: SOCIAL WELFARE PROJECT/PROGRAM

DEVELOPMENT AND MANAGEMENT

Development is a basic human right. As per the preamble of the Caucus of

Development: Non-government Organizations or CODE-NGO (1991) “the right to
development is an instrument, inalienable, and universal human rights granted by the Creator
and upheld by the community of nations in the Universal Declaration of Human rights, and
International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and the UN declaration of
rights on the Right to Development” ( P.4)

o Development may be defined in several ways:

• Ideological framework – development consists of a set of principles and guides
to action
• A process – each stage is necessary to achieve a desired state or condition
• A set of interventions – strategies and approaches geared toward attaining the
desired state or condition

o Approaches to Development:
• There are two main approaches used by development project implementers in
the country today (Ferrer, 1996):
1. Palliative Approach – address problems as they occur, focuses on issues
Palliative literally means relieving pain without dealing with the
cause of the condition.
2. Liberative Approach – addresses the system that creates the problem; uses
community organizing and social mobilization as tools to illicit genuine people‟s
participation; believes that people and communities are partners in
development and not just mere recipients of development initiatives.
Focus on enhancing:
 human resources
 institutional or structural capacities to meet increasing economic,
political, & socio-cultural demands

SWPP 3: Social Welfare Project/Program Development and Management Inst: Ethanie Irish A. Guilleno Chapter 1
 • Some common thrusts or principles:
 Poverty alleviation or eradication – focus is basic services ( education,
health)
 Social integration or inclusion – participation of marginalized sectors
 Balanced industrial and agricultural development
 Total human development
 Societal values
 Infrastructure and physical development
 Environmental conservation and preservation
 Peace and order
• These concepts influence the way policies, programs and projects are
formulated and implemented.
• Projects are the building blocks of development as they are the concrete
articulations of policies and plans. Plans should be operationalized into
projects.

SWPP 3: Social Welfare Project/Program Development and Management Inst: Ethanie Irish A. Guilleno Chapter 1
 Review of Perspectives on Social Welfare and Development

1.1 Social Work Administration

Administration is an important area of organized

human activity. It has been considered a process,
a method or a set of relationships between and
among people working toward common objectives
in an organization. Herman Stein describes the
concept of administration as “a process of defining
and attaining the objectives of an organization
through a system of coordinated and cooperative
effort.”
Social administration according to Hanlan focuses on the policies, planning,
and administration of goods and services in relation to the determinants of the
distribution of national resources to social welfare needs. This considers the social
work profession as a subsystem of the larger social, political and economic institutions
of society. Generally, the term “social administration” is used to refer to administration
in the fields of health, education and other social development fields.

Social welfare administration refers more specifically to the administrative

process in a social welfare agency, the formulation of its policies and plans and their

SWPP 3: Social Welfare Project/Program Development and Management Inst: Ethanie Irish A. Guilleno Chapter 1
 implementation into programs and services for specific client groups. It is also referred
to as social agency administration.
Edward Schwartz claims that the major objective of social welfare
administration is the enhancement of social functioning. Boehm has used the term
“social functioning” in his definition of the profession of social work. Schwartz has
implied therefore that “social welfare as a field of administration and social work as a
profession may be considered to have a shared objective.”

1.2 Social Planning

Social planning is a process for planning social
services programs, services, and policies.
Government agencies engage in large-scale
development, research, and planning to address
social problems. For example, the Social
Security program during the Great Depression
and the antipoverty programs of the 1960s were
developed by government planners relying on
research, previous theories, and model
programs initiated by local, state, and foreign governments. However, nonprofit
agencies, local planning councils, and community groups also plan services and
programs to address community needs. The term “social planning” is used generically
to describe the planning of social services or efforts to improve the quality of life in
communities.
Most social workers are likely to engage in social planning at the agency level
when they design a new program to address client needs or write a funding proposal.
Although many social workers are involved to some degree in agency-level planning,
social planning is generally considered a subfield, separate and distinct from practice
with individuals, groups, and families. Rothman 1979 and Rothman 1996 identify social
planning as one of three primary models of community organization in addition to
social action and community development. Rothman describes the primary goal of
social planning as problem solving. Social planners gather the facts about community
problems, analyze data, and make logical decisions about which of the available
planning options are the most feasible or effective. Much of the social work literature
on this topic describes social planning techniques and their application to various
forms of community and administrative practice. For example, Weil 2005 describes
how planning takes place in communities and the skills necessary to facilitate the

SWPP 3: Social Welfare Project/Program Development and Management Inst: Ethanie Irish A. Guilleno Chapter 1
 planning process. Meenaghan, et al. 2004 describes how applied research techniques
such as needs assessment and program evaluation are used to guide social planning
and social policy analysis Checkoway 1995 examines how social planning methods
are applied in urban areas. Austin and Solomon 2000 describes techniques used to
plan programs and service delivery systems.

