The Lottery

I’m recalling Shirley Jackson’s 1948 short story while waking up and discovering that the Powerball is now at $1.3 billion. I’d like to pluck the names of lottery officials from a black box, for allowing this $700M to $1.3B game to continue.

If I won the lottery though, I would still want to be a social worker/writer/photographer.  I would just have better resources and a lot more networking friends! I would use some of the money to make sure that services that are needed in the community go beyond an awareness campaign. I would develop non-agency specific boards of directors and professionals but invite former clients from various services and agencies to be a key part of evaluation and reform.

The lottery tends to be a story of destroying people more than helping them and throwing money in random places without creating a steady flow leaves needed and proven resources to dry up and be eliminated.

In social services, i have seen reources dry up. It happened to targeted outreach with minority youth. I saw an amazing program with an amazing outcome and potential career go down the drain after losing its funding source under No Child Left Behind. When the Obama administration decided to make states responsible for creating individual state education competencies. Then they allowed states to use waivers to extend their deadlines while students and funding sources fell through the cracks.

In the social work field, quick fixes or short-term solutions end up hurting clients and communities in need. Awareness campaigns only go so far. Policy reform is limited by the kinds of research and trainings professors decide to conduct. Clients are limited to the services they are aware exist or that they fit within the restrictions of depending on the circumstances surrounding limiting services due to financial resources.

As a professional, don’t hope for the lottery; create steady streams that allow for needed resources and services that passionate professionals want to do their aspirational work in.