ANTIRACIST AGENCY/COMMUNITY ANALYSIS
This is a two-part assignment. This assignment will reinforce the need for antiracism as a social work pedagogy and theoretical framework. This will prepare students to understand the work they will be doing at field placements and how the work aligns with macro practice. Additionally, this assignment will provide students with the opportunity to investigate and analyze the transactions between community agencies, its constituents including the clients served, historically black Colleges and Universities (HBCU’S), and other relevant community partnerships.

Please ensure that you follow APA format when completing the 7 full pages.
Please make sure you list the resources for Part 1 and Part 2 separately.

The agency we will be analyzing is:
Health Care Access Maryland

PART 1 – Literature Review – (3 pages)- APA compliance – Minimum of FOUR scholarly sources, not older than 7 years.
1. Provide a 3-page (no more or less) literature review on the type of community agency you are analyzing. The type of agency that will be researched and discussed will be a self-help organization.
PART 2 – Antiracist Agency Analysis- (4 pages)- APA compliance – Minimum of FIVE scholarly sources, not older than 7 years.
1. Provide a thorough description of the community agency. This will include the history, population/demographic served, location, ethnic composition of staff. Please note that this is a nonprofit agency. You will need to discuss if the agency has a diversity, equity, and Inclusion (which this agency does). The staff at Health Care Access Maryland has about 250 staff and it is a diverse environment. The agency is a large “melting pot”. The staff includes many different ethnicities, religion and socioeconomic status and races. You will discuss how the agency addresses anti racism. You will discuss what literature says about the benefits of having diversity equity and inclusion training…. should the trainings be mandatory or optional? Discuss the benefits of having a diverse equity and inclusion team/officer at an agency. Discuss the importance of policy and language changes regarding diversity and equity. Discuss how policy and diversity impacts the populations being served (The population will be returning citizens in Baltimore City).
2. Provide a thorough description of the agency goals, strategic plan, funding source. Funding is mostly provided by Baltimore City Health Department. You will discuss what literature says about nonprofit, grant funded organizations.
3. Provide an analysis of antiracism within the agency. Make recommendations on how this can be improved/strengthened. At least 2 recommendations are required. Justify your recommendations based on your literature review.

Please feel free to let me know if you have any other questions

Antiracist Agency/Community Analysis

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Part 1: Non-profit Community-Based Organizations – Literature Review

Nonprofits refer to organizations developed to serve the interests of the members of the community and unlike for-profit organizations; they are exempt from income taxes. Community-based organizations nonprofits can either be private or public organizations which serve specific communities by targeting specific needs (Carroll, 2018). The purpose of this essay is to present a literature review on nonprofit organizations including their characteristics and management principles.

Characteristics of Nonprofit Organizations

The main characteristic of non-profit organizations is that the profits gained from these organizations are not paid to the owners or investors. Generally, non-profits have several stakeholders who include members of the community who benefit from the services provided. Any profits made by such organizations are reinvested in other community programs (Carroll, 2018).

In most cases, non-profits are developed to provide public services or benefits. These organizations can be clearly identified by their public service missions. Typically, nonprofits are not owned by the government and are corporations with legal entity. The management of these organizations includes a board of governors comprised of volunteers who are committed to pursuing and meeting the organizational mission. Nonprofits also have paid employees including managers and executive teams although in most cases, they rely on volunteers to help them fulfill their missions (Carroll, 2018).

Like other organizations, nonprofits need funding to meet their missions and goals.  Most nonprofits aim for grants as their main source of funding because they promote access to large capital that does not need to be paid back. Most nonprofits rely on government grants. However, applying for grants is a tedious and time-consuming process and there is also the likelihood that the grant may be denied. Therefore, nonprofits dedicate a significant amount of time in developing grant proposals (Lu & Zhao, 2019). Apart from grants, nonprofits rely on cash donations and contributions made by members of the society and investors. Cash donations may be provided by organizations and individuals and are an easy way of accessing capital. However, these donations are not consistent hence nonprofits should not rely on them. Nonprofit organizations may also opt to partner with other organizations that may provide contributions in form of cash or other necessary resources. Some organizations form memberships with other organizations and people must pay a specific fee as members. The members also partner with the organizations to implement projects (Jaramillo et al., 2018).

