Angelo State University Department of Psychology, Sociology, and Social Work SWK : Social Welfare Policy and Practice I

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Angelo State University

Department of Psychology, Sociology, and Social Work

SWK 2317-010: Social Welfare Policy and Practice I

Course Dates, Time, and Location

Fall Semester, 2015: August 24, 2015 - December 11, 2015 Tuesday & Thursday: 14:00 – 15:15

Academic Building, Room 004 Instructor Contact Information

Kevin Wade, M.S.W., LCSW, ACSW Clinical Instructor of Social Work Academic Building, office 104c Office Phone: 325-486-6135 E-Mail: kevin.wade@angelo.edu Skype: kevin.wade.104c Office Hours: T 10:00 am—noon W 10:00 am—noon 1:00 pm—4:00 pm Th 10:00 am—noon 5:00 pm—6:00 pm

Other office & Skype hours by appointment

Recycling and sustainability: Please consider if it is necessary to print the syllabus. If so, please help our fragile environment by recycling this paper when finished. Thank you! Course Description

Provides knowledge and values of the history and philosophy of social welfare programs and the skills to understand major social welfare policies. The impact of policy on human functioning is also emphasized.

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Course Introduction

This course provides students with an introduction to social welfare policy and practice, and sets the foundation for Social Welfare Policy and Practice II. It is imperative that social workers understand how policy affects clients, services, and service delivery. The Council on Social Work Education states that social workers need to be aware of the influence of policy on service delivery and actively engage in policy practice. To this end, this course equips students with the knowledge and skills needed to successfully engage in policy practice. Students will utilize assigned policies to further their knowledge regarding policy and its impacts on generalist social work practice. Additionally, the history of social welfare and various social policies are

presented.

Student Learning Outcomes/Course Competencies: Social Work Knowledge, Values, and Skills

EP 2.1.1 -- Identify as a professional social worker and conduct oneself accordingly. Students will continue to develop their knowledge of professional social work and what it means to be a professional social worker in relationship to social work roles, functions, ethical standards, professional demeanor, the importance of life-long learning, the use of supervision and consultation, self-correction, and professional development. Students will gain knowledge of the professional values of the social work profession and gain skill using social work values and ethics to guide professional activities. Students will build upon their existing skills necessary to identify as professional social workers and conduct themselves accordingly in their behavior, appearance, and communication (written and oral).

EP 2.1.2 -- Apply social work ethical principles to guide professional practice.

Student will build upon their existing knowledge of the NASW Code of Ethics (and other appropriate social work codes of ethics) and their importance in social work practice. Students will recognize and manage personal values in a way that allows professional values to guide practice. Students will begin to learn the skills of applying their professional values to generalist social work practice.

EP 2.1.3 -- Apply critical thinking to inform and communicate professional judgments. Students will gain knowledge of what critical thinking is and how it can be applied. Students will learn the value of critical thinking as it relates to scientific inquiry, reasoned discernment, and its importance to competent social work practice. Students will practice their critical thinking skills in written class assignments and discussion.

EP 2.1.4 -- Engage diversity and difference in practice.

Students will gain knowledge of how culture, social organization, and personal values may oppress, marginalize, alienate, or unjustly create power or privilege for certain groups. Students will recognize their own personal values and biases when working with diverse groups in efforts to respect the dignity and worth of every person and promote social justice in generalist social work practice. Students will gain skills in recognizing and communicating differences between people. They will begin to gain skills in recognizing clients as informants about various areas of diversity.

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Students will build knowledge of the forms and mechanisms of oppression and

discrimination. Students will apply social work values to advocacy in efforts to promote social and economic justice. Students will learn skills to engage in generalist social work practice that advances social and economic justice.

EP 2.1.6 -- Engage in research-informed practice and practice-informed research. Student will gain knowledge of the social work literature (i.e., research) that can be used to inform generalist social work practice. Students will learn skills to apply practice experience in scientific inquiry. Students will incorporate social work values and ethics in their discussion of research informed practice and practice informed research.

EP 2.1.8 -- Engage in policy practice to advance social and economic well-being and to deliver effective social work services.

Student will build upon their knowledge of social welfare policy and practice as it relates to generalist social work. Students learn skills to advocate for policies that advance the social and economic well-being of all people. Students will learn to use social work values to guide their application of policies in generalist social work practice.

EP 2.1.9 -- Respond to contexts that shape practice.

Students will gain knowledge of the dynamic nature of social work practice with groups including evolving organizational, community, and social context.

