The Ministry of Social Services’ Community Development Workers’ Initiative : workers’ perception of their practice

The start-up of the Community Development Workers' Initiative (CDWI) aims at formally beginning the process of re-establishing community development practice within British Columbia's Ministry of Social Services (MSS). This report's goals are to document the MSS Community Development Workers1 (CDWs) perceptions of their practice, challenges, and successes both outside of and within the MSS. These goals are carried out within the context of organizational change theories and models. This research was conducted approximately one year after the start-up of the CDWI. This is an explorative/descriptive study which garners CDW input from questionnaires and face-to-face interviews. These two measures were utilized in order to yield qualitative data. Qualitative methods and Rothman's framework (three modes of community organization) are employed to extrapolate major themes. The findings reveal that most CDW respondents report their practice to reflect one or more of the three models described in Rothman's framework. Underlining this trend, the selection of community organizational strategies usually appears to be driven by a process involving the community and their identified needs and interests. Documentation and discussion also include CDWI community work constructs, the obstacles faced by the respondents, CDW's perceptions of MSS' s needs and interests, and the sampled CDW's recommendations surrounding organizational change through the use of a community development approach.Arts, Faculty ofSocial Work, School ofGraduat