social Services ought to make effective decisions or develop effective course actions in order to address and mitigate the performance challenges relating to its delegation of responsibilities and roles to the personnel. In this similar context, one of the potential approaches or decisions can be recognized as designing a planning procedure through which, the entire process would become sensitive, resulting in the better development of the performance by the staff members. The rationale for making such decision lies in the fact that the design of an effectual planning process shall allow the personnel to develop his/her overall performances towards the accomplishment of pre-determined organizational objectives (Berman, n.d.). IV. Proposed Plan of Action After acquiring a brief idea about the flaws witnessed by the State Department of Social Services in terms of inadequate planning and change implementation procedures, resulting in major issues, it is suggestible that a realistic, specific and a readings-based implementation plan would be required for the organization. It is expected that a more structured, pre-examined change management plan would certainly aid in redressing these issues and enhancing organizational efficiency at large. In this similar context, Secretary Patton of the State Department of Social Services must make effective decisions when developing proper planning to resolve major organizational problems. The decisions might include how to increase the morale of the personnel, who were engaged in offering social services to the people belonging to Atlantic coast state and how effectively the welfare department can be segregated so that the transfer of the social service workers can be made efficiently. Specially mentioning, if I was in the place of Secretary Patton, one of the most important concerns of mine would have been to generate awareness about the key responsible features associated with the jobs of social working, especially those performed by the department amid the administrative officials. This would have made the social workers more deliberated towards their work with greater degree of patience, humility and commitment. This would have certainly aided in preventing child abuse deaths as well as injuries as was witnessed, in the near future, where social workers associated with the department would have been working through more dedication. In the circumstance of the social services legislation, which was specifically framed for preventing child abuse along with deaths, the organizational performance of the State Department of Social Services can be improved by adopting and performing certain significant measures or actions. In this regard, the actions comprise establishing a multi-disciplinary team for investigating the reports concerning child abuse deaths as well as injuries and developing benchmark performance relating to this issue by promoting accountability amid the workforce at large (Munro, 2011; U.S. Department of Justice, 2000). In accordance with the case study provided, Mark Swartz’s approach of discussing the reorganization procedure and the issues concerning transfer along with evaluation of the social service workers with the union can be visualized as an effective one. One of these aspects, which I liked about the approach of Mark Swartz was his attempt towards mitigating the performance-related problems faced by the State Department of Social Services. However, according to my understanding and observation, this particular approach of Mark Swartz lacked in gaining maximum support from the Deputy Commissioner of The Department of Welfare, especially when concerning the involvement of the union, as he strongly believed that the union would never agree in promoting reorganization procedure for the sake of their own benefits. Specially mentioning, the newly appointed Commissioner can make greater use of the above-described efforts previously made by Swartz in various ways. For instance, the newly appointed Commissioner can focus on developing and utilizing an inclusive monitoring as well as evaluation mechanism, which would monitor the social services provided to the people and establishing an effective Management Information System (MIS) for preserving the information relating to service delivery and thereby, contributing to the overall efficiency of the department. References Berman, E. M. (2006). Performance and productivity in public and nonprofit organizations. United States: M.E. Sharpe. Munro, E. (2011). Executive summary. The Munro Review of Child Protection: Final Report, 1-173. United States Department of Labor. (n.d.). Problem solving and critical thinking. Retrieved from http://www.dol.gov/odep/topics/youth/softskills/Problem.pdf U.S. Department of Justice. (2000). Forming a multidisciplinary team to investigate child abuse. Retrieved from https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/ojjdp/170020.pdf Appendices Appendix 1 – The Department of Human Resources Appendix 2 – The Department of Welfare Organization Read More