Theories in Macro Practice

The identified gap in Stockton, California, is the inaccessibility of mental health services to the homeless and low-income population. As such, the bill that is relevant to this issue is the Stockton, California Assembly Bill 37 (AB-37) (California Legislative Information, 2025). This proposed legislation is very crucial in addressing the medical needs of the poor and homeless people: Theories in Macro Practice.

The proposed bill was introduced in the House in the 2025 – 26 Regular Session, AB – 37 (California Legislative Information, 2025). The bill proposes workforce development for service providers in the mental health field. The bill gives priority to mental health service providers serving homeless people.

Largely, the bill intends to broaden the mental health workforce to improve the delivery of service to underserved populations. Currently, Stockton has a significantly poor population. and homeless people (U.S. Census Bureau, 2023). Therefore, the bill will address these issues by expanding training programs and initiating professional development for experts in the field (California Legislative Information, 2025). The bill also intends to enhance support systems by putting in place ongoing professional development courses for medical experts.

Suppose the AB–37 bill is implemented. In that case, it is expected to have a positive impact on the Stockton community directly because the number of qualified mental health professionals will have increased significantly. The expansion will also improve accessibility to mental healthcare, which means that the low-income population, especially the homeless, will have more access to mental healthcare. Thus, it will address this critical gap in the accessibility of mental health.

Furthermore, the bill, if passed, will align with the principles outlined by Reisch (2018) in his book that clarifies that interventions seek systemic change. Hence, such legislation is an example of an exemplified macro-level intervention. It is also explained as a systemic change that happens through policy reforms that will also ensure service delivery (Reisch, 2018).

The outcome will also be the promotion of justice for marginalized populations. The AB-37 will focus on the workforce, and that way, barriers to accessing health will be controlled by ensuring a more equitable distribution of resources in the Stockton community.

References

California Legislative Information. (2025). AB-37 Workforce development: mental health service providers. https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202520260AB37.

Reisch, M. (2018). Macro social work practice: Working for change in a multicultural society. Cognella Academic Publishing.

U.S. Census Bureau. (2023). QuickFacts: Stockton, California. https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/stocktoncitycalifornia/PST045224

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Discussion Board 2- Theories in Macro Practice

Textbook:

• Macro Social Work Practice: Working for Change in a Multicultural Society. Michael Reisch (See rdp)

As you prepare for graduation and the realism of being a practicing Social Worker, you must understand and accept policy is greatly involved in your role as a social worker. Whether you are operating within an entity and advocating for a change of policy to better serve/address clients or working at the state level addressing state based policies – we will all run up against policy. Your clients will not qualify for certain benefits or be victimized by the wording of policies and it can be infuriating when you are attempting to work on behalf of a client and run into the barrier of a policy that is either antiquated in design or does not address the entire population but rather a small portion thereof.

You have already identified a potential gap within your internship/community (geographically speaking) and are assessing for the data to support or hinder your approach. This is legislative time in America – please find one bill that is being either introduced or modified at your state level that could potentially address your overall concept and discuss how the change thereof will directly impact your identified community. Ensure you provide a brief explanation of your identified community/gap to provide understanding as why you selected the bill you did. Please keep in mind we are looking at STATE based policies and NOT federal.

Theories in Macro Practice

Please ensure you maintain an ethical and professional lenses when addressing your selected bill. We are all different and our differences are what makes the world go round. As social workers we will work with all demographics, cultures, political views, religions and more – please be respectful and academically responsible and ethically based in your discussion and how the policy will address your project.

We all have to recognize our biases and be able to set our personal values and beliefs aside in order to address client needs even when we do not agree. This is why we have our competencies and code of ethics.

Provide a reference link to your bill per APA7.

Pls Note: The Discussion Board should be 275-350 words not to exceed 350 words. Thank You.