For your final project, you will imagine you are employed as a human services professional in your desired area of interest. You have been asked to prepare a brief policy paper analyzing a particular piece of human services legislation and to make policy recommendations for better meeting the needs of your client base. Using a specific piece of state or federal legislation that you have identified and researched in this course, you will assess the strengths and/or weaknesses of the legislation in addressing the needs of clients, bearing in mind the cultural, social, political, historical, and economic context in which the legislation was proposed. You should also consider how other similar legislation currently before state or federal legislative bodies might impact the legislation, and any legal or ethical concerns. Based on your analysis, your paper should explain your organization’s position on the legislation being considered, propose areas for improvement, and recommend strategies for building coalitions to support your position. Your analysis and recommendations should take into account the various interest groups or stakeholders that may influence the legislation being considered, including the roles of media, lobbying groups, community groups, beneficiaries, and concerned individuals and how political, social, or economic concerns may affect implementation.
The analysis in the policy brief should be based on an evaluative, comprehensive literature review focused on the identified social problem and legislation and a background analysis conducted earlier in the course.
Prior to completing Milestone One, you should identify the human services organization you will imagine being employed by. Define the organization and its mission. For Milestone One you will submit a background analysis paper on the piece of state or federal legislation you have identified for your final project. Visit state and federal legislative websites to explore and identify a human services specific piece of legislation/bill of interest to you. This background paper should cover all critical elements listed in Section II of the Final Project Document. You are encouraged to use existing television interviews, previously published interviews, and websites from the sponsor of the legislation. You may reach out to a staffer or the sponsor of the piece of legislation, but this is not required. Create a timeline showing the history of the legislation you are analyzing, including relevant prior legislation and major social, political, and economic events that impacted the development of this legislation.
Specifically, the following critical elements must be addressed:
- Background. In this brief introductory section, you will put the legislation under consideration in context as a preface to explaining your organization’s position. Specifically, you should use the background analysis you have completed earlier in the course to:
- Briefly examine how major social, political, and economic events and other legislation have set the stage for the specific legislation you are considering. Be sure to provide specific examples in your response.
- Briefly analyze the effectiveness of previous and existing human services legislation on the selected topic. Do the policies or programs effectively address the needs of the intended beneficiaries? Why or why not? Provide evidence to support your answer.
- Succinctly examine whether previous and existing policies address the human services challenge in ways that are sensitive to meeting the needs of a diverse clientele and explain why or why not. Provide evidence to support your answer.
- Argue for why is it particularly urgent to address the social issue in the legislation and any related policy weaknesses now. Your reasons should use audience-specific language and be supported by evidence. Keep in mind that policymakers, lobbyists, and private sector leaders have multiple competing priorities, respond to pressures from different groups, and have limited time. Your arguments will be critical to getting and keeping their support.
What to Submit
Milestone One must be two to three pages in length (plus a cover page and references) and must be written in APA format. Use double spacing, 12-point Times New Roman font, one-inch margins, and at least three references cited in APA format.