MHW 644 Mock Community Case Study Discussion

MHW 644 Mock Community Case Study Discussion

MHW 644 Mock Community Case Study Discussion

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APA format, 2 references needed and cited, 300 words

In the mock community case study, explain how partnerships with stakeholders could be developed to benefit the community. In your own community, explain if you have a plan to develop relationships with critical stakeholders in your program proposal. MHW 644 Mock Community Case Study Discussion

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MHW-644: Mock Community Case Study

Background Information:

Most people in the tribe are 35 and under (due to social/health issues, the life expectancy of this tribe is approximately 50 years of age for men and 55 years of age for women). The community is very closed off to the outside world. When an outsider sees this community for the first time, it will resemble a poverty stricken 3^rd world country.

Because of all the social issues, many mental health workers have offered to come into the community and when they are allowed, they report that it seems the community wants to stay sick. Similar to how the family of an alcoholic seems to sabotage the very treatment they want for the addict. MHW 644 Mock Community Case Study Discussion

Schools, churches, Tribal Council, IHS (Indian Health Services), BIA (Bureau of Indian Affairs), tribal police department, tribal behavioral health and substance abuse services, local town government, local counseling agencies, RBHA (Regional Behavioral Health Authority), local businesses, local hospital, tribal court, tribal probation and parole, elders of the community, healers of the community have tried to help with all the social issues affecting the community, but have hit barriers.

The social capital in the community can be summed up as pragmatic. In other words, “things are done as they always have been” seems to be the town motto. People in this community only trust people from their tribe. The problem here is that many mental health/social workers who have been asked to address the present community social issues have been from the outside due to the lack of resources within the community itself. When an outsider notices an area that needs to be addressed in the community, the tribal council will often point out that there already is an existing program to deal with this issue. However, that program is usually a “dummy” program set up to collect the grant funds for that program, but is manned by tribal members who do not have the education nor expertise to run the program. Therefore, nothing is being done to address the problem, but the community will not admit that due to the funding for the “dummy” program already in place.

The tribal people run everything: all government agencies and social institutions. There are a few exceptions to this. When a job is above the education of one of the tribal members and it is absolutely necessary to hire someone outside the community, this will be done. However, there will be opposition to that outsider from the community and any efforts they make to assist the community will be resisted unless they work very closely with the tribal members and respect culture first in everything they do. An ineffective social network is developed as well.

The community is plagued by drug dealers coming in from outside communities. These dealers are supplying the new drugs of choice (meth/heroin) to the population but are targeting veterans and youth in the community. This is making it difficult to deal with the drug abuse and violence that is exploding in this community.

The strong culture of mistrust (to any non-native or non-tribal individuals) makes it difficult to provide assistance to this community. If anyone desires to assist this community, they should learn about the culture and spend many months there just getting to know people in the community and show them that they desire to know more about their culture and that their culture is valued. Connections with local police departments (tribal and local town) for assistance on how to deal with the outside drug dealer problem are needed along with effective resources. There are few resources in this community. It is an isolated rural community and most resources are run by the tribe itself and have proved ineffective over the course of decades. The resources are easily accessible, however new research and ideas need to be infused into these existing resources. Outside professional people need to gain the trust of the individuals running these resources as well as the tribal council before they will be allowed to introduce new ideas and viable research about improving existing resources.

The culture of traditional Native Americans needs to be analyzed in order to be understood before entering the community. The culture is one of mistrust of outsiders and outside ideas. They do not trust questionnaires or any methods of collecting data that might make them feel vulnerable. They are understandably hesitant for outsiders to know details about their communities. Data could be difficult to gather and innovative /creative data collection methods need to be explored.

Community Readiness:

The community definitely recognizes the social issues and is desperate for help, but also hesitant to accept help from outsiders. There is no existing plan for prevention other than an ineffective youth program. The community seems to be stuck in the “to do the same thing” plan, and that plan isn’t working (i.e. AA meetings, probation, jail, etc.) The whole community supports the idea of prevention; however, an outsider coming in with a new vision must work to gain the trust and show that he/she has the best interest of the community in mind. The community is likely to sabotage the new plan if outsiders do not gain trust and credibility.

Stakeholders are ready to help, but have hit barriers because of historical trauma. Community leaders (i.e., Tribal Council and Tribal Elders) need assistance with developing trust and accepting outside help in order to bring all resources necessary to their people.

The existing youth substance abuse prevention program was created by a tribal member who was hired as a LISAC (Licensed Independent Substance Abuse Counselor) although he was not licensed. He was paid a high salary by the tribe from a grant that requires an independently licensed substance abuse counselor to develop an evidence-based prevention program for youth. He did have a master’s degree in substance abuse counseling and a passion for helping youth of his culture. He was strongly against outsiders helping his people. This tribal member set up a program to mentor tribal youth by teaching them about their culture thus preventing their need for drugs/alcohol. He did not use existing curriculum or evidence-based practices. He did not believe outsiders could understand youth of his tribe and that he only could, so he created his own curriculum that was very minimal and involved youth exploring their culture and making cultural crafts while talking in an unstructured group environment.

He developed very poor boundaries in that he would give the youth his personal number so that they could call him at all hours. At times, he took them on outings that put him alone with single clients (including female youth). He tried to become a parent figure to them as a best practice to prevent substance abuse in the youth of his tribe and to teach them about their culture, but this plan proved to be ineffective. No outcome or output data was collected for program evaluation purposes. This Youth Program’s mission statement is “To provide a safe place for youth to fall. To provide cultural education and prevention strategies.” When asked for measurable goals for evaluation purposes, the tribal leader explained that he hopes attendees will learn more about their culture, will develop coping strategies to deal with life challenges, and how to openly communicate with others in their group. The Youth Program leader says that he surveys attendees before they enter the program, asking them what they expect to gain from the program, and then surveys them after the program ends to see if the program met their expectations. Currently, there are no prevention/treatment programs for substance abuse in the community.

As a result, the community remains plagued by drug and alcohol problems and all the social issues connected with substance abuse continue to affect all parts of the community.