Week 6 Assignment: Policy Analysis

Assignment Description

This assignment builds on the previous assignments in the course, where you identified a social problem and selected a local, state, or federal policy that affects it. For this assignment, you will continue your role as a social worker in an agency that addresses social justice issues in your community. You will utilize the social policy you identified in your previous assignments. As a part of this process, you will analyze the policy’s effectiveness and feasibility in meeting the needs of communities. Remember that the feasibility of a policy relates not only to its economic and administrative feasibility, but also to its political and social impact. You will also identify the policy constraints that inhibit the policy from most effectively meeting the needs of your identified community.

Continue to consult the United States Congress. website, the Government Accountability Office, public policy analysis research and reports, and other peer-reviewed research to support your analysis. Also, use the NASW Code of Ethics. web page to guide your analysis.

By successfully completing this assignment, you will demonstrate your proficiency in the following CSWE EPAS competencies and practice behaviors:

• CSWE EPAS Competency 1: Demonstrate ethical and professional behavior.
  • C1.GP.C: Demonstrate professional demeanor in behavior, appearance, and oral, written and electronic communication.
    • Related assignment criteria:
      1. Create clear, well-organized, professional documents that are generally free of bias, errors in grammar, punctuation, and spelling. 
      2. Follow APA style and formatting guidelines for citations and references.
• CSWE EPAS Competency 5: Engage in policy practice.
  • C5.GP.A: Identify social policy at the local, state, and federal level that impacts well-being, service delivery, and access to social service.
    • Related assignment criterion:
      1. Provide a description of the chosen policy, including goals, objectives, and key provisions.
• CSWE EPAS Competency 5: Engage in policy practice.
  • C5.GP.B: Assess how social welfare and economic policies impact the delivery of and access to social services.
    • Related assignment criteria:
      1. Evaluate the effectiveness of the policy with respect to the target population including access to resources, service delivery, and outcomes.
      2. Evaluate the feasibility of the policy (economically, politically, administratively, socio-culturally).
• CSWE EPAS Competency 5: Engage in policy practice.
  • C5.GP.C: Apply critical thinking to analyze, formulate, and advocate for policies that advance human rights and social, economic, and environmental justice.
    • Related assignment criterion:
      1. Assess the impact of the selected social policy on diverse populations and adherence with social work values related to human rights, and social, economic, and environment justice.

Assignment Instructions

You are the social worker in an agency that addresses social justice issues in your community. You have identified a policy that you think might be of service in addressing the identified social justice issue. As a part of this process, you need to analyze the policy’s effectiveness and feasibility in meeting the needs of communities You are aware of discrimination and oppression associated with the social justice issue and its potential impact on the identified client/community. Your policy analysis should demonstrate an understanding of the social policy, its effectiveness and feasibility in meeting the community’s needs, advocating for empowerment. You will utilize the course readings, your experience, and scholarly evidence to support your analysis. This assignment is designed to connect theoretical knowledge with practice skills, preparing you for real-world challenges.

For this assignment, complete the following:

• Describe the chosen policy. This is a recapitulation of the work you have completed in the previous assignment to set the stage for your policy analysis.
  • Provide a brief description and summary of the major points of the policy you selected to address the social justice issue for the community.
  • What are the stated goals, objectives, or key provisions?
  • What are the programs and services?
  • Is this a local, state, or federal policy?
  • Use the relevant scholarly literature to support your claims.
• Evaluate the effectiveness of the policy with respect to the targeted community or subgroup and the social justice issue identified, including access to resources, service delivery, and outcomes.
  • Consider how well the policy has met the needs of your target population. Does the policy accomplish what it was developed to accomplish?
  • Discuss how the policy strengthens the social well-being and functioning of the target population or subgroup.
  • Discuss the policy constraints/limitations or how it ignores, impedes, or limits the well-being and functioning of the target population or subgroup. 
  • Use examples and supporting evidence.
• Assess the feasibility of the policy politically, economically, administratively, socially and culturally. Feasibility includes assessing if the policy is achievable, given the resources, political context, societal and cultural norms, and administrative and system capacities.
  • Is the policy politically feasible? Consider bipartisan support or consensus, support from stakeholders (government, policymakers, advocacy groups, constituents, etc.).
  • Is the policy economically feasible? Consider funding mechanisms and sources (accessibility and sufficiency), cost effectiveness, technology, infrastructure, etc. 
  • Is the policy administratively feasible? Consider how the policy is implemented, managed, and its organizational structure and administrative processes.
  • Is the policy socially and culturally feasible? Consider alignment with the cultural norms, values, and beliefs of the target population. Does it address anti-racism, inclusion, diversity, and equity or does it promote oppression and stigmatization?
  • Use supporting evidence and examples to support your evaluation.
• Assess the impact of the selected social policy on diverse populations and adherence with social work values related to human rights, and social, economic, and environmental justice. 
  • Has the policy had an impact on the social justice issue identified? To what extent does the policy meet or improve the current state (consider factors related to racism, diversity, inclusion, and equity)? Consider systemic challenges and barriers.
  • To what extent does the policy adhere to social work values related to human rights, and social, economic, and environmental justice? 
  • If the outcome of your analysis is that best practice ethics and standards are not being adhered to, include that specific information in your analysis.
  • Use data and supporting scholarly evidence such as the NASW Code of Ethics.. 

Guidelines

• Support your claims and evaluation with clear rationale and support from scholarly, peer-reviewed literature.
• Review the Policy Analysis rubric for information on how your work will be graded.
• Review the feedback from this assignment as it will help you prepare for the final assignment (presentation) in the course focusing on conclusions and recommendations.

Additional Requirements

The assignment you submit is expected to meet the following requirements:

• Written communication: Written communication is free of errors that detract from the overall message.
• APA formatting: Resources and citations are formatted according to current APA style and formatting standards.
• Cited resources: A minimum of four scholarly sources. Most literature cited should be current, with publication dates within the past five years.
• Length of paper: 4–5 typed, double-spaced pages.
• Font and font size: Times New Roman, 12 point, Courier New, 12pt, Arial, 11pt.
• Due date: Assignment must be submitted to your instructor in the courseroom no later than Sunday 11:59 p.m. CST this week.