Objective: To demonstrate beginning competence in social welfare policy analysis.
Do you see a policy consistently causing difficulty for your clients and their families? Is a policy oppressive to a specific population or community? Analyzing such a policy will give you a framework from which to develop a relevant advocacy campaign to educate, empower, and initiate change.
In this first of two assignments, you will select a currently enacted state or national social welfare policy and write a critical analysis of the policy utilizing the Blau and Abramovitz (2014) policy analysis framework and Gabel (2014) rights-based approach to social policy analysis. Your analysis should include the five key forces identified in the text as shaping social welfare policy: history, economy, politics, ideology, and social movements, as well as human right principles: participation, accountability, nondiscrimination, and equality. The conclusion will summarize strengths and weaknesses of the policy, and offer possible recommendations for policy modification or support for a new bill to fill gaps. (4-5 double-spaced pages in APA style)
Due Week 10
The Policy Analysis paper should address the following:
· Identification of social issue/problem and social welfare policy (1 page)
· Identify and briefly describe a social issue/problem and a state or national social welfare policy designed to address it. Briefly define the policy.
· Identify rights violated or compromised by the social issue, using:
· International human rights laws and treaties
· National/state constitutions, laws, and regulations
· Contextualization of social issue/problem and policy
· Identify the stakeholders, rights-holders, and duty-bearers and their roles.
· Who benefits from the policy as it exists? Who loses?
· Analysis of key forces shaping the policy (using Blau & Abramovitz, 2014) (1-2 pages)
· History –
· What is the history of the social problem in the state or US? When and why did it come into the public’s spotlight? Were there any initiatives/policies/programs or parts of such in the past that tried to address this issue? Any key state/US advocates who pushed this issue into the limelight?