1.3 Sustainable Development

Sustainable Development is the

organizing principle for meeting human
development goals while simultaneously
sustaining the ability of natural systems to
provide the natural resources and
ecosystem services on which the
economy and society depends. The
desired result is a state of society where
living conditions and resources are used to continue to meet human needs without
undermining the integrity and stability of the natural system. Sustainable development
can be defined as development that meets the needs of the present without
compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.

The Sustainable Development Goals

The global community at the United Nations on September 25, 2015

agreed to the 2030 Global Agenda entitled „Transforming our world: The 2030
Agenda for sustainable Development‟. This action plan which replaces the
Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) is universal in nature and
comprehensive in the range of issues and concerns addressed pertaining to
development, economy, human rights and the environment. The theme of „no
one will be left behind‟ is most critical so as to ensure that inclusive
development is within the reach of all people groups and communities.
The global agenda of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) provides
Social Workers an opportunity to redefine their role pertaining to people
empowerment, socio-economic development, human rights and the
environment.
Know more about the 17 SDGs by visiting this link:
https://sdgs.un.org/goals

SWPP 3: Social Welfare Project/Program Development and Management Inst: Ethanie Irish A. Guilleno Chapter 1
 1.4 Participatory Planning and Development

“Participatory Development is a
process through which the stakeholders
can influence and share control over the
decisions and resources that affect
themselves” (ADB, 1996)

• Ferrer (1996) emphasized that the ultimate challenge of development efforts is

the eradication of poverty and attainment of a better and improved quality of life
for each and every Filipino in a equitable and just society. Further, he strongly
suggests that the vehicle out of deprivation is participatory development that
can lead to community empowerment.

• “The 1990‟s was the decade when participatory development became

mainstreamed, with an explosion of participatory methods across countries and
sectors, and the adoption of policies on participation at all levels by
governments, donors and agencies, both n rural development projects and
beyond to the larger issues of policy and governance”(World Vision
Transformational Development Indicators Supplemental programme and
Resource Guide on Community Participation, 2006,p.1).

• According to World Health Organization (WHO) “community participation can be

loosely defined as the involvement of people in projects to solve their problems.
People cannot be forced to „participate‟ in projects which affect their lives but
should be given opportunity where possible. This is held to be a basic human
right and a fundamental principle of democracy.

• Ferrer (1996) observed that “while, in the early stages of development, the
people were just passive recipients of government programs and goods from
development institutions. Today, they are active partners in pursuing
sustainable social change” (p.108)

• Nowadays, in development work, the poor are no longer considered receivers,

beneficiaries, respondents or at the periphery of the helping and change
processes. They are now considered partners based on the belief that they
have strengths, resources, talents, manpower and insights to contribute to

SWPP 3: Social Welfare Project/Program Development and Management Inst: Ethanie Irish A. Guilleno Chapter 1
 development process. This attitude is very important for development
implementers to accept and adopt to sustain the process of authentic
participatory development.

Community Participation

Community participation can take place in any of the following activities:

1. Needs assessment – expressing opinions about desirable improvements,

prioritizing goals, and negotiating with the agency.

2. Planning – formulating objectives, setting goals and criticizing plans

3. Mobilizing – raising awareness in community about needs; establishing or

supporting organizational structures within the community

4. Training – participation in informal and formal activities to enhance

communication, construction, maintenance and financial management skills

5. Implementing – engaging in management activities; contributing directly to

construction, operation and maintenance with labor and materials; contributing
cash toward cost, paying of services of membership fees of the organizations
and financial management skills; and

6. Monitoring and evaluation – participating in the appraisal of work done,

recognizing improvements that can be made and redefining needs” (WHO
Manual on Community Participation retrieved March, 28, 2009 at
http://www.who.or.id./eng/contents/aceh/wsh/books/es/ES12Cd.pdf, Chapter 12,
p. 117-118)

1.5 Goal Directed Project Management

Goal Directed Project Management is a management

philosophy accompanied by a set of tools and principles
for planning, organizing, leading and controlling
projects. The method is characterized by its practical
and “psychological” approach to both focusing a project
group to reach common goals and on controlling the
progress of each individual.

