HISTORY OF CO

 
Western beginnings
 End of 19th century- social work was identified
with the reform movements with emphasis on
community organization.
 Reform efforts were directed toward achieving
change in social provisions, legislations and
methods of rendering services to people.
 Early social workers (reformers) organized people
on the house basis, identifies/studied the
dimensions of the problems, desired policies and
program proposals, formed pressure groups, and
conducted various campaigns to achieve change
objectives.
4 major periods in the
development of
community welfare
organization in the US
since 1870
The Charity Organization Period (1870-1917)
 Clearest expression of the CO during these years.
 First city-wide COS in US was established in

Buffalo, (N.Y. 1877) trace its lineage to the London

charity Organization Society founded 1869.
 Social settlement, another pioneer organization

concerned with group and recreational activities

with the welfare of the neighborhood or local
community within the large City.
 The use of survey method was introduced through

studies by settlements such as hull house in

Chicago and South House in Boston.
The Rise of Federations (1917- 1935)
 Rapid growth of Community Chests and Councils of
social agencies.
 The financial federation among voluntary social welfare
agencies seems to have originated in Liverpool, England-
1873
 1930- Community chest plan became the established
pattern for financing most of the important voluntary
welfare agencies in large cities.
 Chests and Councils- were thought of as parts of one
movement and as allied agencies for joint financing,
community planning and coordination.
 The first coordinating council traces its origin to
Berkeley, California and later beyond the borders of that
state.
Expansion and Professional Development (1935-1955)

 Marked by recognition of the broader

implication of community organization
and by an increased concern with the
analysis of the process and the
development of professional skills.
 The stock market crash of 1929

heralded the beginning of the great

depression of 930s- greater use of CO
process in the field of public welfare.
Community Organization and Social Change (1995-1970)

The outstanding events/

trends in the development
of CO in the US since 1955
all reflect the theme of
social change.
Four major themes intertwined and stood out:

 The struggle for civil rights/ racial

justice
 Urban decay and efforts at urban

development
 The economic opportunity program

and the war on poverty

 The phenomenon of “mass

organizations” of consumers and

lower- income group
 Mass Organizations – organization
of large number of consumers/
members from lower groups for the
purpose of developing power bringing
on institution, group, and individuals
in order to achieve the objectives of
the organization. Such organizations
are conflict-oriented, using
conflict/confrontation as deliberate
strategies.
 
Examples of such organizations

 Worker’s Alliance- Pressure groups of the

unemployed (hunger-
marches/demonstration/work-relief
strikes/resistance to eviction of families.
 Back of the Yards Neighborhood Council in

Chicago under the leadership of Saul Alinsky, a

militant social actionist who promoted the
development of militant “people organization”
in various communities. The fullest expression
of Alinsky’s philosophy and method is found
in his book…Revelle for Radicals
PHILIPPINES
 Pre- Colonial Era: Damayan and Bayanihan

Mutual aid among kindred, clan and

barangay.
Helped foster unity and cooperation
Problems and needs were taken cared
by the kindred, clan and barangay
Mutual protection and economic
survival.
Colonial Era:
Spanish

 Aims giving and charity work

 Institution for the need/

destitute
 Religious motive
 “do good for the salvation of

your soul”
American
 Beginning of organized social
Welfare (Associated Charities
917); Community Chest
 New educational system, new

heath method, religious freedom

 Volunteer groups to assist private

relief agencies (Insular Board

1902)
 
Post World War II

 Establishment of SWA ( Social

welfare Administration)
 Basic resources provision
 Rehabilitation and reconstruction

of communities destroyed by the

war (physical improvement and
infrastructure building/
construction of schools, rod and
bridges.
Development Decade 1960-1970

 Generate maximum
community participation
 Enhance coping capabilities
 Passage of RA 4373
 RA 5146 elevating Social

Welfare administration to a
Department
Participatory Development 1970-1980

 Emphasis on critical and active

participation of people; organizing a
political action to gain power and
assert rights in decision making.
 Institutionalization of CO in the

