1. Agency Information

In the space below, please answer the following questions.

· Where is your agency located? Please note the city and state, as well as if your agency is located in a metropolitan, suburban, exurban, or rural area.

· Who is the target population served by your agency?

· What services does the agency currently provide?

· What services has the agency considered adding?

The agency in which I am placed is in Minnesota. It is a walk-in counseling agency that is open to all individuals irrespective of their challenges. The services that the agency currently provides include assistance with problems that affect individuals at a personal level, such as grappling with additions, suicide ideation, and coping with significant transformations in life, such as the loss of loved ones. It also helps individuals to deal constructively with relationship problems. The service the agency considers adding is following up on the individuals seeking help from the agency.

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2. Target Population(s)

In the space below, please answer the following questions.

· Describe the demographics of the clients served by your agency (age, racial demographics, ethnicity, occupations, household income, etc.).

· How closely do client demographics represent the community in which the agency is located?

· What barriers do community members or prospective clients face when trying to access services related to their well-being (e.g., transportation, lack of insurance coverage for specific services, lack of evening and weekend hours, unavailability of mental health services, etc.)?

My agency serves a population that have no insurance or can’t afford counseling. It caters to the need of all those who walk in seeking services. This includes clients from different cultural and ethnic backgrounds, social-economic backgrounds, ages, and gender. In addition, it serves those people who grapple with various social, mental, or emotional problems and homeless individuals in need of counseling services. It also gives counseling services to couples, families, or members of groups who have pressing issues that need to be resolved. The demographic of the clients who visit the agency closely resemble those who live in Minnesota. The main barrier limiting individuals from seeking the agency's services is the lack of transportation for those from poor socioeconomic backgrounds. This is because the agency does not charge its clients any fee for accessing its services. It also has an adequate number of psychiatric professionals to serve clients.

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3. Client and Agency Statement of Need

In the space below, please answer the following questions.

· Take a few moments to think about one of the clients with whom you have interacted in the last week.

· Describe this client. Please include age, race/ethnicity, estimated household income, education level, and other pertinent demographic information.

· In your own words, describe the needs, situation, strengths, and challenges this client experiences.

An example of a client I have handled in the recent past is a client who was depressed and needed help coping with the challenges he faced daily such as work pressure and family problems. He indicated that lately, he could not concentrate on his work and preferred to stay away from his wife and children. Also, he stated that he had difficulties falling asleep and ate very little. The client was an African American who belonged to the working class status. He was a forty-eight-year-old man who seemed sad and depressed. His spoken English was poor, indicating that he was his educational level was low. He seemed like he would benefit from the services of a professional counselor.

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4. Systems Assessment

Take a few moments to think about one of the clients with whom you have interacted in the last week. Using Figure 1, Bronfrennbrener's Ecological Systems Theory:

1. Identify two to three examples for each system that may impact that client.

2. Identify one or two systems that are currently having the greatest impact on the client, and explain why.

The systems that impact the African American client who was depressed include the macrosystem and the chronosystem. An example of how the macrosystem affects the client is his ethnicity (Crawford, 2020). As an African American, he was vulnerable to several stressing factors, such as language barriers and stigmatization die to the culture’s ethnic beliefs on mental health issues (Woodland et al., 2021). The members of the community believe that the mental health issues are caused by witchcraft, hence those with the condition are often stigmatized (Woodland et al., 2021). Another example is poverty. Often, African Americans have low educational levels; hence they fail to secure lucrative jobs with good remunerations (Woodland et al., 2021). On the other hand, an example of how the chronosystem impacts the client is through the process of being an immigrant settling in a new country. The process exposes him to challenges such as lack of employment and language barriers that impede him from prospering (Chang, 2019). Another example is historical events. Since time immemorial, African Americans have been grappling with social injustices such as discrimination that derails their progress and exposes them to problems such as poverty.

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Problem Statement Language

Proposal Topic

Fear of stigmatization

Fear of stigmatization affect over 1000 African Americans with depression who need counseling services in Minnesota

affects over 1,000 African Americans with depression who need counseling services

in Minnesota

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Research Question Language

Proposal Topic

How effective is cognitive behavioral therapy in reducing episodes of depression among African American clients

How effective is cognitive behavioral therapy in reducing episodes of depression among African American clients in Minnesota walk-in counseling agency?

In Minnesota walk-in counseling agency

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Review Notes: