What is policy framework? - Answers A systematic model for examining a specific social welfare policy or
set of policies
List 3 ways that policy framework can be used - Answers 1) Analysts use to evaluate the congruence of a
policy with the mission and goals of the welfare state
2)Employ policy frameworks to assess whether key social welfare values that is, social justice,
redistribution, or equity, are incorporated within a given policy
3)Can help determine if a policy is consistent with established social welfare values or historical
precedents.
Agency policies dictate___(a)___. They also define ____(b)_____. - Answers A- what a social worker will
do, with whom, and for how long.
B-who is (or is not) a client and what services will be offered.
What does "environmental scanning" entail? - Answers As more social services are delivered in the
competitive marketplace, nonprofit social agencies are forced to replicate private sector corporate
behavior. This includes being aware of changing demographics and market trends, and monitoring new
legislation. In some sectors, events change so rapidly that agencies must continually modify their
operating procedures to remain viable
A policy framework can provide decision makers and the general public with what? - Answers
Information, an understanding of the ramifications of a policy on the target problem (and other
problems and policies) and alternative policies that could more effectively address the problem.
List two reasons why it is important to understand a policy's historical antecedents - Answers 1)Helps
curb the tendency of decision makers to reinvent the wheel.
2)Understand the forces that were mobilized to support or oppose a given policy. Explains its evolution.
List the 4 steps of the policy analysis model - Answers 1)Historical Background of the policy.
2)Problems that necessitate the policy.
,3)Policy description.
4) Policy analysis- policy goals and political/economic. Administrative feasibility.
Policy goals are the what? - Answers Criteria by which all else is measured.
Give an example of a policy that has produced negative unintended consequences. - Answers
Prohibition. Despite the best hopes, prohibition did not decrease crime or lead to more family stability
and greater social order. Instead it led to the growth of an organized crime industry that fed more
people alcohol.
Give an example of a policy that has produced positive unintended consequences. - Answers Tax on
cigarettes. Makes people smoke less and makes people care about things to a more socially acceptable
level.
How is the 'political feasibility" of a policy assessed"? - Answers Subjective assessment. To fully evaluate
a policy, the analyst must assess which group(s) will oppose or support it. They must also be able to
assess the power and constituency base of each group. However, the size of the constituency base and
its relative power are sometimes unrelated.
What does the term "pay-go-financing" mean? - Answers A system for determining federal budgetary
allocations that emerged out of the 1991 Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act. In short, funding for any
new program (or enhanced funding for an existing program) must come from reallocating existing
money.
How is the "administrative feasibility" of a policy assessed? - Answers Responsible administrative and
supervisory agencies must possess the personnel, resources, skills, and expertise needed to effectively
implement the policy. In addition, directors and supervisors must be sympathetic to the goals of the
policy, have the expertise and skill needed to implement or oversee the policy, and have an
understanding of the fundamental objectives of the policy.
One of the most difficult tasks a student faces is choosing the actual policy [to be analyzed]. A
manageable assignment [policy analysis] requires selecting a policy that is ___(a)____ - Answers
Manageable and finding or generating information relevant to it.
Researching and Analyzing Social Policies—What are the seven major avenues for finding information? -
Answers 1) Policy analysts may choose to generate their own data through primary research, including
surveys, opinion polls, experimental research, longitudinal studies, and so forth.
2)Governmental or agency records are often useful sources for relevant data.
, 3) Records and published minutes of legislative bodies and committiees. On a federal level, this include
congressional record and the varies houses and senate committees and subcommittees.
4)Governmental publications.
5)Think tanks, advocacy organizations, and professional associations.
6) Professional journals, books, and monographs. Articles or books on the specific policy topics can be
found in social science index, Google scholar, and subject headings in library catalogues, along with
many other venues.
7) Interviews with principals in the policy process, advocates, recipients of series, and government
officials.
When is a policy analysis complete? - Answers It is never complete. Policy analysis is always an
approximation of the ideal, and therefore decisions are inevitably made on the basis of incomplete
information.
Is policy analysis *objective OR *subjective (*choose one) Why? - Answers Subjective. It's done through
a lens of the analysts value system, ideological beliefs, and their particular understanding of the goals
and purposes of the project._ Subjectivity may be evident in the omission of facts or questions or in the
relative weight given to one variable over another.
Structural features of the American welfare state militate against what? - Answers Major expansion of
government.
A pluralistic mix of __(a)__and__(b)__ services is the overriding feature of U.S. soil welfare. - Answers A)
Private
B) Public
The mixed welfare economy of the United States, in which the __(a)__ sectors exist, poses serious
questions for social welfare policy. - Answers Voluntary governmental and corporate.