Reflective Essay on Weymouth Youth and Family Services

Introduction

Community service agencies facilitate community-based programs to ensure that there is coordination of care for youths who need multiple services including child welfare, special education, and juvenile justice. Weymouth Youth and Family Services is a non-profit organization that is based in Massachusetts, United States (WYFS). It provides emergency assistance to the needy families living in Weymouth. It assists needy families with food, shelter, and clothing through generous donations from the annual holiday giving event of the Mayor. Its objective is to create a healthy and robust community in order to transform the social norms and limit the effects of substance abuse in Weymouth (WYFS). It also fosters community collaboration for the youths to sustain healthy living in an open and non-judgmental condition (WYFS). As a volunteer at Weymouth Youth and Family services, I participated in advocating for substance abuse prevention with the department of substance abuse and prevention. Therefore, we worked both regionally and locally to reduce the associated harms of substance abuse.

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Employees and Their Work

Weymouth town is composed of people with diverse backgrounds. Therefore, employees at WYFS experienced life and worked side by side. Additionally, the organization is committed to the concept that the representatives of all people should offer the town services. The organization is composed of a workforce that reflects that commitment and accepts inquiries about equal employment opportunities. As a result, the organization does not discriminate people based on race, sex, religion, disability, national origin and the basis of non-merit issues during the hiring and promotion process. Hence, the difference in race, ethnicity, class, gender, lifestyle, and religion does not exist at Weymouth Youth and Family Services.

Sociological Perspectives

Sociologists currently use three major theoretical aspects; interaction, functionalists and conflict perspective (Parilla and Hesse 310). These viewpoints provide theoretical paradigms since they explain the influence of society on people and vice versa. For instance, the functionalists believe that the society is tied together by the social consensus, where members agree and work together to achieve the best goals for the community. Since the goal of WFYS is to provide social service programs to youths and their families in Weymouth town to encourage the social growth of the members in the community, the functionalist perspective applies to WFYS. By supporting the needy families in Weymouth, WFYS improves the living standards of the families and making them become better citizens. Supported families are able to access education for children thereby enabling them to get good jobs. Besides, the organization's programs on drub and substance abuse prevention help the entire society by reducing the rate of crime and other social evils associated with drug abuse.

Social services are critical sources of economic security in the society (Mead np). Not every person needs the services provided by the organization, but it is necessary for residents of Weymouth town to understand the available resources as well as how to access them. The awareness of social services may be made difficult by several community agencies that offer them. Therefore, WYFS developed social services to summarize various programs that are available around the town as well as providing contact information to the community regarding the eligibility and scope of assistance to the community, and this supports the importance of functionalist perspective. This does neither mean exhausting the directory service provider nor mention programs that constitute an endorsement by Weymouth town. Additionally, the functionalistic perspective helps the organization in requesting the inclusion of emerging references.

Regarding my suggestions in the workforce development program in Weymouth Youth and Family Services, the organization should encourage local initiatives to coordinate job placement and skill development metrics to provide experience and skills to the teens. This will enable them to be successful while pursuing their future objectives. In order to achieve this, the state grant should facilitate the process. Secondly, the teenagers in Weymouth town should patronize their teen centers on a regular basis within the community. However, the participants should be chosen based on their needs and potential personal growth. The workforce development programs should be made up of complementary components that are designed to promote youth development in employment, education, and finances.

Help to the Community

Weymouth Youth and Family Services is made up of three components. Therefore, it is an integrated and coordinated social initiative, which not only equips the teens in the community with experience and the desired skills but also prepares them for future success, particularly in the management of educational careers. WFYS enable teens to develop professional experiences and work skills since they have access to essential tools for developing the community. Some of the tools include financial knowledge of societal management. It implies that the teens and their families can access new opportunities and resources. Thereby, experiencing a meaningful value of employment while learning on how to pursue successful careers in the future.

Personal Development

As an intern in Weymouth Youth and Family Services, I have learned that local developments are necessary for the community because it is a way of getting people to work together. Secondly, I learned that reaching a group of people for a consensus is about common concerns such as defining local issues on taking action on specific community concerns. Besides, there are many models with a combination of sociological perspectives. Therefore, togetherness in any community means that there is a combination of social planning elements and local development especially when people with common objective come together to address them. Any community services aim to transform the conditions of the society based on specific policies, practices, and programs in order to reduce the risks of these objectives. As a result, the variation of societal approaches can be implemented at either local or regional levels.

The Experience of Service Learning About WYFS

Service learning provides opportunities for developing civic engagement skills, and by working in the community, one can improve their organizational and interpersonal skills (Sheffield 86). They also can gain relevant experience working with diverse members of their communities. My interaction with WYFS has strengthened my education through effective and collaborative partnerships with the organization. My interaction with the organization fosters that understanding that community services focus on economic interests and health concerns of the local communities. When parties come together, they often get what they want. Inevitably, a resolution can involve the art of reconciling as well as balancing the competing interests.

What Has Your Work Taught You About Yourself?

Most communities require service learning to describe their approach to education with the aim of connecting lessons learned in class with real-life experiences through community service. Being an intern at a community service organization is increasingly becoming common in the United States since educators are interested in the learning process because it benefits both interns and the communities. Consequently, I was able to learn more about my motivations, undertake academic material and develop critical skills while solving real-world issues as well as think about social problems in new ways. This type of learning where one applies what is learned in class to the real world issues has numerous benefits apart from achieving graduation requirements. Therefore, the organization has taught me on better understanding regarding the value of teamwork, skills in decision making, leadership abilities, and gaining practical skills.

Community

Regarding the community, the services provided by the organization benefits the society, and this could have been the reason why it is critical to take time to the community one lives. This can be achieved through volunteering for some hours in order to create an impact with the small investment of the time.

Country

Concerning my country, my work at WYFS enables me to develop a richer perspective of the world because volunteering in a community service organization is an essential part of preparing people to be responsible, principled and open-minded in the global community. While undertaking a community service, people have the opportunity to see how much their work can influence the country (USA). Most students at Weymouth town often volunteer locally at community service agencies. Therefore, our country through various government agencies provides a vast interaction with people from different backgrounds to learn empathy as they develop a global approach.

Works Cited

Mead, Sarah. "Why Is Community Service Important?" Whitbyschool.org. N.p., 2018. Web. 15 Nov. 2018. <https://www.whitbyschool.org/passionforlearning/why-is-community-service-important>.

Parilla, Peter F., and Garry Hesse. "Internships and the Sociological Perspective: Applying Principles of Experiential Learning." Teaching Sociology 26.4 (1998): 310-329. Web. 15 Nov. 2018.

Sheffield, Eric. Strong Community Service Learning: Philosophical Perspectives. Peter Lang, 2011. Print.

WYFS. "Weymouth Youth And Family Services -Teen Center." weymouth.ma.us. N.p., 2018. Web. 15 Nov. 2018.