Running Head: CIVIC ENGAGEMENT PROJECT 1

Civic Engagement Project

Student’s Name

Institution Affiliation
Civic Engagement Project 2

Civic Engagement Project

What did you do?

In my civic engagement project, in volunteered at the clear my record or the criminal

expungement project of Code of America. The organization deal with helping people to clear

their criminal records fast enough to enable them access opportunities such as employment,

admission to colleges, and access to credit facilities. According to research, a lot of people are

suffering and missing out on opportunities because of petty cases and uncleared criminal records.

The government has been trying to solve the issue of clearing the criminal record of individuals,

especially first-time offenders, but the process has been slow and hence ineffective. However,

the organization works to help the government to deliver this service more quickly (Johnson and

Robinson, 2014). During my civic engagement project at the organization, my work was to

receive the complaints or requests of people seeking the services of the organization and then

starting them off the procedure of expungement, which is connecting them to attorneys who will

help them. Furthermore, I used to sort out emails and calls of people asking for the services of

the organization and then directing them on how best to go about their issue.

Time invested

I invested in working in the organization for 15 hours every week. I volunteered at the

organization for at least 3 hours every day except weekends. The hours I worked every day were

flexible because some days, I would work in the morning, and on other days I would work in the

afternoon. This aspect is primarily because the organization has a lot of volunteers, and hence it

can allow a lot of flexibility in working.

Challenges encountered
Civic Engagement Project 3

The most challenging part of the work was dealing with individuals who were not eligible

for criminal records clearance. During the time at the organization, we used to handle a lot of

cases of people sending requests for assistance with expungement while they were not eligible,

giving us a hard time trying to explain to them why they were not eligible. At times the

conversions would get heated, especially when the individual learned they would not get help. In

other cases, individuals would make calls or send emails repeatedly, even after learning that they

were not validated for the expungement of criminal records.

Ethical issues

The organization has taken a keen interest in ensuring that it abides by ethical standards

since it works with the government and communities where any moral issue can cause a backlash

from the government or society and backpedal its operation. To be sincere, the organization has

done its best to abide by ethical standards, and this has enabled them to create confidence in their

partners and clients. One of the ethical issues the organization has put a lot of emphasizing on it

its operations is confidentiality. Many organizations violate this ethical issue knowingly or

unknowingly; however, for the organization, the principle of its basic operation is keeping the

data of the client confidential. The individuals working in the organization only knows the

information of the client, and no one else has access to this data, not unless permitted. The

information is only shared when there is a need for consultations amongst staff members or with

an attorney. The other ethical issue the organization observes very much is consent. Once a client

has begun to engage the organization, all the proceedings afterward have to get the client's

consent. Before any move gets done, the client has to get consulted first. This aspect has made

the initiative to become client-oriented. The other ethical issue the organization has put a lot of
Civic Engagement Project 4

focus on is transparency. The transparency is between the organization and the community,

partners, government, and those that seek its services (Michaelson et al., 2014). The organization

makes sure that everything is laid down for the interested parties to see and get satisfied. For

instance, a client has permission to inquire about proceedings of his expungement requests, the

attorney working on the issue, and much more. This type of transparency is fundamental for the

organization's image in the eyes of partners and clients.

Conclusion

This civic engagement project was first and foremost crucial for me since it allowed me

to serve people and at least give back to society. Besides, the civic engagement project helped

me get a picture of different working environments, their challenges, and the possible solutions

to those challenges. I was capable of coming head to head with an issue like conflicts at the

workplace and the potential conflict management strategies. Most importantly, it allowed me to

relate the concept we learned in class to a real-world case scenario. For instance, the idea of

ethical issues got stipulated well in the organization and the best possible ways of abiding by

them.
Civic Engagement Project 5

References

Johnson, P., & Robinson, P. (2014). Civic hackathons: Innovation, procurement, or civic

engagement?. Review of policy research, 31(4), 349-357.

Michaelson, C., Pratt, M. G., Grant, A. M., & Dunn, C. P. (2014). Meaningful work: Connecting

business ethics and organization studies. Journal of Business Ethics, 121(1), 77-90.