Other social issues also need attention, including criminal justice and police reform. Civil rights and equal employment policies were attempts to increase opportunities for women, people of color, and other groups. While some have benefited, these policies have not fundamentally altered the ways many organizations and social systems operate Ray, Women still struggle for pay equity, and reproductive rights are under constant threat of erosion.
Old Jim Crow laws were replaced by policies that fueled the war on drugs and the mass incarceration of Blacks Alexander, Voting rights are under attack. The racial wealth gap persists and racial disparities continue to ignite tensions that must be addressed. Given labor market changes, residual social policy responses are insufficient to address increasing structural inequality in the United States Stiglitz, Job training programs focused on helping more low-income individuals prepare for jobs in high-demand sectors in their immediate locales are needed along with supports like living allowances, child care, and job coaches that can help them complete training programs and secure stable employment Oh et al.
Suggestions to improve the economic situation of Blacks also include going beyond traditional approaches e.
Efforts to privatize Social Security have fallen by the wayside since the Great Recession. Congress may want to review how the amendments to the Social Security Act, an excellent example of bipartisan policymaking, kept the program solvent Cohen, Throughout the world, social workers support policies that alter social structures to reduce social, racial, and gender inequalities by giving people more power and control over government decision-making.
In the United States, the election of more women and people of color to local, state, and federal office is encouraging. Increasing voter participation is essential. Continuing the social action tradition of social work pioneers such as Jane Addams, Bertha Reynolds, and Whitney Young, social workers use their knowledge, skills, and values to advocate for those who are underrepresented in policymaking Marsh, ; Schneider, Equally important is empowering others, especially those whose voices are often not heard, to do the same.
Social workers have critical knowledge of the human condition and engage in all aspects of the policymaking process. They advise policymakers informally and more formally by lobbying and providing legislative testimony. They also engage in advocacy through activities such as community organization and participation in public demonstrations. They administer and work on the front lines of agencies that implement public policy, serve as staff members to elected officials, and seek elected office.
Social workers have held local, state, and federal elective offices, including as members of the U. House of Representatives and Senate.
They also participate in party politics and campaign for candidates of their choosing. NASW publishes the policy statements adopted by its delegate assembly, and at the federal level and through its state chapters it engages in lobbying to influence social policy development. NASW state chapters provide many opportunities for social workers to become involved in policymaking.
In , social workers in Congress established the Congressional Social Work Caucus, which works to create a strong safety net of services and programs to achieve social, economic, and environmental justice for all Americans. This includes promoting a robust macro social work education curriculum that focuses on community, organizational, and policy practice, as well as embedding voting and civic engagement in the classroom and field education.
Social workers have long played a vital role in helping the United States address economic crises, political turmoil, and the need for civil rights reform by providing services and participating in policymaking processes.
Today, those roles include helping the nation and the world address the public health and economic crises and racial and gender disparities posed and exposed by the COVID pandemic. Printed from Encyclopedia of Social Work. Under the terms of the licence agreement, an individual user may print out a single article for personal use for details see Privacy Policy and Legal Notice.
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Social Welfare Policy: Overview. Diana M. DiNitto Diana M. Johnson David H. Johnson Millersville University of Pennsylvania. Keywords welfare social welfare policy social insurance public assistance human needs macro social work.
Philosophical and Ideological Underpinnings of U. Social Welfare Policy The notion of citizenship carries specific rights and obligations. Social Welfare Policy History The Progressive era at the beginning of the 20th century in the United States was marked by rapid industrialization and influxes of immigrants. Poverty and Inequality Reducing poverty and inequality has been a major focus of the social work profession since its inception.
The Future of U. Social Workers and Social Policy Continuing the social action tradition of social work pioneers such as Jane Addams, Bertha Reynolds, and Whitney Young, social workers use their knowledge, skills, and values to advocate for those who are underrepresented in policymaking Marsh, ; Schneider, Association for Policy Analysis and Management.
Center for Budget and Policy Priorities. Common Cause. League of Women Voters of the US. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University. National Association of Social Workers. Poverty Solutions, University of Michigan. Progressive Policy Institute. Social Security Administration. The American Prospect. Urban Institute. Census Bureau. Government Accountability Office. House of Representatives. White House. Further Reading Day, P.
A new history of social welfare 7th ed. DiNitto, D. Social welfare: Politics and public policy 8th ed. Jansson, B. Social welfare policy and advocacy: Advancing social justice through eight policy sectors 2nd ed.
Kingdon, J. Agendas, alternatives, and public policy 2nd ed. MacGregor, M. Integration of the armed forces, — Army Center of Military History. Ritter, J. Social work policy practice: Changing our community, nation, and the world 2nd ed. Sabatier, P. Theories of the policy process 3rd ed. Westview Press.
