A Family Advocacy Program

In the first article in this issue Mary J. McCormick discusses the new dimension in social work-social advocacy. This new dimension is being translated into action by the Family Service Association of America with the initiation of a program designed to stimulate the development of family advocacy services in its 342 member agencies. Family advocacy was the focus of considerable discussion and several papers presented at the Association's biennial meeting in Philadelphia in November. The Board of Directors approved family advocacy as a major program effort of FSAA. Dr. McCormick states: "Within this sociological framework [social change], the new and the untried can be appraised, first in the light of circumstances that spark the desire for change and then in the thought and action of those who assume responsibility for making that desire a reality. In this continuum of cause and effect, with its judgment on what should be as well as what is, the new and the old assume complementary roles and together offer a rationale for what is to follow. Change per se is then placed in its true perspective as a normal, anticipated factor in the realization of social progress and individual well-being." In developing a family advocacy approach, social workers will form an alliance with families in accord with the way the families themselves define their needs and interests. It is the responsibility of the family service agency to provide the necessary resources for helping families clarify their needs, to develop effective strategies for dealing with the systems that fail to meet these needs, and to obtain a fair share of existing resources and services and develop new ones. Although middleand upper-income families may have no need for advocacy service in relation to housing or employment, for example, FSAA believes that such service is important for