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MY SOCIAL WORK PRACTICE

FH0825
Social Work 4710
Social Work Blog
11/1/14
Wayne State University













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MY SOCIAL WORK PRACTICE


What is Urban City?
Urban City is an area where mostly low to no income poor live. The conditions are
subpar to the urban city rural areas in terms of opportunity, quality of food and services available
and healthcare. Most Urban cities have high crime rates such as Detroit and Inkster Michigan.
The Census Bureau defines "urban" for the 1990 census as comprising all territory,
population, and housing units in urbanized areas and in places of 2,500 or more persons outside
urbanized areas. More specifically, "urban" consists of territory, persons, and housing units in:
1. Places of 2,500 or more persons incorporated as cities, villages, boroughs (except in Alaska
and New York), and towns (except in the six New England States, New York, and Wisconsin),
but excluding the rural portions of extended cities." 2. Census designated places of 2,500 or
more persons. 3. Other territory, incorporated or unincorporated, included in urbanized areas
(US Census Bureau, Oct. 1995).
.

What is Blight?
Blighted property is the legal term for land that is in a dilapidated, unsafe, and unsightly
condition. Each state uses different criteria to determine whether property should be classified as
blighted. Common criteria include:
The property is uninhabitable
The property is unsafe
The property has been abandoned for a specified time period (usually at least 1 year)
The property presents an imminent danger to other people or property (Legalmatch.com).
Blight is considered burned-out homes and abandoned buildings. Blight is an empty structure
that has become havens for crime and squatters, and it causes property values to plummet.
How do these terms relate to Detroit?
The city of Detroit has thousands of burnout homes and lots which cause an eye sore to
the beauty of the City. The homes are crime riddled and are havens for crimes and all sorts of
potential dangers.
Blighted properties have been the scene of many crimes in the city of Detroit such as rape,
murder and arson. The local drug dealers are turning the blighted properties into drug houses
were even more crime is committed.
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MY SOCIAL WORK PRACTICE

Many of the blighted homes are a result of the working poor homes being taken for tax debts.
Many of the homes that people are or were paying for wasnt worth the money anymore since
the mortgage crisis (Detroit News, 2013).
The taxes due on some of the house for example a house that was worth 100,000 dollars
in 1998 maybe be only worth 20 to 30k in 2014, but the home owner was still responsible for
taxes for a 100k dollar home. This forced home owner out of their homes and left behind for
scrappers to destroy or for squatters to inhabit, or drug usage and prostitution. Even some home
owner destroyed some of the houses because many put their life saving into these homes and lost
them due to taxes.
Detroit regularly holds property auctions which sell many properties with some families
still living in them to the highest bidder. Once the property is purchased the new home owner has
plans for the home themselves so they force out the existing family and most dont left quietly.
They homes are destroyed and nothing is done to rehab the home nor is the city, or police
enforcing any charges against any who destroy the homes.

Why are these terms important to you as a social worker who may practice in an urban
area?
These terms are important to me because I have to know my populations problems and
understand them to be in a better position to advocate for them.
These terms help me to understand that the residents in the city of Detroit are in need of
financial, emotional, and government assistance. The people of Detroit are in need of jobs to halt
the infestation of poverty on the families. The people of Detroit are in need of someone who can
direct them to the services they are in so much need of such as medical assistance, mental
evaluations and someone to speak up for them for the injustices they are experiencing, like the
water shut offs, the high taxes, the high insurance rates, the poor quality of education the public
schools offer. They are in need of micro, mezzo, and macro practices advocacy to give them an
equal opportunity to life a quality life.








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Bibliography
Crime rate in Detroit, Michigan (MI): Murders, rapes, robberies, assaults, burglaries,
thefts, auto thefts, arson, law enforcement employees, police officers, crime map. (2014, January
1). Retrieved November 1, 2014, from http://www.city-data.com/crime/crime-Detroit-
Michigan.html
MacDonald, C., & Wilkinson, M. (2013, February 21). Half of Detroit property owners
don't pay taxes. Retrieved November 1, 2014, from
http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20130221/METRO01
Muller, D. (2014, May 28). Wayne County adds June auction to massive tax foreclosed
property sale noted by Detroit Blight Removal Task Force. Retrieved November 1, 2014, from
http://www.mliv
Karger, H., & Stoesz, D. (n.d.). American social welfare policy: A pluralist approach
(Seventh ed.)
Urban & Rural. (1995, October 1). Retrieved November 1, 2014, from
http://www.census.gov/population/censusdata/urdef