SWPP 3: Social Welfare Project/Program Development and Management Inst: Ethanie Irish A. Guilleno Chapter 1
 GDPM focuses on the project end goal identifying what outcomes (not
deliverables) are required rather than getting immersed in the detailed activities
of how they will be achieved.

1.6 Gender and Women in Development

Women have a lengthy history of

fighting their oppression as women
and the inequalities associated with
this to claim their place on the world
stage, in their countries, and within
their families. Women‟s rights are
human rights, but their realization
remains a challenge for
policymakers and practitioners everywhere. Social workers have a vital role to play in
advocating for gender equality and mobilizing women to take action in support of their
right to social justice.

Women and Development (WAD)

• Accepts women as an important economic actors in their societies
• Women‟s work in the public and private domain is central to the maintenance of
their societal structures
• Looks at the nature of integration of women in development which sustains
existing international structures of inequality

Gender and Development (GAD)

• Focuses on women and men and their relations

• Recognizes the multiple role of both men and women at household, community
and organizational development
• Sees unequal power as the root that prevents equitable development

GAD is a development approach that seeks to equalize the status and

condition of and relations between women and men by influencing the process and
outputs of policymaking, planning, budgeting, implementation, and monitoring and
evaluation so that they would deliberately address the gender issues and concerns
affecting the full development of women.

SWPP 3: Social Welfare Project/Program Development and Management Inst: Ethanie Irish A. Guilleno Chapter 1
 1.7 Empowerment and Resiliency Model

What is empowerment?
“Empowerment involves people in
assuming control or mastery over their
lives” (Rappaport, 1987).
“Empowerment is a social action process
that promotes participation of people,
organizations, and communities towards
the goals of increase individual and
community control, political efficacy,
improved quality of community life and social justice” (Wallerstein, 1992).
“Empowerment is an internal process of creating more freedom, confidence and skills
that result in obtaining your highest and healthiest vision of yourself, your community
and your world no matter the challenge.”

Accordig to Boehm “people should empower themselves: social worker should

assist”

What is resilience?

• “Refers to a positive adaptation, or ability to maintain or regain mental health,

despite experiencing adversity” (Herman, n.d.)
• “The ability to bounce back from adversity and successfully adapt to the demands
of stressful situations” (Mak, n.d.).
• The process of adapting well in the face of adversity. Research has shown that
resilience is ordinary, not extraordinary” (“Road to Resilience”, 2012)

The empowerment method focuses on the achievement of goals and change of

systems by utilizing available strengths, resilience, and resources. By focusing on
competence rather than deficits in individual or social functioning, the empowerment model
supports resourcefulness and the development of skills to remove social barriers for
individuals and communities.

Framed by a generalist foundation, empowerment practice directs social workers to

address challenges at all levels, including those of individuals, families, groups, organizations,
neighborhoods, communities, and society. Empowerment is achieved through synchronized
efforts that work with – not on – people, their relationships, and the impinging social and

SWPP 3: Social Welfare Project/Program Development and Management Inst: Ethanie Irish A. Guilleno Chapter 1
 political environment. These simultaneous and coordinated efforts create a spiral of influences
that initiate, sustain, and amplify empowered functioning.

Empowerment-based practice actuates a strengths perspective, centering the social

work process toward competence promotion and away from the stigmatizing notion of deficit
reduction. An empowering approach reveals the worker's unwavering commitment to social
justice. This approach operates on the axiom that we all benefit when we acknowledge every
person's rights and responsibilities to contribute to and receive from community participation in
a reciprocal relationship.

Being empowered is not a static condition but rather a dynamic and cyclical one.
Human individual and social systems are in perpetual motion, either "getting better" or "getting
worse" at any given moment. Empowerment indicates a simpatico state in which one's
perception of self-efficacy and essential value is mirrored in and accentuated by social
relationships and the larger environment. Empowerment is a confluence of the individual, the
interpersonal, and the sociopolitical where the experience of power in each sphere continually
replenishes the others.

To facilitate empowerment, practitioners integrate a continuum of strategies ranging

from individual development to relationship improvement to resource acquisition and
reallocation through social and institutional change. Collaborating as partners, clients and
social workers can coordinate these efforts simultaneously or sequentially, but no part of the
ecosystemic transaction can be ignored.

Empowerment efforts at the personal level provide only brief respite if they are not
supported by complementary changes within interpersonal and sociopolitical realms. Likewise,
even broad-based social improvements wane if not protected by the continuing influence of
empowered individuals, families, and groups.

