UNIVERSITY WOMEN

Evening Post, Volume CXXVI, Issue 4, 5 July 1938, Page 16

UNIVERSITY WOMEN

COMMUNITY PLANNING

The speaker last night at the monthly meeting of the University Women's Federation was Mr. Victor C. Jones. His subject was "Community Planning and the Social Worker."

Mr. Jones urged that because of overlapping in efforts to meet the needs of the community there must be intelligent planning and the right relationship of private agencies in social work to public agencies. The social worker must be informed as well as interested. Therefore there was need to study the social sciences. In addition, social workers needed three kinds of insight to do a good professional job. in the field of community organisation—(a) a grasp of the sociological .nature of thieir cityV physical structure, population factors, and social data; (b) broad comprehension of social work, education, and religion, knowledge of the major services and institutions, their methods, philosophies, and problems; and (c) ability to see their own function in relation to other functions

in the community and in relation to the kind'of community it was. Community organisation implied • much more than, "community co-operation," said the, speaker.

Achieving the best organisation of the constructive forces in a city or province to meet community needs involved adjustment of functions, services, constituences, and finances, serthe part of every agency in relation to each other. Agencies in a community could do some things better together than separately. "In our own city what co-ordination have we?" he asked. Some of' these .joint prospects in various communities might be research, study, and records; joint interpretation of private philanthropy, needs of youth, or "character building" development of standards, dealing with specific problems such as high delinquency in a neighbourhood; getting corporation support, and training of professionals and group work volunteers. ;

The dynamics of good community relationships are'not be found in any form of machinery. Better community organisation will result from better understanding of what is in the community and from close enough relations to modify each other's thinking arid work. The ends to be sought are better results in developing young people adequate for their day. The State, .the. Church,, the school, the health agencies, family and children's social agencies, as well as the home and many other constructive forces are concerned with education for effective living. All workers sh6uld seek a co-ordination of these concerns and efforts so that all work adds up to something more significant than it does when unrelated and unco-ordinated."

Mr. Jones told of successful experiments that had been made in towns in America and in Hawaii, where there was not the advantage of homogeneous community such as in Wellington. He stressed the point that social agencies must not be regarded as charity, but as essential services, in that they contributed to the total social good of the community. As a method of coordinating social agencies Mr. Jones expalined the Plan of Community Chest. Well-informed leading people in the community might form a ■ council, by whom the various social agencies would be accredited and through whom monetary aid would be distributed.

The address evoked questions from several members and it was clear that it had been followed with lively interest.

Miss North thanked the speaker for his enlightening talk on what was for so many of them one of the acute problems of the day. Supper was served.