Objectives Policy Blog

1.Describe the history, current structures and issues of social welfare policies and the major ideological themes that underlie them. (Program Obj. 5; EPAS 2.1.8)

Through this course I learned that many of the current issues we see as a society stem from the structures that we create. We discussed how politically speaking; parties often create even more issues by not being able to create a program that both sides agree upon. During these discussions we talked about various political programs or bills that have been created in hopes of creating relief to many of the issues discussed in class, like poverty. Throughout the history of social welfare policies are society has seen, we discussed that even though many policies or programs have been created that because of the political spectrum of conservatives and liberals, many of these things have failed, or not lasted long enough to see results.

The reason for this that we talked about throughout the course is that conservatives generally have the idea that there is an individual responsibility versus society’s responsibility to take care of them. Whereas liberals generally feel that our government should help individuals because they can not help themselves. For this reason political officials struggle to find effective ways to benefit society in terms of programs and policies.

2. Engage in policy practices that advance social and economic justice. (Program Obj. 5; EPAS 2.1.4)

In this course, I think we really learned about how advocacy was an important skill in social work. I learned that even though I should be aware of the policies that effect my clients, I do not have to create a policy to make it important. I can simply advocate to raise awareness for a policy or even a group of people seeking a policy change or something. During our project my group participated in an advocacy project in which we raised awareness for an act that we felt was something that would benefit many, we had people sign letters that could be sent to their Senators in support of the act.

Through various readings and discussions throughout the course I learned many different ways that I can participate in advocating for my clients or the group of clients I might be working with. By raising awareness for a particular social or economic justice issue, I can very well be apart of bringing about change for my clients.

3. Apply social work values, standards and ethics in analyzing and influencing policy formulation, implementation and advocacy. (Program Obj. 5; EPAS 2.1.8, 2.1.2)

Before this class I did not really pay too much attention to policy. But now I know that it is important to be aware of the policies that are being made or proposes because they could have and affect on whatever population I choose to work with. I am suppose to advocate for my clients, and I wont be able to do that if I do not know what is going on within the political world.
The Social Work Code of Ethics also says that social workers need to be competent. I would think that if I am unaware of policies that have an affect on my clients then I would be incompetent and ineffective in working with them. So I learned from this class that even though the political world overall scares me and I want to stay away from it. I need to pay attention to what is going on so I can be effective in assisting my clients.

4. Analyze and apply the results of policy research in contexts relevant to social service delivery. (Program Obj. 6, 2; EPAS 2.1.8, 2.1.6, 2.1.9)

For the project I worked on for the class, my group and myself had to research about our population and issues relevant to them, as well as things that are going on to help them and raise awareness for their oppression. This required us to look at past policies that were made and current policies that have been made. Through this research we were able to know more about what was going on with our population and we felt more passionate about seeing our Act supported.