Grade Received- A+
Tianna Moody
April 25, 2012
Community Mental Health
Professor Sheppard
Part 1
There are many vulnerable populations today in society but the one that particularly stands out to me is troubled teens. I would like to work with troubled teens because teenagers are the future generation. A neighborhood where I think help is most needed is Brownsville, Brooklyn. Help is most needed there because Brownsville has a high crime rate and the crime is mostly committed by teenagers. Not only is crime being committed, teens are just making careless decisions that have strong consequences like teenage pregnancy. Some of the problems that these teens face are peer pressure from society. Teens may feel like they have to act a certain way to fit in. Another problem that some teens have is they don’t have a source of income which means some are dependent on their parents or guardians.
Not having money to buy certain things that they desire can cause teens to go in the wrong direction as far as stealing. Teens may also have issues with family. For example, a teenager may not feel accepted by his or her family so they may go and look for acceptance somewhere else. Also, when it comes to family there may not be enough supervision inside the home which can give teens the freedom to make bad choices. Another stressor that teens face in Brownsville is police discrimination. Teenagers are constantly being victimized by police and nothing has been done about it. Police constantly stop and frisk male teenagers and sometimes these police officers whose job is to serve and protect abuse their power and go to extreme measures.
If I had a chance to create a program for teenagers it would be called The F.U.T.U.R.E (Family, Understanding, Transformation, Unity, Rewards, and Empowerment) Program. In this program we will work with the family of teenagers and youth of the community so that they can have a productive future. By continuously working with the teenagers and their parents we hope to transform them and the way they behave. As for the parents we hope to transform the relationship they have with their children and make their relationship a stronger one. To help these teens we need unity and to make sure we all want the same goal which is to see these teens become successful and productive members of society. We can get on a path to success by empowering these teens and giving them rewards for making improvements in their school work and their behavior and their willing to change. However, the greatest reward would be if the teens can come out of the program with a positive outlook on life and to understand that there is a better life for them. The program will also have recreational activities and tutoring services that will be available for the teens. This program will be not only trying to help the teens better their lives but a fun oriented program for the teens as well because in Brownsville there isn’t that many safe havens that one can go to so that they can escape the hardships of street life.
Part 2
The situations that are likely to create more problems for troubled teens are police discrimination, the environment they live in, and the teens accepting that a life of crime and bad behavior is the only way of life. Police
discrimination can create more problems for teens because it can affect the teens in a negative way. Police discrimination can make the teens even more resistant to police which can sometimes get them in trouble with the law. The environment which you live in sometimes can have a strong impact on you because as I stated above teens have a tendency to do certain things so they can fit in. Accepting that the life of crime is the only way for you can create problems because you’re limiting yourself to better opportunities.
Two problems that can be prevented are joining gangs and teenage pregnancy. As a counselor the things I can do to prevent these things are educate these teens about the dangers of both of these things. Also, in the program that I created the F.U.T.U.R.E. program we will have trips that will show teens about the hardships about teenage pregnancy and the consequences to gang life. Two problems that can’t be prevented are the way people judge at risk teens and teens having sex. As a counselor I can help teens deals with these issues more effectively by acting out hypothetical situations with the teens and going over proper reactions and if teens are sexually active preventive methods they could use to avoid STD’s and pregnancies.
Part 3
The types of client advocacy that I would use to help expand my populations helping network is community outreach and social/political action strategies. I would use these two types of advocacy services because I would like to make the community aware of the program that I created and what they can do as a community to help better the lives of teens. As far as social/political action strategies I would try to speak to the assemblyman of Brownsville like Charles Barron and William Boyland Jr. about the issues that teens face regarding police discrimination among other things. For the F.U.T.U.R.E. program the sort of coalition-building that I think would be helpful is getting into contact with other youth programs and collectively working as one to try and get the services we need.
Part 4
If I had a chance to manage a community counseling program the skills that I would use to help manage the program would be that I will show empathy towards my future clients. I will bring my life experiences which will make me able to relate to some of my clients. I will speak to my clients as a human being and not in terms of a counselor. I believe when you talk to your clients as human beings the clients opens up more and begin to feel more comfortable. I would also bring with me my training that makes me qualified to work with clients and help them the best way I know how. When working with my clients I would try to make the client aware that they have strengths and that those strengths set them apart from everyone else. The skills that I would need to develop to be a more effective manager in the future is being able to have patience. Patience is a vital trait in the human service profession because things aren’t always going to go as planned.
Part 5
In Conclusion, I plan to learn new skills by my interactions with the community. By me interacting with the community it can make me aware of some of the skills that I need to learn in order to be an effective helper. How I plan to take care of myself is by taking things one step at a time. I would set boundaries for myself by not overextending myself which means not taking on a numerous amount of task that I cannot handle Also, how I plan to take care of myself is learning how to manage stress because when you’re dealing with clients that face barriers that can be stressful and sometimes hard to handle which may lead to burnout. Another thing I would do to take care of myself is managing my time properly because it helps you prioritize and stay focused.