Trattner, W. From poor law to the welfare state: A history of social welfare in America 6th ed. Free Press. References Abramovitz, M. Regulating the lives of women: Social welfare policy from colonial times to the present 3rd ed.
Alexander, M. The new Jim Crow: Mass incarceration in the age of colorblindness Rev. New Press. Grand challenges for social work. Andersson, F. Moving up or moving on: Who advances in the low-wage labor market?
Russell Sage Foundation. Association for Community Organization and Social Action. Special commission. Austin, M. Changing welfare services: Case studies in local welfare reform programs. Haworth Press. Bear, C. American Indian boarding schools haunt many. National Public Radio. Blakemore, E. Chetty, R. Race and economic opportunity in the United States: An intergenerational perspective. Quarterly Journal of Economics , 2 , — Cohen, W. Social security: The compromise and beyond.
Save Our Security Education Fund. Council on Social Work Education. Democratic National Committee. Building a stronger, fairer economy. Diamond, R. Future of social programs. Congressional Quarterly. Disability policy: Embracing a civil rights perspective. Johnson Eds. Opinion in Brown v. Board of Education. National Archives. Elving, R. Bush a 1-term president. Faricy, C. Welfare for the wealthy: Parties, social spending, and inequality in the United States. Cambridge University Press.
Gershon, L. Who was Charles Curtis, the first vice president of color? Smithsonian Magazine. By , there were 11, such plans, covering 8. Upon retirement, the employee can either take the company stock from the fund or sell the shares back to the corporation. The American government sector has played an important role in the development of these private plans. They are not just a good idea promoted by the business sector alone. Both the federal government and state governments have passed legislation to encourage business to offer these plans.
For instance, between and , Congress passed sixteen pieces of legislation encouraging the development of employee stock ownership plans, while thirteen states passed similar laws. The law also created a new nondeductible IRA that accumulates income tax-free. In addition, the law facilitates the use of IRAs to pay for higher education expenses and first-time homes.
In , Americans were shocked by the news of several major cases of corporate accounting fraud. When such companies file for bankruptcy, employees can lose all or most of their retirement savings. Can corporations be trusted as a major source of retirement savings? Are Enron and WorldCom exceptions in the corporate world or are they indicative of widespread corporate corruption?
Are they clear examples of why some government regulation of the business sector is needed? The American social security system is considered by many observers to be seriously flawed. Some of the key issues include sustainability, the influence of the system on economic growth, and the equity of the system for various participants. The sustainability of the system can become an issue when the ratio of retirees to workers becomes too large to finance.
Thus, policymakers are concerned about the long-term financial viability of the currently structured social security system. As discussed earlier in this book, the Reagan Administration raised the age for receiving social security retirement benefits to Proponents of this policy option state the potential for a higher rate of return on retirement savings, thereby addressing the sustainability issue. Opponents of this policy proposal warn of the market risks and relatively high administrative costs of private-investment accounts.
That is, states must maintain spending equal to at least 75 percent of their Fiscal Year spending on AFDC and related services such as child care and emergency assistance. TANF gives states some flexibility in administering federal funds.
If a program participant refuses work requirements, states have the option to reduce or eliminate assistance to the whole family. This could include the loss of Medicaid. The exception to this provision is when the participant refuses work because they cannot find or afford child care for a child under six years old. Another important feature of TANF concerns minor parents.
In addition, these minors must attend high school or an alternative educational or training program as soon as their child is twelve weeks old.
The program assists poor people aged 65 or older as well as blind people and people with disabilities. Forty-one states and the District of Columbia offer general assistance, although in some states, only certain counties provide assistance. Some states also impose time limits on all or certain categories of their general assistance caseload.
That is, under this welfare reform legislation, states can opt to limit aid to vouchers or services. These features of the new approach to public assistance present a threat to the social work principle of self-determination, because they provide less flexibility to caseworkers and clients in the use of welfare assistance.
However, there are potential negative ramifications to this aspect of the law as well. TANF funds spent on other services could result in less basic subsistence support to poor families. Under the legislation, TANF can be administered and distributed by private nonprofit or for-profit entities.
What are the possible outcomes if this takes place in certain states? On the positive side, competition for TANF contracts may reduce costs to states. In addition, service delivery by less bureaucratic organizations than government may improve service quality. The former federal law regarding public assistance was very specific in guaranteeing clients the right to appeal decisions against them.
The legislation, however, is more general on this issue. States must submit their own plans, which may vary considerably in the protection of client rights. A final issue regards the ability of states to deny cash assistance and Medicaid to adults who do not meet work requirements. In such cases, which sectors of society are responsible for providing the safety net?