Philippines
 Formation of ZOTO (Zone One Tondo

Organization- first People

Organization)
Zone One Tondo Organizaton

 Out of this ecumenical cooperation in

1969 grew the Philippines Ecumenical
Council on Community Organization
(PECCO). The five Roman Catholics
and five Protestants who made up
PECCO established a program in
Community Organizing, using the
Tondo Foreshore land on Manila Bay
as training grounds.
Sustainable Development 1990-2000
 Sustainable development programs; to address
depletion of vital resources and the degradation
of the environment.
 CO focused on proper utilization and
conservation of resources
 CO practice focused on addressing sectoral and
welfare issue including drugs, sexual abuse and
domestic violence.
 SW practice transitioned from direct provision to
sustainable programs.
 Building of federations and coalitions were
prominent.
Another Perspective:
 The history of CO in the Philippines is closely
tied up with the history of social welfare and
the development of Social Work as a
profession.
 The overall view of CO practice in the
Philippines can be through a description of
agencies and programs utilizing the CO
method.
 The CO method was used initially to
achieve the goal of coordination and joint
planning at the interagency level.
Interagency Level
 CWAPI ( Council of Welfare agencies of the
Philippines)
 Organized in 1949- Concerned with the

proliferation of social agencies offering a

variety of social services with apparently
very little if at all, coordination among
them.
 Main Objectives- to coordinate the welfare

services of its members for sound

community planning and concerted action.
Community Chest

 Adapted from the US because of

the need for a unified approach to
raise funds for the support of
private voluntary welfare
organization (1947)
 Main functions- planning,

budgeting, fund raising, research

in health and social welfare.
People’s Organizations
 The Research Office and Publication of the
Institute of Social Work and development
(U.P.) Published “An Anthropology on
Community Organizing” in 1975 and an
update was published in 1983 and another
came out in 1986.
 The first series in 1978 mentioned an

important event in this historical process the

introduction by the Philippine ecumenical
Council on CO (PECCO) in 1971 of a new
methodology systematized and popularized
by Saul Alinsky.
PECCO’s goal was two-fold:

 To promote a training program

for organizers in a systematic and
professional way
 To build a mass-based people’s

organization through which

resignation and fear which are the
primary blocks in planning,
deciding and acting by and for the
people, can be slowly eliminated.
The Zone One Tondo Organization (ZOTTO) was the fruit of this effort, it being the first people’s organization in the
Philippines.

An important part of Alinsky’s teachings

is the concept of “power”. Organizing
people for power could be described
then as process w/c engages the
oppressed in a continuous reflection
and action against situations w/c limit
the unfolding of their potentials. It
seeks to develop the people’s ability to
think critically.
 The ideas of Paolo Freire were
also incorporated and given
practical application. Thus the
reflection-education aspect
was emphasized.
 The essence therefore of CO in

the context of Philippine

experience is, “People
Participation”.
SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT
 Launching of the Philippines Business for
Social progress on December 16, 1970
opened a new field of endeavor for social
workers: social development.
 Founded by 50 leaders in Philippines

Business, aims to mobilize the scattered

resources and efforts of private enterprise
in social action into unified social
development program to be administered in
a scientific manner.
 PBSP has been assisting private
organizations and development
foundations engaged in social
development programs, to include
CO in order to achieve the
objective of developing viable,
self- propelling, and self-
actualizing communities in both
rural and urban settings.
COOPERATIVES

 Cooperative are said to be

different from ordinary
economic enterprises since it
aims beyond the promotion of
interests of the individual
members who compose it.
Grassroots Organizations
 PACSA (Presidential Action on Social
Amelioration)

 Estabished on August, 948 by President

Elpidio Quirino as a partial solution to the
under development of the rural areas w/c
wa one of te major causes of social
justice unrest.
 Became the fore-runner of Community

Development.
 Major functions of Scial Workers:
socio-economic survey, farmers
relocation and land settlement,
relief distribution, establishment
of self-help projects for
community improvement and of
cottage industries for economic
development, and disaster relief.
 PACD
(Presidential Assistance on
Community Development)

 Established on January 6, 1956 with US-

AID
 Rural community development work

evolve from emphasis on self-help,

physical infrastructure projects to all
types of community improvement
activities, both economic and social .
 Women and youth were organized for

self-help.
 