Course Materials Required Texts:

Ritter, J. A. (2013). Social Work Policy Practice: Changing Our Community, Nation, and the World Plus MySearchLab -- Access Card Package. Boston, MA: Pearson.

ISBN: 978-0-205-22307-7 Alexander, M. (2012). The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of

Colorblindness. New York, NY: The New Press. ISBN: 978-1595586438

Barker, R. L. (2013). The social work dictionary (6th ed.). Washington, DC: NASW

Press. ISBN: 978-0-87101-447-4

American Psychological Association. (2010). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association (6th ed.). Washington, DC: Author.

ISBN: 978-1-4338-0561-5

Required Readings:

NASW Code of Ethics

Texas Board of Social Work Examiners webpage (Code of Conduct & Scope of Practice) NOTE: All assignments submitted in this course are to be written in strict accordance with the

Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (6th ed.). Grading Information

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90 – 100 = A 80 – 89 = B 70 – 79 = C 60 – 69 = D 59 or Below = F

Point Values and Description for Assignments and Examinations:

Professional Performance 10% Debate 15% Policy Analysis 25% Examinations 30% Quizzes 10% Group exercises 10% Total 100% Professional Performance 10%

This is relevant to attendance; engaging in class activities, including frequency and quality; professional presentation; and any factors that would normally be evaluated in a professional social work setting. Essentially, ask yourself if what you are doing would be perceived as professional in an employment setting among social workers.

Please note that I view absences from class in the same way as an employer and co-workers may see absence from work. An absence may be excused for academic purposes (medical issues, deaths, school sports, etc) as it might at work, but in a professional setting, to miss work, you must take PTO, and once you run out of PTO/sick leave, if you miss work, you do not get paid. Missing a certain number of days often results in a write up. Also, missing work often requires other staff to pick up the excess work, clients go without assistance, etc. Therefore, any absence will result in point deductions in professional performance.

PB1 Advocate for client access to the services of social work.

PB2 Practice personal reflection and self-correction to assure continual professional development.

PB3 Attend to professional roles and boundaries.

PB4 Demonstrate professional demeanor in behavior, appearance, and communication. PB7 Recognize and manage personal values in a way that allows professional values to

guide practice.

PB10 Apply strategies of ethical reasoning to arrive at principled decisions.

PB11 Distinguish, appraise, and integrate multiple sources of knowledge, including research-based knowledge, and practice wisdom.

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Debate 15%

Students will be divided into teams and debate a public policy related to social and economic justice in front of the class. The groups will consist of one that is “Pro” and one that is “Con” of the selected policy. Groups will be assigned by instructor at the start of the semester. Students will be asked to support their position using information from policy sources, as well as to locate and use scholarly resources (e.g., peer reviewed journal articles, governmental studies, think tank research, books, demographic research, creditable internet sources, and so forth). An outline will be provided to the instructor (including references).

PB14 Recognize the extent to which a culture’s structures and values may oppress, marginalize, alienate, or create or enhance privilege and power.

PB15 Gain sufficient self-awareness to eliminate the influence of personal biases and values in working with diverse groups.

PB16 Recognize and communicate their understanding of the importance of difference in shaping life experiences.

PB18 Understand the forms and mechanisms of oppression and discrimination. PB19 Advocate for human rights and social and economic justice.

PB20 Engage in practices that advance social and economic justice.

PB25 Analyze, formulate, and advocate for policies that advance social well-being. PB26 Collaborate with colleagues and clients for effective policy action.

PB27 Continuously discover, appraise, and attend to changing locales, populations, scientific and technological developments, and emerging societal trends to provide relevant services.

PB28 Provide leadership in promoting sustainable changes in service delivery and practice to improve the quality of social services.

Policy Analysis 25%

Students will select one social welfare policy to analyze. Efforts will be made not to duplicate the policies chosen by other students. The main focus of this assignment is the identification and meaningful analysis of pertinent policy. For this assessment, students are required to locate and use scholarly resources (e.g., peer reviewed journal articles, books, government studies, think tank research, creditable internet sources, and so forth). A minimum of 5 peer-reviewed Social Work 5 journal articles will be used.

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Students will structure their paper according to the following outline: 1. Introduction to the issue or topic of the policy

2. Descriptives, demographics, statistics and other characteristics of the people affected by the problem or issue

a. How many people are affected by this issue

b. What are these people like in terms of demographics 3. What is the history of the policy?

