ABSTRACT
Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we’ve been waiting for. We are the change that we seek.
Barack Obama, Feb. 5, 2008
(1) What competencies do I need to engage and assess communities? (EPAS 2.1.10(a & b))
(2) What are the social work practice behaviors that enable me to effectively engage and assess communities? (EPAS 2.1.10(a & b))
(3) How can I utilize evidence to practice research-informed practice and practice-informed research to guide the engagement and assessment with communities? (EPAS 2.1.6)
(4) How can I apply critical thinking to engagement and assessment with communities? (EPAS 2.1.3)
(5) How can I apply social work values and ethics to community engagement and assessment? (EPAS 2.1.2)
COMMUNITY PROVIDES THE PLACE IN WHICH PEOPLE FIND identity andmeaning for their lives in their various roles as individuals, parents, children, partners, friends, and professionals. Community is the structure, both tangible and metaphoric, that supports interaction and connectedness among people over time. The characteristic of the community in which people grow, live, and develop can have important implications for the resources and opportunities available to the
individuals who inhabit the community. Communities are the central context of social work practice with all types of client systems; therefore, community practice is an important aspect of generalist social work practice.
