Policy Selection and Background

Policy Selection and Background
Assignment Overview
Government policy impacts social justice problems. Some policies may create social justice problems just as they attempt to correct them. In order to successfully address social justice problems, social workers must have the knowledge and skills to locate, access, analyze, and interpret public policy.

By successfully completing this assignment, you will demonstrate your proficiency in the following EPAs and general practices:

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 Criteria:
1. Describe the purpose of a currently enacted federal policy that addresses the social justice problem for a chosen population, using scholarly literature for support.
3. Describe how the policy connects to the chosen social justice problem, using scholarly literature for support.
4. Describe the historical issues and context that led to the creation of the social problem and policy development, including details about voting outcomes and legislative leaders, using scholarly literature for support.
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:
2. Describe the programs and services provided through the policy, using scholarly literature for support.
5. Describe the impact of the historical influences on the implementation of the policy, using scholarly literature for support.
Assignment Description
Based on your analysis of the social justice problem in the assignment from Unit 2, select a currently enacted federal policy that is currently a law to analyze using the United States Congress website, Congress.gov. It must also address the problem that affects your chosen diverse cultural group (for example, based on race, religion, disabilities, gender orientation, socioeconomic status, or access to services). This will be the policy you analyze for the entire the course project. Be sure to incorporate constructs that have been covered in this course into your analysis. You will compile all parts of the course project in Unit 10, so as you receive feedback for each assignment, revise your work as necessary.

Assignment Instructions
To complete this assignment, select a federal policy from Congress.gov that targets the form of oppression and discrimination you described in Unit 2 (for example, the Americans with Disabilities Act, Veterans Millennium Healthcare Act, Affordable Care Act (ACA), Adoption and Safe Families Act, Medicare, Medicaid, Temporary Aid to Needy Families Act, or Social Security Act). Then, complete the following:

Describe the policy you have chosen and its connection to the social justice problem that was the focus of the previous assignment. This policy must be enacted—in other words, it must be passed legislation.
Describe the purpose of this policy.
Describe the programs and services that are provided through the policy.
Connect the policy to the social justice problem you selected by giving a brief description of the problem. Is it a new problem, something that has recently arisen, or an old problem that never got resolved?
Describe the historical issues and context that lead to the creation of the social problem and policy development.
Include information about the voting outcomes for the policy and the legislative leaders who influenced the policy historically and in the present.
Include the impact of these historical features have had on the policy’s implementation.
Guidelines
Use scholarly, peer-reviewed literature to support your claims.
Before completing this assignment, make sure you also refer to the scoring guide that will be used to grade you.
Remember that your instructor will be providing feedback on your assignments. Use that feedback to improve the content of your Federal Policy Analysis and Recommendations course project.
Example assignment: You may use the assignment example, linked in the Resources, to give you an idea of what a Proficient or higher rating on the scoring guide would look like.

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: Minimum of five scholarly sources. All literature cited should be current, with publication dates within the past five years.
Length of paper: Four to six double-spaced, typed pages.
Font and font size: Times New Roman, 12 point.