1.8 Human Rights Based Approach

Human rights based approach is about

empowering people to know and claim
their rights and increasing the ability and
accountability of individuals and
institutions who are responsible for
respecting, protecting and fulfilling rights.
This means giving people greater
opportunities to participate in shaping the

SWPP 3: Social Welfare Project/Program Development and Management Inst: Ethanie Irish A. Guilleno Chapter 1
 decisions that impact on their human rights. It also means increasing the ability of those with
responsibility for fulfilling rights to recognise and know how to respect those rights, and make
sure they can be held to account.

A human rights based approach is about ensuring that both the standards and the
principles of human rights are integrated into policymaking as well as the day to day running
of organisations.

There are some underlying principles which are of fundamental importance in applying a
human rights based approach in practice. These are:

 participation

 accountability

 non-discrimination and equality

 empowerment and

 legality.

These are known as the PANEL principles.

Participation: Everyone has the right to participate in decisions which affect their human
rights. Participation must be active, free, meaningful and give attention to issues of
accessibility, including access to information in a form and a language which can be
understood.

Accountability: Accountability requires effective monitoring of human rights standards as well

as effective remedies for human rights breaches. For accountability to be effective there must
be appropriate laws, policies, institutions, administrative procedures and mechanisms of
redress in order to secure human rights.

Non-discrimination and equality: A human rights based approach means that all forms of
discrimination in the realisation of rights must be prohibited, prevented and eliminated. It also
requires the prioritisation of those in the most marginalised situations who face the biggest
barriers to realising their rights.

Empowerment of rights holders: A human rights based approach means that individuals
and communities should know their rights. It also means that they should be fully supported to
participate in the development of policy and practices which affect their lives and to claim
rights where necessary.

SWPP 3: Social Welfare Project/Program Development and Management Inst: Ethanie Irish A. Guilleno Chapter 1
 Legality of rights: A human rights based approach requires the recognition of rights as
legally enforceable entitlements and is linked in to national and international human rights law.

1.9 Strengths Based Perspective

The Strengths Perspective is a dramatic

departure from conventional social work
practice. Practicing from strengths
orientation means this – everything you do
as a social worker will be predicated on
helping to discover, explore, and exploit
clients‟ strengths and resources in the
service of assisting them to achieve their
goals and realize their dreams.

The Strengths Perspective is an approach to social work that puts the strengths and
resources of people, communities, and their environments, rather than their problems and
pathologies, at the center of the helping process. It was created as a corrective and
transformative challenge to predominant practices and policies that reduce people and their
potential to deficits, pathologies, problems, and dysfunctions. The Strengths Perspective
emphasizes the human capacity for resilience, resistance, courage, thriving, and ingenuity,
and it champions the rights of individuals and communities to form and achieve their own
goals and aspirations. While acknowledging the difficulties that clients experience, the
Strengths Perspective never limits people to their traumas, problems, obstacles, illness, or
adversity; rather, it addresses them as challenges, opportunities, and motivators for change.
Social workers are enjoined to collaborate with clients, their families, and communities to
discover and generate hopes and opportunities, to mobilize inner and environmental strengths
and resources, and to act for individual and collective empowerment and social justice. Thus,
the helping relationship is characterized by alliance, empathy, collaboration, and focus on
clients‟ and communities‟ aspirations and goals.

The main principles of the Strengths Perspective are for social workers to:
• Recognize that every individual, group, family, and community has strengths and
resources

• Engage in systematic assessment of strengths and resources, every environment

is full of resources

SWPP 3: Social Welfare Project/Program Development and Management Inst: Ethanie Irish A. Guilleno Chapter 1
 • Realize that while trauma, abuse, illness and struggle may be injurious, they may
also be sources of challenge and opportunity

• Honor client-set goals and aspirations for growth and change

• Serve clients‟ and communities‟ interests through collaboration with them as

directors of their own helping process

• Mobilize the strengths and resources of clients, relationships, and environments

• Link goals to specific doable actions that activate strengths and resources

• Engage in social work with a sense of caring and hope

SWPP 3: Social Welfare Project/Program Development and Management Inst: Ethanie Irish A. Guilleno Chapter 1
 Chapter Assessment:

Read each instruction carefully and write your answers on a yellow paper.
Do not forget to indicate your COMPLETE NAME, SECTION and SUBJECT.

Please write legibly.

Assessment 1.1:

How can your knowledge on the different perspectives of social welfare and development help
you as a future social worker in developing social welfare projects/programs?

Assessment 1.2:

Write a position paper incorporating your knowledge on the different perspectives of social
welfare and development (not limited to the content of this chapter) regarding the
issue/message being raised in the comic strip below:

SWPP 3: Social Welfare Project/Program Development and Management Inst: Ethanie Irish A. Guilleno Chapter 1