Defining Social Welfare Policy

Policy:

• A strategy, action or plan for solving a problem or meeting a need.
• It’s what we choose to do or not to do about some problem.
• A set of guiding principles.

Examples of Policies:

• LCSC’s Catalog
• Faculty Handbook
• Course Syllabus
• Department of Social Services Foster Care Policy Manual
• Federal Register

Where do we find out about policy?

• Newspapers
• Magazines - Time Magazine, Newsweek, etc.
• Radio and television
• Political debate

Public Policy

• transportation
• the environment
• defense
• the economy

Public Policy or Welfare Policy:

Public Welfare Policy

Most often used to refer specifically to "welfare" programs for the poor, such as

• TAFI,
• food stamps,
• Medicaid,
• and other forms of public assistance.

Social WelfareSocial welfare programs and social services are sometimes referred to as "social welfare institutions." Social Welfare

Purposes include

• prevention,
• alleviation,
• or contributions to the solutions

of recognized social problems in order to improve the well-being of individuals, groups or communities. Social Welfare

• . . . but, not everyone benefits!
• There are always "winners" and "losers" in the process.
• Values and morals determine what kinds of policies are developed to deal with social problems.

Welfare Policy

• The decision of who gets what
• Deals with the allocation of scarce resources.

Health Policy

• The decision of who survives and who doesn’t
• One basis for the quality of life decisions for the survivors

Education Policy

• The decision of who has access to the opportunity structure
• The types of jobs individuals will be able to hold in our society

Employment Policy

• Who gets hired and who doesn’t
• Minimum living standards

Housing Policy

• The decision of who will live where
• Basic decision about the quality of life

Economic Policy

• Who pays?

Social Welfare Programs:

• 1. Institutional - permanent programs designed to meet the needs of individuals and families, anticipating needs before they occur (ex: SS)
• 2. Residual - developed as a reaction to unmet needs (Food Bank)

Social Welfare Programs:

• Residual Programs- generally reactive - developed as reaction to some problem or unmet need.
• Frequently seen as temporary programs, which are phased out when the normal institutional structures are capable of meeting the need.

Levels of Policy

• Federal - usually refers to governmental policy that applies to everyone
• State - policies which apply to everyone in a particular state
• Local - policies established by local governments which apply to local areas

Levels of Policy 

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  Macro-Level Policy

  • Involves broad laws, regulations and guidelines that provide framework for the provision of services and benefits
  • Frequently laws and regulations
  • Examples: Americans with Disabilities Act, American Indian Child Welfare Act.

  Mezzo-Level Policy

  • Refers to the administrative policy that organizations generate to direct their operations.
  • Examples: financial policy manual outlining pay, benefits, travel; program area manual - intake, eligibility, record keeping, etc.

  Micro-Level Policy

  • How social workers and other helping professions translate macro- and mezzo-level policies into client services
  • "Street-level" policy

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  Kinds of Policy

  • Public Agency Policy - operates on the basis of laws, administrative rules and court decisions
  • Private Agency Policy - policy based on decisions of a board of directors

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  Law, Policy, or Court Decision?

  Law

  • Something enacted by a legislature or official public body (representatives of the people)
  • Can be enforced by the State

  Policy

  • May be a law or someone’s interpretation of the law, or the set of rules established by an agencies board or an individual

  Court Decision

  • May by set policy by interpreting the meaning of a law in a certain way.
  • Example: The Supreme Court’s interpretation of Roe v. Wade

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  Policy:

  • An overall plan embracing the general goals and procedures, especially of a governing body

  Policy:

  • A definite course or method of action selected from among alternatives and in light of given conditions to guide and determine present and future conditions.

  Working Definition

  "Social welfare policy concerns the interrelated, but not necessarily logically consistent

  • principles,
  • guidelines,
  • and procedures

  designed to deal with dependency in our society."

  Popple & Leighninger, p. 33

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  Last modified 01/26/99