4. Discussion of policy requirements and your analysis of the policy. What are the consequences of the policy as written?

5. Values addressed by policy in society at large and locally 6. Pertinent social work ethics and values related to policy 7. What key players or groups oppose or support the policy?

8. How have social welfare institutions (agencies and programs that provide social welfare assistance) responded to the needs of those utilizing the policy and implemented services? How have the policies affected social welfare agencies? 9. What is a social worker’s responsibility regarding this policy?

10. What are your recommendations or proposals, beyond the existing policy, to address the issue

11. Conclusion

Appendix: Advocacy letter

There will be a review process prior to submission of the final paper, in the following order:

1. Students will have another student in the class read the paper (the selected student cannot be writing their paper on a similar policy/topic).

2. Students will submit their paper to the writing center for review and assistance. 3. Students will work with the graduate assistant on APA formatting of the paper. 4. Students will have a 2nd student from this class review their paper.

5. Students will have a 3rd student from the field education class to review their paper.

6. It is the student’s responsibility to provide verification of this.

7. Papers that have not been previously reviewed according to these instructions will be deducted 10 points, in addition to any other deductions.

This paper will conform to the standards of the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 6th Edition (2010). The length of the papers may vary, and I don’t want to read long papers simply for the sake of them being a certain length any more than you want to write a long paper simply to make it long. Your paper should address and answer each of the questions sufficiently. I suspect that this cannot be done in anything less than 8 pages, not including cover sheet, reference pages, or appendixes. Plagiarism is the presentation of someone else's information as though it were your own. If you use the words or ideas of another person; or if you use material from any source--whether a book, journal, magazine, newspaper, business publication, broadcast, speech, electronic media, or any other source--you must acknowledge that source. Plagiarism on

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the term paper will result in the student not receiving credit for her/his term paper, among other consequences.

PB12 Analyze models of assessment, prevention, intervention, and evaluation. PB13 Demonstrate effective oral and written communication in working with

individuals, families, groups, organizations, communities, and colleagues. PB14 Recognize the extent to which a culture’s structures and values may oppress,

marginalize, alienate, or create or enhance privilege and power.

PB20 Engage in practices that advance social and economic justice. PB21 Use practice experience to inform scientific inquiry.

PB22 Use research evidence to inform practice.

Examinations 30%

There will be three examinations in this course. Each of these examinations are worth 10% of your total course grade. Each examination will cover a portion of assigned readings, classroom lectures, classroom activities, the NASW Code of Ethics, the Texas Board of Social Work Examiners (TBSWE) Code of Conduct, and the TBSWE Scope of Practice. Exams will take a variety of forms, and may include multiple choice, true/false, fill in the blank, short answer, matching, essay, and other possible forms. Since the nature of social work is one that is often unpredictable, students are expected to be prepared for any manner of assessment on the examinations without prior notice of the structure of the exam.

guide practice.

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Quizzes 10%

There will be a minimum of 12 quizzes worth 10 percent of your grade. I will drop the 2 lowest quiz grades. Quizzes will cover readings and classroom material. Reading quizzes will be weekly and cover the readings due for that week. Classroom quizzes can take various forms and will most likely be unannounced.

guide practice.

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Group exercises 10%

Students will engage in frequent group exercises, presentations, quizzes, inquiry, debate, discussions, legislative process, budgets, assistance & program eligibility, and advocacy. Students will be assigned to a group by the instructor. Each group will be required to develop a contract for group membership. Group members will provide feedback into other members’ participation and this will be used to determine the grade for that individual’s grade for that exercise. Absence from class during any group exercise will result in a zero for that exercise.

guide practice.

Course Policies

 Please do ask questions that are relevant to the course and feel free to utilize my office hours. I am here to help you and I want you to succeed.

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 Attendance Policy: An expectation of a professional social worker is that they are present in their practice setting. The expectation for students in a social work program is that they are motivated to learn and have evidenced dedication to their studies. Thus, my expectation of you is that you will be fully present in class- physically and mentally. Class begins and ends at the scheduled time. I ask that you be present for the duration of class. I expect that all other demands of your time- work, family, appointments, other courses, etc. will be negotiated with this in mind.

There is no grade penalty for the first 3 absences (this is not an invite to miss class).

 any additional absence will result in a loss of 10 points off of your total grade.  Please refer to ASU policy regarding class attendance.

 being more than 5 minutes late for class will count as an absence.

 Make-up examinations will be considered on a case by case basis and will only be allowed for university approved absences.

