| Course | SOWK 410 Social Work Macro Practice (SOWK410) |
|---|---|
| Module/Week | 2 |
| Assignment | Community Assessment: Topic and Sources |
| Paper type | Community assessment outline with SWOT table and sources |
| Length | about 380 words, 1 double-spaced pages plus title page and references. Course guide: per the course guide, a 1 to 2 page outline using the SWOT Analysis Table to prompt a general analysis of the local community, including at least 1 local church, with at least 3 references in current APA format |
| Format | APA 7 student paper |
| Points | 75 |
| School | Liberty University Online |
| Program | BSW |
| Where it sits | Module/Week 2 in Liberty's published SOWK 410 course guide; current sections can differ |
| Updated | October 2026 |
Free sample paper for SOWK 410 Week 2
Community Assessment Topic and Sources: A SWOT Outline of a Piedmont Mill Town and the Churches Working Within It
[Student Name]
School of Behavioral Sciences, Liberty University
SOWK 410: Social Work Macro Practice
Community Assessment: Topic and Sources (SWOT outline)
[Instructor Name]
[Date]
The town, its institutions and its figures are composites standing in for a student's own community of origin; the textbook, the book and the journal articles are real and described from their published sources; the requirements follow Liberty's public course guide for SOWK 410.
Community Assessment Topic and Sources: A SWOT Outline of a Piedmont Mill Town and the Churches Working Within It
Community and Topic
My community of origin is Millbrook, a composite town of about nine thousand residents in the North Carolina Piedmont. The assessment will examine how Millbrook has responded to the closing of its textile plant, the town's largest employer for sixty years, and how local churches have helped fill the gaps left behind. I chose this topic because the closing shaped my own family, and because the town's response shows both real strengths and serious unmet needs.
Community Overview
- Population of about 9,000, older than the state average, with many young adults leaving for jobs in larger cities.
- Economy formerly built on textile manufacturing; now retail, a regional hospital, a community college and small manufacturers.
- Institutions include a county social services office, a community college, two public schools and more than twenty congregations.
- Recent change: the plant closed four years ago, eliminating about four hundred jobs.
SWOT Analysis Table
| Strengths (internal) | Weaknesses (internal) |
|---|---|
| Community college with nursing and welding programs | No public transit outside a limited county van service |
| Network of more than twenty congregations, several with social ministries | Aging housing stock and rising vacancy downtown |
| Strong civic identity and volunteer tradition | Limited mental health services; nearest psychiatrist 40 miles away |
| Opportunities (external) | Threats (external) |
| State economic development grants for former mill towns | Further plant closures in the region |
| Regional hospital expansion creating health care jobs | Out-migration of young adults |
| Broadband expansion funding for rural areas | Cuts to state social service budgets |
Local Church Focus
First Baptist Church downtown runs the town's busiest food pantry, open three days a week, and started a job club after the plant closed that helps former mill workers prepare resumes and connect with the community college. The church also hosts a free clinic night once a month with volunteer nurses from the hospital. Two other congregations, a Methodist church and an AME Zion church, partner with First Baptist on the pantry and on a winter coat drive. The final paper will examine how these congregations have aided residents and where their efforts could be coordinated with public agencies, which currently refer clients to the pantry but share no data with it.
Planned Sources
- Burghardt (2014): the textbook's framework for community assessment and macro practice will structure the analysis.
- Kretzmann and McKnight (1993): asset-based community development will guide the strengths column, emphasizing what the town already has.
- Chaves and Tsitsos (2001): national data on what social services congregations provide, and with whom, will place First Baptist's work in context.
- Cnaan and Boddie (2002): their discussion of faith-based social services and social work will inform recommendations for collaboration between churches and agencies.
Next Step
The final paper will develop each SWOT category with evidence and recommend how Millbrook's churches, college and county agencies could work together on employment and food security. Interviews with the pantry coordinator and a county social worker, along with county data from public sources, will supply local detail.
References
Burghardt, S. (2014). Macro practice in social work for the 21st century: Bridging the macro-micro divide (2nd ed.). SAGE.
