Share a new insight or perspective you learned or thought of in terms of advocacy in reading your colleagues portfolio

Share with your colleague how you think power, or privilege, or oppression may impact or influence the target problem at institutional, community, or public policy levels.

Share a suggestion or new insight with your colleague about collaboration to influence public policy.

Heres post 1 Cameron

Murray and Crowe (2016) state that advocacy is being able to act for the benefit and on behalf of the clients we serve and is to be considered a foundational framework that helps clarify exactly how we, as counselors, can practice social justice. When looking into substance use in adolescents, its extremely important to take into consideration the barriers that may present themselves at different levels and the ways that we will be able to advocate for them at each level to help them and make sure that their voice is heard and they get the help they want.

Barriers and Advocacy at an Institutional Level

At an institutional level, I would consider there to be two main contributors to the barriers adolescents may face when addressing substance use. The first main contributing barrier that comes to mind is that many of the places in the Fargo area dont advertise much outside of brochures at doctors offices about the services they provide. The main institution that many people utilize in the area does a plethora of things and it wasnt until my third time visiting there that I realized they did more than just background checks and they also have doctors there and hold various support groups that assist with recovery. The other main contributor is the overall lack of institutions in the area that are made to help with substance recovery or prevention. To my knowledge, outside of the health classes that are available in the local schools, there arent any other known preventative measures being taken for substances outside of tobacco in Fargo.

A huge advocacy action at this level would be helping create more programs in the area with local places and assisting local businesses/organizations to make sure that its known that substance use is something that can be prevented and if it is found that employees are taking part in such activities that they feel comfortable enough to come forward and ask for help if thats what they want. This will also allow me to boost overall standing in the community and hopefully others that may be considering trying substances, or those already taking part in substance use, can also find the courage to seek help.

Barriers and Advocacy at a Community Level

At a community level, the main contributors to the barriers would be the general stigma and discrimination towards those that find themselves utilizing substances. Studies done by Adlaf and Hamilton (2008) found that 56% of adolescents done in their study were friends with people that used marijuana or hashish and 27.9% had used at least one of the 11 illicit drugs. People that Ive had the pleasure of getting to work with have told me how hard it was and is to come forward to friends and family about their substance use out of worry of being judged or ostracized for it.

Similar to the institutional level, the community level would greatly benefit from more programs that raise awareness about substance use. This will lower the stigma of it so that people will be more open to getting help and asking questions about the substances and will make it so that adolescents will be there for their friends instead of judging them or ostracizing them.

Barriers and Advocacy at a Public Policy Level

The main barrier that comes to mind at a public policy level comes down to no proper funding or places that are specifically made for preventative measures or treatment. There are places like I had mentioned before that do support groups and some doctors there help with recovery when it comes to some substances such as tobacco, but those groups often fill up quick to the point where some people that do need the support and help are unable to attend due to their being a limited number of participants able to attend said groups. A great way to advocate at a public policy level would be taking part in different local seminars to help spread knowledge and information about such topics.

References:

Adlaf, E. M., Hamilton, H. A., Wu, F., & Noh, S. (2008). Adolescent stigma towards drug

addiction: Effects of age and drug use behaviour. Addictive Behaviors, 34(4), 360364.

Links to an external site.

Murray, C. E., & Crowe, A. (2016). Counseling advocacy competencies in action: Lessons

learned through the See the Triumph Campaign. Journal for Social Action in Counseling and Psychology , 8(1), 53-69.

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post 2 James

In MSJCC domain IV: Counseling and advocacy Interventions, counselors intervene from a personal to global level (Association for Multicultural Counseling and Development, n.d.). There are however barriers, especially on the institutional, community, and public policy levels that counselors must address. MSJCC makes note that counselors should work with institutions to remove systematic barriers, deal with norms that are oppressive, and become a social advocate to influence local, state, and federal laws and policies.

On the Institutional level, one of the major barriers to dealing with homelessness in Cobb County is that people that have needs may struggle to get access because of fragmented systems, limited referrals,and difficult entry processes. It is compounded when people are leaving hospitals, jails, treatment centers, or other institutions. An advocacy action would be for counselors to work with schools, churches, hospitals, shelters, and social service agencies to address referral issues and improve entry systems. I believe it would be effective because it removes some of the service gaps keeping vulnerable individuals from falling through cracks.

On the community level, one key barrier is the housing environment in regards to affordability and availability. This barrier can make it harder for individuals and families who have lost housing to gain it again. One good advocacy for this issue is counselors working with organizations to provide housing assistance to get down payments, move in subsidies, initial rent payments,etc. These efforts work well to get people stabilized and in a position to maintain their situation.

On a public policy level, a major barrier is the lack of long term solutions in regards to homelessness prevention, supportive services, and accessible housing. Even if the community is working hard on the problem, if policies are not in place to support efforts it becomes a barrier. An advocacy action that could be taken on this is counselors and community members speaking to county and state leaders for stronger funding and policies for affordable and accessible housing, preventative programs, and coordinated care services for people dealing with homelessness. Policy advocacy helps address issues at its structural root and creates a more robust long-lasting solution.

REFERENCES

Murray, C. E., & Crowe, A. (2016). Counseling advocacy competencies in action: Lessons learned through the See the Triumph Campaign. Journal for Social Action in Counseling and Psychology, 8(1), 5369.

Multicultural and Social Justice Counseling Competencies. (2015). American Counseling Association.

Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. (n.d.). Prevention of substance use and mental disorders. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Retrieved April 8, 2026, from

Association for Multicultural Counseling and Development. (n.d.). Multicultural and social justice counseling competencies. Retrieved April 8, 2026, from