Other sources of funds include investment income and fundraising campaigns. Like other organizations, nonprofits invest in the stock market or other income-generating activities. Notably, investments can easily incur losses that may negatively impact the organizations’ access to funding. Fundraising campaigns can be implemented on social media or by hosting events where people pay tickets or purchase items. Social media sites can also be used for crowd-funding where nonprofits ask for donations from people who are willing to support their missions. Crowd-funding can deliver effective results with minimal cost to nonprofit organizations (Alexiou et al., 2020).

Types of Nonprofit Organizations

There are numerous types of non-profits including charities, social welfare organizations, foundations, and professional and trade organizations. Charities are community-based organizations which provide free services to vulnerable members of the community such as those living in poverty. Examples at a local community level may include food banks and homeless shelters. Foundations are nonprofit organizations with access to permanent funds created by businesses, families, or individuals to support specific causes that are beneficial to members of the community. Social welfare organizations are examples of non-profits created to advance social welfare. These organizations generally serve vulnerable population groups including racial minorities, children, and women and mostly tackle individual and family issues. Furthermore, social welfare organizations may choose to engage in political campaigns, lobbying, and other forms of advocacy activities aimed at advancing the welfare of members of the community through changes in social legislations. Professional and trade organizations are non-profits which focus on advancing professional interest in specific professions or industries (Carroll, 2018).

Governing Principles in Nonprofits

Since nonprofit organizations serve members of the community, there are several principles that must be adhered to by the management and employees. These organizations must be mission-driven and must develop strategic plans that align with the goals and objectives of the organization. Additionally, the organizations must practice transparency by ensuring that all stakeholders, including members of the public, can access information regarding policies, finances, and operations. Nonprofits must also have strong ethical standards and values and must ensure that they sustain sufficient resources to support their activities (Kassem et al., 2021)

Conclusion

Nonprofit organizations generally serve members of the community by providing public services or benefits. There are different types of nonprofits based on their missions within the community. Although non-profits are exempted from income taxes, they must channel all their profits towards improving their programs or acquiring more resources that advance their mission. Nonprofits mostly rely on grants for funding although grant application is a time-consuming venture. Other sources of funding include cash donations, contributions, membership fees, fundraising campaigns, investment income, and crowd-funding.

 

 

References

Alexiou, K., Wiggins, J., & Preece, S. (2020). Crowdfunding Acts as a Funding Substitute and a Legitimating Signal for Nonprofit Performing Arts Organizations. Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, 49(4), 827-848. https://doi.org/10.1177/0899764020908338

Carroll, A. (2018). Nonprofit Organizations. The SAGE Encyclopedia of Business Ethics and Society. https://doi.org/10.4135/9781483381503.n854

Jaramillo, E., Willging, C., Green, A., Gunderson, L., Fettes, D., & Aarons, G. (2018). “Creative Financing”: Funding Evidence-Based Interventions in Human Service Systems. The Journal of Behavioral Health Services & Research, 46(3), 366-383. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11414-018-9644-5

Kassem, H., Bagadeem, S., Alotaibi, B., & Aljuaid, M. (2021). Are partnerships in nonprofit organizations being governed for sustainability? A partnering life cycle assessment. PLOS ONE, 16(3), e0249228. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0249228

Lu, J., & Zhao, J. (2019). How does government funding affect nonprofits’ program spending? Evidence from international development organizations. Public Administration and Development, 39(2), 69-77. https://doi.org/10.1002/pad.1849

 

 

 

