The Flint Water Crises originated in 2014 when the source of the water supply for the predominantly African-American community with a population of approximately 100,000 people was shifted to the Flint River from Detroit’s Municipal System. The reasons for this shift were two-fold. Firstly, there were government and community concerns about the quality of the water being supplied, which tests had revealed to be highly corrosive in nature. Secondly, the switch in the supply source was also seen as a cost-saving measure .
It was a long time later that the residents became aware of the fact that since the water from the Flint River turned out to be more damaging to the pipes carrying it, thereby eroding their surface and causing more lead to mix with the water supply than the concentrations in the water previously supplied from Detroit Municipality.
In addition to being viewed as a case of the authorities prioritizing expenses over public safety, what enraged the Flint community even more was the fact that that the entire change had been conducted under the direct supervision of a federal appointed Crises Manager .
The impact of this government negligence turned out to be both more dangerous as well as long-term. This is because water tests conducted by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency revealed the presence of lead in the water, making it toxic, and lead poisoning affects children’s health in the long-term. Therefore, the Flint Water Crises could have been easily prevented only if the concerned authorities had performed their due diligence and acted promptly once the health hazard was identified. Since the domain of Human Services includes both the prevention as well as correction of issues that adversely impact the quality of life of people, the Flint Water Crises was definitely a ‘human service concern’. The fact that the crises situation could have easily been averted is evidenced from the words of President Obama himself, who stated that this was a situation that had resulted from negligence of duty of government officials; furthermore, the resignation of Susan Hedman, the Midwest chief of the EPA was a direct result of the fact that even though she had been made aware of the water toxicity almost a year earlier, she failed to act promptly .
In order to provide a holistic recovery plan for the Flint community, it is important that the victims are informed of the legal recourse available to them in claiming damages. Also, it is important that state legislation is made more stringent when it comes to regular water inspections and disclosing the results of all such activities to the public. While as a human service professional I do not have legislative authority, but together with the community, advocating for these reforms will also be a crucial in ensuring the people that similar incidents will not endanger them or their families in the future. Encouraging people to seek professional therapy is also an important part of the plan, as this will help them recover from the shock, and try to restore normalcy in their lives. All these actions are well with the purview of the ethical guidelines that human service professionals are required to follow .
In the Flint Water Crises, the harm caused to the community was both physical (the side effects of lead poisoning, particularly for children) as well as psychological (the sense of betrayal felt by the community as their government and their own elected representative entrusted with their welfare were found to be negligent). In order to help the people who suffered directly, I believe the post-modernist approach of Solution-Focused Therapy would be best .
This is because there is no possible way to reverse the damage that has already been caused, so instead of focusing energy and attention on the past, it is important to help the sufferers look at possible solutions to rectify the problem. This approach emphasizes shifting focus from the negative to the positive. In fact, President Obama’s address also follow this principle. He admits the avoidable mistake and apologises for it, but is also quick to mention that the people should not consider this to be health problem that will affect them for the remainder of their loves . As he suggests, everyone should get tested, precautions taken and monitoring continued, but this is a problem that has a solution and can be fixed. Criminal cases were filed, officials resigned and plans to replace the damaged pipes are also underway; by pointing out the remedial action that is being taken, the people can also be counselled on how to move past the tragedy.
Works Cited
Flint, Mich. "Obama sips Flint water, urges children be tested for lead." Reuters 5 May 2016: 1-4. Web.
Neukrug, Edward S. Theory, Practice, and Trends in Human Services. New York: Cengage Learning , 2008. Print.