Urban Community Programs

 The Community Welfare Services Program

(UNICEF), assisted the Social Services project of
SWA was still on the drawing boards when an
opportune time for its implementation suddenly
came in 1946.
 Thousands upon thousands of Manila slum

dwellers were relocated in Sapang Play, Bulacan

with very little planning and preparation. A new
community based and community oriented
program was rather prematurely launched in
January,1964.
 
Housing, Squatter Relocation and Resettlement

 Itsgoal is consistent with the

Social Welfare Goal…” the well-
being of man”.
 Enormous tasks of social workers:
 Communicating change involved

in acquiring better
housing/improved environment.
 Providing opportunities for
involvement In the process of
change and development
 Identification and development of

local leaders
 Promotion of coordination among

agencies/community groups
 Provision of social services for the

relocated needy families.

BARANGANIC APPROACH
 The baranganic approach was first discussed
during the National Management conference
of the DSSD (DSWD) on May 10-14, 1976 in
Manila.
 Founded on the Philosophy that individual,

group, community and national growth and

development can only come about when there
is active participation and involvement of the
people themselves in any development
process.
 And that the promotion of social
welfare is not the sole
responsibility and concern of the
government alone, but is shared
w/ all sectors in the community,
that is, public, private and
religious.
BASIC CHRISTIAN COMMUNITIES- COMMUNITY ORGANIZATION
(BCC-CO)

 The BCCs of the liturgical type have

been existing in prelatures in certain
parts of the Philippines before 1985.
 Started only in 1985 in response to

the need of the local church for a type

of BCC that would answer to the total
needs of the people, not only to the
liturgical spiritual.
 Julma Neo, DC, inher book “Towards a
Liberating Formation of Christian
Communities” described the BCC-CO
approach that look place in the
prelature of Isabela, Basilan.
According to Sr. Julma, the integration
of fait and life, as well as of Liberation
and development, remained a
constant goal of BCC-CO).
 
Principles of BCC-CO Model:

 People are the makers of history. They have the

power to create history and shape their destiny.
 Work in delimited area, e.g. a basic community
mass organization of a define location, not the
whole barrio or entire parish a once.
 Involved progressive elements/classes but the
foundation must be the basic masses.
 Tackle all problems, especially the roots problems.
 Crate historical models. BCC building I s the
creation of a symbol of the possibility of what can
be done, what the people are capable of.
Networking

 The linking of organizations, institutions and

individuals for a common purpose
 A process, concept or a technique that creates
awareness, builds alliances and pools resources
 The national Council of Social Development
Foundation of the Phils., Inc (NDCSF) is the best
example of a network utilizing the social work
method of CO.
 an umbrella organization of public and voluntary
welfare agencies as well as interested individuals
A forum for studying needs/ resources
in order to provide equitable access
opportunities for meeting these needs.
 A private coordinating body for

collective action w/c attempts to effect

improvements in the quantity and
quality and arrangement of social
welfare services.
Community- based Strategies for Advocacy
and Grassroots Action

 Leopoldo Moselina prepared a paper for the

Asian Conference on Street children held in
Manila last May, 1989 based on the experiences
of the joint project by DSWD-NCSDF.
 Community-based programs were describes as

preventive approach and offer an alternative to

“institutionalization” off street children.
 Attempts to address the problem where it

starts- the family and community of the child.

 Activities
include informal/
non-formal education and other
forms of alternative education,
providing their families ways to
obtain a regular income,
training parents on responsible
parenting/ family life, especially
the care and protection of the
young.
Projects components are:

 Situation analysis
 Advocacy, social mobilization,

networking
 Program development and

Delivery of basis service

 Human resource development and

technical support
 Monitoring/ evaluation.
THANK YOU