Chaves, M., & Tsitsos, W. (2001). Congregations and social services: What they do, how they do it, and with whom. Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, 30(4), 660-683. https://doi.org/10.1177/0899764001304003
Cnaan, R. A., & Boddie, S. C. (2002). Charitable choice and faith-based welfare: A call for social work. Social Work, 47(3), 224-235. https://doi.org/10.1093/sw/47.3.224
Kretzmann, J. P., & McKnight, J. L. (1993). Building communities from the inside out: A path toward finding and mobilizing a community's assets. ACTA Publications.
What the SOWK 410 Week 2 instructions ask
The Community Assessment: Topic and Sources assignment, worth 75 points, is due in Module/Week 2 of SOWK 410 with Quiz 2, after chapter 2 of Burghardt and three presentations. It is the first stage of the Community Assessment, whose final paper follows in Module/Week 4. Students sketch, on a page or two, a general analysis of their own community organized by the SWOT Analysis Table, and the analysis must give attention to at least one local church. Three or more APA references round it out. The outline sets up the final paper, so its choices about community, church and sources should be ones the student can develop further.
How this SOWK 410 Week 2 example is built
The outline opens with a short statement of the community and the reason for choosing it. A community overview in brief points covers population, economy, institutions and recent changes. The SWOT table follows, with strengths such as a community college and an active network of congregations, weaknesses such as limited public transit and aging housing, opportunities such as state economic development grants and threats such as continued job loss and young adults leaving. A paragraph focuses on First Baptist Church downtown and its food pantry and job club. The planned sources section names each reference and how it will be used, and a final line previews the paper.
SOWK 410 Week 2 grading rubric: where the points go
The Topic and Sources outline is graded on a clear choice of community, a complete and thoughtful SWOT table, the inclusion of at least one local church, three or more sources in APA style and an organization that will support the final paper, all inside the two-page limit. Strong outlines keep what lies inside the community, its strengths and weaknesses, apart from forces acting on it from outside, which students often blur. Entries should be specific to the community rather than generic. The church focus should describe what the congregation actually does. Each source should be credible and relevant, with a line explaining where it will help. Clear headings make the outline easy to turn into the final paper's sections.
SOWK 410 Week 2 help: mistakes that cost points
The most common SWOT mistake is placing external factors, such as state funding, under strengths. Keep strengths and weaknesses internal to the community and opportunities and threats external to it. Be specific: "a community college with a nursing program" is more useful than "education." Choose a church whose work you can learn about, through its website, a bulletin or a conversation with a staff member. Gather at least one source on community assessment and one on congregations' social services now, since the final paper needs them. Keep the outline within two pages. A short interview with someone who runs a local ministry can make the church section concrete.
Related SOWK 410 sample papers
Other SOWK 410 weeks
- SOWK 410 Week 1: Forum 1: Modes of Macro Practice
- SOWK 410 Week 3: Forum 2: Organizing for Power
- SOWK 410 Week 4: Community Assessment: Final SWOT
- SOWK 410 Week 5: Global Outline: Modern Slavery
- SOWK 410 Week 6: Forum 3: Advocacy From Inside
- SOWK 410 Week 7: Global Presentation: Modern Slavery
More BSW sample papers
SOWK 410 Week 2 questions, answered
What is the SOWK 410 Community Assessment: Topic and Sources?
A 75-point Module/Week 2 outline of one to two pages using the SWOT Analysis Table to analyze the student's local community, including at least one local church, with at least three APA references.
Where can I find a free SOWK 410 Week 2 sample paper?
The full SOWK 410 Week 2 community assessment outline, a SWOT analysis of a Piedmont mill town and its churches with planned sources, is on this page.
What is a SWOT analysis in social work?
A planning tool that sorts what a community has going for it and against it internally from the outside conditions that could help or hurt it, so advocates can plan change.
Does the SOWK 410 community assessment have to include a church?
Yes; the outline must include at least one local church, and the final paper must describe in detail how local churches have aided the community.
What else is due in SOWK 410 Module/Week 2?
Quiz 2 on chapter 2: ten open-book items, fifteen minutes per attempt, with the better of two attempts counted toward the grade.
Use it as a model, or ask for your own
This paper is an original model written by our desk for study. It is not a submitted student paper and not an official Liberty University document. Read it for structure and reasoning, then write your own to the instructions in your Canvas course. If you want a version built to your exact prompt and rubric, the first custom sample is free and arrives in 24 to 48 hours.
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