Social policy Reform : Power Point Presentation

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Becoming an Effective
Policy Advocate

Bruce Jansson, University of Southern California
�

PowerPoint created by

Gretchen Heidemann, MSW, PhD Candidate

University of Southern California

School of Social Work

Human Behavior in the Social Environment

Young Adulthood

Chapter 8
Developing Proposals in the Second, Third, and Fourth Steps of Policy Analysis

Human Behavior in the Social Environment

Young Adulthood

Steps 2-4 of Policy Analysis

Step 2: Brainstorm policy, programmatic, and resource options that might define a strategy for addressing the problem
Step 3: Analyze the relative merits of competing options and select one
Step 4: Draft a policy proposal that flows from the brainstorming and conceptual work of the preceding stages of policy analysis

Human Behavior in the Social Environment

Young Adulthood

Steps 2-4 (cont.)

These steps are a prelude to developing and drafting policy (step 5)

Policy proposals lie at the heart of the policy making process since they express the wishes of specific policy advocates in concrete terms

Intersecting Arenas and Stakeholders

Stakeholders:

Key persons, groups, and institutions with an interest in a particular issue

The officials and advocates who operate in specific arenas

Human Behavior in the Social Environment

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Intersecting Arenas (cont.)

Intersecting arenas:

Links between the federal, state, county, and municipal arenas as well as governmental and nongovernmental sectors

Stakeholders may want the same thing but for different reasons

Stakeholders and the Wheel of Interaction

The moves of each of the stakeholders profoundly influence the others

Stakeholders have various motivations and perspectives as they consider specific policies

Human Behavior in the Social Environment

Young Adulthood

Issues to Consider

When designing policy proposals, advocates must consider a range of issues, which can be placed in nine groups

As they encounter these issues, policy advocates must choose among competing alternatives or options

Human Behavior in the Social Environment

Young Adulthood

Issues (cont.)

1. A mission for the proposal

The policy advocate must create objectives for the proposed program

Policies usually contain explicit or implicit objectives that provide programs with an overarching direction

Human Behavior in the Social Environment

Young Adulthood

Issues (cont.)

2. How services will be structured

The policy advocate must:

Decide what agency will have ultimate responsibility for the program

Develop policies about implementation

Human Behavior in the Social Environment

Young Adulthood

Issues (cont.)

3. The extent of devolution and the resource path

The policy advocate must:

Decide where programs should be placed on the continuum from solely federal to solely state or state/local funding

Choose from a variety of funding options

Human Behavior in the Social Environment

Young Adulthood

Issues (cont.)

4. The content of a proposal’s services

The policy advocate must:

Articulate a framework on which to base services

Designate the type of staff that will deliver services and their qualifications

Decide whether services will be preventative or curative

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Issues (cont.)

5. How resources will be rationed

The policy advocate must specify the formal or direct means of restricting access

Means testing

Diagnostic criteria

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Issues (cont.)

Policy advocates must also specify the indirect methods of restricting access

Place limits on intensity/duration of services

first-come first-served

reserve resources for the underserved

location of facility

selective use of outreach

charging fees

Issues (cont.)

6. How agencies will be linked

Policy advocates must:

specify the linkages, partnerships, and collaborations the program will have with other agencies

Consider the creation of regional organizations to fund local agencies

Human Behavior in the Social Environment

Young Adulthood

Issues (cont.)

7. How services will be linked to communities

Policy advocates must specify how the agency will embed itself in the community, such as through:

Outreach

Linkages with other organizations

Advocacy on relevant issues

Putting local people on the board

Human Behavior in the Social Environment

Young Adulthood

Issues (cont.)

8. How implementation will be monitored

Policy advocates must specify:

Who will establish the detailed policies that will guide the implementation of the proposal

Who will monitor the program’s implementation

Human Behavior in the Social Environment

Young Adulthood

Issues (cont.)

9. How services will be assessed

The policy advocate must determine:

Who will do the assessment

How the assessment will be funded

Human Behavior in the Social Environment

Young Adulthood

The Anatomy of Policy Proposals

Proposal writing involves choosing from the competing options

The policy advocate maps a proposal by drawing lines between alternative options on a diagram that displays the issues and the competing options

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Comparing Policy Options

Policy advocates use a systematic approach to compare the merits of competing options:

Identify options

Select and weigh criteria

Rank options

Develop a decision-making matrix

Human Behavior in the Social Environment

Young Adulthood

Identifying Options

Policy analysts should consider more than just a single policy approach
The identified problem may have a limited or a large number of potential solutions
All possible solutions should be identified before selecting and weighing criteria

Human Behavior in the Social Environment

Young Adulthood

Selecting and Weighing Criteria

Identify the criteria to use as a basis of comparison

Weigh their relative importance

Human Behavior in the Social Environment

Young Adulthood

Selecting Criteria (cont.)

Value-based criteria

Equality

Social justice

Equity

Consumer-outcome criteria

The policy’s effectiveness in ameliorating social problems

Economic criteria

The relative cost of competing options

Selecting Criteria (cont.)

Feasibility criteria

Practicality of the options

Externalities criteria

Affect on institutions or persons who initially appear to be unrelated to the policy

Cost-Effectiveness

Biggest benefit at the lowest cost

Decision-Making Matrix

Graphically portrays options and criteria
Policy options are rated by the criteria

Ex: scale of 1 to 10

Many options have at least one weakness

Calculate scores

Combine the ranking of the options for each criterion and the relative importance of each criterion

Tally for a total score

Human Behavior in the Social Environment

Young Adulthood

Decision-Making Matrix (cont.)

Using a matrix does not necessarily eliminate conflict

There may be disagreement about:

The criteria selected

The relative importance of the criteria

Specific options’ scores for those criteria

Qualitative Rankings

Policy options can also be ranked qualitatively rather than quantitatively

Narrative description of advantages and disadvantages

Use of terms such as high, medium, and low to describe the relative merits of options

Human Behavior in the Social Environment

Young Adulthood

Using Policy Skills in Tandem

Effective policy advocates use analytic skills, along with other policy practice skills, in identifying, comparing, and selecting policy options

Human Behavior in the Social Environment

Young Adulthood