 Late assignments are not accepted for any reason unless the reason is approved by the course instructor. Any late assignment that the instructor agrees to accept will lose points at 10% per day that it is late. Any assignment submitted any time after the deadline is late. Any exercise missed due to an absence will result in a zero for that exercise.

 All students are expected to follow the National Association of Social Workers Code of Ethics.

 Angelo State University expects its students to maintain complete honesty and integrity in their academic pursuits. Students are responsible for understanding the Academic Honor Code, which is available on the web at: http://www.angelo.edu/forms/pdf/Honor_Code.pdf  Electronic Device Expectations: I recognize that you have other responsibilities &

priorities. I do not have a problem with your electronic devices remaining powered on in class, given the following conditions:

1. the sound is turned off

2. it is not a distraction to me or another student

3. you take responsibility for your own distraction and the consequence on your professional performance grade

4. your use of your device is limited to absolutely necessary communication- no more than 3 texts throughout the duration of a class

5. under no circumstances will you access social networking sites or sites not relevant to the content of the course

6. if the use of electronic devices becomes a distraction, a problem, a nuisance, or in any way detracts from the educational environment, this policy will be modified and devices may be prohibited

 It is your responsibility to check your ASU email and Blackboard at least once daily. Assignments, clarifications, announcements, and quizzes will be communicated through email and blackboard.

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 Please see the course guidelines and expectations for additional information about what I expect of students.

Persons with Disabilities

Persons with disabilities which may warrant academic accommodations must contact the Student Life Office, Room 112 University Center, in order to request such accommodations prior to their being implemented. You are encouraged to make this request early in the semester so that

appropriate arrangements can be made. Additional information can be found at: http://www.angelo.edu/services/student_life/disability.html

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Course Schedule

Week/Dates Lecture/Discussion topic Assignment due Reading

Week 1 Intro to policy- group competitions

Research the branch & level of government your group represents

Syllabus, course Expectations, Blackboard, NASW Code of Ethics, TBSWE Scope of Practice & Code of Conduct

8/24 - 8/28

Week 2 Social welfare policy and practice- what is it? Why

is it important? Syllabus quiz Ritter ch 1

8/31 - 9/4 Reading quiz 1 APA ch 1

Week 3 What is policy? Reading quiz 2 New Jim Crow: foreword -ch 1

9/7 - 9/11 Policy analysis topic due

Social justice issue to be

addressed by group

Week 4 Research and policy analysis Reading quiz 3 Ritter ch 2

9/14 - 9/18 APA ch 2

Week 5 How did we get here? Reading quiz 4 New Jim Crow ch 2

9/21 - 9/25 Policy Analysis References

due

Proposal to address social

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Week 6 Can't we all just get along? Why my values are right

and yours are wrong. Reading quiz 5 Ritter ch 3

9/28 - 10/2 Exam 1 APA ch 3

Week 7 Legislative process Reading quiz 6 New Jim Crow ch 3

10/5 - 10/9 Policy Anaylysis Intro ¶ due

Action on social justice issue

proposal

Week 8 Debates

10/12 - 10/16

Week 9 Where does policy come from? Reading quiz 7 Ritter ch 4

10/19 - 10/23 Budget & eligibility APA ch 4

Week 10 How is policy changed? Reading quiz 8 New Jim Crow ch 4

10/26 - 10/30 Exam 2

Week 11 Doing policy practice…. Reading quiz 9 Ritter ch 5

11/2 - 11/6 APA ch 6

Week 12 Policy analysis & research Reading quiz 10 New Jim Crow ch 5

11/9 - 11/13 Jim Crow

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Week 13 Health care & policy Reading quiz 11 Ritter ch 6

11/16 - 11/20 Policy Anaylysis Due- 4/23

Week 14 Student choice Reading quiz 12 New Jim Crow ch 6

11/23 - 11/27

11-26: No Class

Week 15 Review, catch-up, student choice, & debate

discussions.

11/30 - 12/4

Dead Week

Week 16 Comprehensive Final Exam-

12/7 - 12/11 Thursday, Dec 8, 1:00p-3:00p

Finals Week

 Instructor can add additional readings with 48 hours’ notice.

Important dates:

Sep 7 University Holiday: Labor day Nov 2 Last day to drop a class or withdraw Nov 25-27 University Holiday: Thanksgiving Nov 30—Dec 4 Dead Week

Dec 7-11 Finals

Dec 11 Last day of semester Dec 12 Graduation