Will we revert to the colonial system of church-administered relief? Welfare reform got its major push from city and state government. A primary example was New York City. New York experienced a fiscal crisis in As a result, many features of TANF, including time limits and teen parent restrictions, had already been implemented at the state level when the federal legislation was enacted.
The federal government supports a number of health services for the poor, including services for war veterans, Native Americans, women and children. Medicare and Medicaid, however, are the two major public health care programs in the United States. Social security recipients, railroad retirees, federal and state government employees, in addition to some people with kidney disease or a permanent disability are eligible for Medicare.
Medicare is the second largest domestic program, second only to the social security program. The program is funded by a payroll tax paid by employers and employees. Part A is basic hospital insurance. It covers most costs of hospitalization, post-hospital extended care, and home health services. Part B is an optional supplementary medical insurance.
The second major public health program, Medicaid, is basically a federal grant to states. Federal regulations specify the basic health services that must be offered under Medicaid. Yet, services are primarily administered by individual states including decisions regarding the duration of services and optional services. However, the most Medicaid dollars go to people who are blind or have other disabilities. Furthermore, most Medicaid spending on older Americans is for nursing home care.
Millions of Americans, of course, obtain private health insurance through their employer. Unless they are experiencing an emergency, those needing medical attention usually see their primary care physician first.
If needed, the primary care physician will then make a referral for more specialized services. Thus, the primary care physician serves as a gatekeeper in managing health care services and costs. In most managed care models, health care is provided to a defined number of enrollees in the health care plan. The HMO or other managed care entity, therefore, receives a fixed dollar amount per enrollee per month. Consequently, the services of physicians and hospitals participating in the managed care system become cost-centers that need to be managed to stay within the contracted budget.
The aim is to create an incentive to keep people well i. The fundamental problem with managed health care is the conflict between the goals of high quality and low costs. Since the emergence of managed care, many issues related to this fundamental problem have come to the attention of consumers, social workers, and policymakers.
In addition, patients were faced with predetermined service cut-off dates. Women giving birth, for example, were given hospital stay limits based on cost considerations. Patients also perceived policies regarding the use of specialists to be arbitrary and not necessarily based on patient need. A more recent issue is the effect that managed care might have on urban community service systems — including public hospitals and public health clinics frequently used by Medicaid patients.
To illustrate, from to, Medicaid managed care enrollment in the U. Underlying this trend is the assumption that competition for managed care contracts will increase the supply of health care providers in low-income communities.
Without generous capitation payments, this may never happen. Furthermore, managed care companies may leave out certain community-based organizations that serve the poor from their service provider networks. These organizations often are in poor financial condition, have outdated management information systems, and utilize decaying facilities and equipment.
In short, they are relatively costly to a managed care organization. These organizations historically have provided service with an emphasis on individual need in contrast to other criteria such as ability-to-pay or profit. In any case, they are inexperienced in competing for clients in a managed care system. For these traditional service providers, the emergence of managed care may result in significant losses of revenue and ability to serve uninsured clients.
Added to all of this is the prospect of state government contracting with managed care organizations to administer SSI and TANF programs. Yet, it is a trend with many key issues to be addressed by policy planners, social workers, and other health and human service providers. The federal government provides food to poor Americans through a variety of programs. Public, private nonprofit, and private for-profit organizations all cooperate in the provision of these programs. For example, child nutrition programs including the school lunch program reach out to poor children in schools, childcare centers, and summer camps.
These benefits are adjusted yearly in accordance with changes in food prices generally. Although states administer their food stamp programs, the federal government pays for the direct costs of food stamps and a portion of state administrative expenses. With very few exceptions, all recipients of public assistance are eligible for food stamps. Exceptions include most postsecondary school students! Evidence is presented to promote or oppose the bill.
It is debated and voted upon. If the bill is passed into law, regulatory agencies executive branch begin drafting rules and regulations to enforce the law.
If a law or regulation is challenged on legal grounds, the Supreme Court judicial branch intervenes to interpret the law or overrule it. Here are some examples of governmental groups that play a role in social welfare policy in the United States: U.
Learn about the federal rule making process and how to make your voice heard. You influence social welfare policy by: researching and publishing on subjects you care about identifying and indicating areas where policy is needed creating connections with colleagues in your field and engaging them in meaningful dialogue working to your full potential and maintaining your intellectual curiosity volunteering to participate in policy meetings continuing to engage with the relevant scholarly literature speaking out against ill-advised policy and promoting sound policy putting Walden's mission of positive social change into practice.
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