PART 2: Antiracist Agency Analysis

Description of the Community Agency

The agency that will be analyzed is Health Care Access Maryland (HCAM), a non-profit agency whose purpose is to connect Maryland residents to public health services. The history of the agency dates back to 1997 when it was established under the name Baltimore HealthCare Access. The main functions of the agency included Medicaid eligibility and service coordination. In 1998, the agency started receiving applications for the Maryland Health Program and also became involved in a School Health Program whose aim was to improve health insurance access for school-age children. By 2000, HCAM had 40 staff members and was running on a 3 million dollar budget. In 2017, the agency had approximately 200 staff and its annual budget had expanded to $ 18 million. HCAM established its first statewide initiative which focused on enrolling incarcerated persons for Medicaid in 2018. In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic led to transitioning to a telework status. HCAM also collaborated with the Baltimore Health Corps to ensure that patients with COVID-19 had access to healthcare. HCAM mainly serves vulnerable and underserved population groups including immigrants, pregnant women, postpartum women, homeless people, people with addiction problems, young people in foster care, and formerly incarcerated people. The agency is located in One North Charles Street, Baltimore, Maryland (Health Care Access Maryland, 2022b).

Currently, there are 250 staff members at HCAM. The staff is diverse since it comprises of individuals from different religions, ethnicities, race, and socio-economic status. The agency mainly addresses anti-racism through diversity, equity, and inclusion training (Health Care Access Maryland, 2022b). According to Chaudhry et al. (2021) diversity and inclusion training is beneficial to all organizations since it helps the staff build key competencies such as cross-cultural competence and cultural awareness which help to develop a diverse work environment. Additionally, diversity training helps improve productivity by promoting cohesion, innovation, and creativity among the staff members. Chang et al. (2019) add that organizations which encourage diversity and inclusion are also more likely to hire staff members who are loyal to the organization which in turn promotes employee retention. Diversity and inclusion training should be mandatory for all employees because it helps increase awareness on individual biases and stereotypes which in turn translates to better relationships among the staff and with the clients.

In social service agencies, diversity and inclusion teams are important because they ensure that the staff appreciates diversity and can engage effectively with clients from a variety of socio-economic, ethnic, racial, and religious backgrounds. Culturally-competent services are necessary because social service agencies serve diverse clients (Cano, 2019). In a diverse work environment, language matters especially when navigating topics that involve race, gender, ethnicity, gender identity, and sexual orientation. Language is constructed socially and is always evolving and some terms are important to specific population groups. Policy and language changes ensure that staff members in organizations use words that respect the identity of all people and promote antiracism (Majhanovich & Deyrich, 2017).

Policy and diversity has significant impact on the populations being served in social service organizations (Chaudhry et al., 2021). For instance, HCAM serves returning citizens in Baltimore City hence policy and diversity has a significant impact on access to services. Systemic issues in the U.S. have led to disproportionate incarceration of African-American men and women in Baltimore and other regions of the country. Therefore, diversity practice ensures that returning citizens are given opportunities to start over and to access critical services such as healthcare.

 

Agency Goals, Strategic Plan, and Funding Source

The main goals of HCAM include helping Maryland citizens access health insurance, providing services that promote the health of every resident, and working to promote an equitable healthcare system. The agency’s strategic plan is based on the belief that everybody deserves access to good health insurance. Therefore, the agency has developed Population Health Programs which focus on addressing social determinants of health and improving the health outcomes for residents suffering from complex psychological, medical, and social needs. Examples of these programs include Behavioral Health Outreach, Making All the Children Healthy (MATCH), Returning Citizens Health Link, and Accountable Health Communities (Health Care Access Maryland, 2022c).

