Notes that since 1970, Volunteer Counseling Service of Rockland County, New York, has pioneered innovative use of community laypeople to do high-level counseling for clients with wide range of serious social problems. Gives the history and an overview of the mechanics and model of work that have made this agency feasible. (Author/NB)

A model of intervention for meeting human needs through structural rather than individual change is described. The assumptions are that social structures cause social problems, clients are adequate people victimized by inadequate social arrangements, and social workers should act as agents of social change. Principles guiding such practice are…

If social work is to fulfill its central mission of helping individuals, groups, and communities resolve social problems, it must develop problem-oriented theories and intervention strategies. Particularly needed are models of practice that are capable of being tested through scientific methods and that are addressed to specific, well-defined…

The core of social work development lies in the assumption of full responsibility for providing, administering, and planning concrete care services for populations dependent on others. Other therapeutic or curative services would depend on this foundation. Public sanction, demand, and criteria for developing and training personnel are elaborated.…