As a non-profit agency, HCAM’s main source of funding is grants from the Baltimore City Health Department. Other funders include the Maryland Department of Health and other donors such as The Maryland Community Health Resource Commission and the United Way of Central Maryland among others (Health Care Access Maryland, 2022a). As per Lu and Zhao (2019), nonprofit organizations benefit greatly from grants because they provide access to funding that does not need to be paid back. Grants also provide nonprofits with the opportunity to address important problems within the community which in turn increases the organization’s credibility and visibility. Notably, when nonprofits receive grant funding for specific missions, they must devote all resources acquired from the grant money to the mission which encourages accountability and increases focus on the missions. Apart from grants, HCAM relies on in-kind donations such as toiletries and baby care supplies, Facebook fundraisers, matching gift programs, and online donations to access resources required by clients.

 

Analysis of Antiracism within the Agency

One of the core values of HCAM is unified diversity. The agency focuses on embracing diversity and leveraging differences to provide inclusive services to other people in order to create a positive impact in the community. The agency considers diversity, equity, and inclusion as the basis for organizational services and interactions between staff members (Health Care Access Maryland, 2022c). As already mentioned, the staff members at HCAM, including the top management, are very diverse. HCAM has developed policies and practices that value teamwork, promotes diversity, and fosters inclusion. Apart from diversity training, HCAM has a diversity and inclusion team which ensures that organizational policies and employee actions reflect antiracism.

Antiracism practice within HCAM can be improved by creating safe spaces for self-reflection and consciousness raising. According to Goto et al. (2022), it is important to address racist beliefs at an individual level. Diversity training sessions in organizations should give room for critical analysis and self-reflection. HCAM can also improve antiracism practice within the agency by encouraging all staff members to speak up when they feel that they are being racially profiled or discriminated either directly or indirectly through language and actions. Goto et al. (2022) explain that paying attention to language and actions creates an environment that encourages inclusion.

HCAM should also focus more on building meaningful relationships with the members of the geographic community they serve. As per Hassen et al. (2021), community-level interventions are essential because building positive relationships with racialized communities such as Hispanic and black communities facilitates understanding of the oppression experienced by members of these communities and ensures that services provided benefit them. Since HCAM serves diverse communities with numerous social and health problems, enhancing interactions with members of the community will help create trust and enhance the effectiveness of programs run by the agency.

References

Cano, M. (2019). Diversity and Inclusion in Social Service Organizations: Implications for Community Partnerships and Social Work Education. Journal of Social Work Education, 56(1), 105-114. https://doi.org/10.1080/10437797.2019.1656577

Chang, E., Milkman, K., Gromet, D., Rebele, R., Massey, C., Duckworth, A., & Grant, A. (2019). The mixed effects of online diversity training. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 116(16), 7778-7783. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1816076116

Chaudhry, I., Paquibut, R., & Tunio, M. (2021). Do workforce diversity, inclusion practices, & organizational characteristics contribute to organizational innovation? Evidence from the U.A.E. Cogent Business & Management, 8(1). https://doi.org/10.1080/23311975.2021.1947549

Goto, Y., Kojimoto, G., Pantilat, S., & Sumser, B. (2022). Recommendations for Integrating Antiracist Practice at the JPSM. Journal of Pain and Symptom Management. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpainsymman.2021.12.010

Hassen, N., Lofters, A., Michael, S., Mall, A., Pinto, A., & Rackal, J. (2021). Implementing Anti-Racism Interventions in Healthcare Settings: A Scoping Review. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 18(6), 2993. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18062993

Health Care Access Maryland. (2022-a). Funders. https://www.healthcareaccessmaryland.org/who-we-are/partners-and-funders/.

Health Care Access Maryland. (2022-b). History. https://www.healthcareaccessmaryland.org/who-we-are/history/.

Health Care Access Maryland. (2022-c). How We Help. https://www.healthcareaccessmaryland.org/how-we-help/.

Lu, J., & Zhao, J. (2019). How does government funding affect nonprofits’ program spending? Evidence from international development organizations. Public Administration and Development, 39(2), 69-77. https://doi.org/10.1002/pad.1849

Majhanovich, S., & Deyrich, M. (2017). Language learning to support active social inclusion: Issues and challenges for lifelong learning. International Review of Education, 63(4), 435-452. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11159-017-9656-z