Putting Social Advocacy Skills into Action

2

Ajibola Idowu

Social Policy: Analysis and Advocacy

Title: Identification of a Social Problem and Identification of a Policy

Walden University

Instructor: Dr. RYAN SMITH

Describe a current social problem. How might this problem be incongruent with social work values/ethics?

Poverty in America

Poverty can be of a temporary or long-term nature. Balloch & Jones (1990) defines poverty as lack of money, lack of resources, lack of means and opportunity, lack of making choices, and lack of control. These attributes certainly can describe the situation of many social services users that the social worker profession serves. Historically, the social work profession was established nationally and locally to combat poverty. Thus, the undeserving poor found its most consistent champion rooted in the history of the social work profession and ideology. Therefore, the modern social work profession grew from the social policy of poverty relief that grew from the earliest origin of social work, an in-church-based ministry for the poor that later evolved into a social justice movement of the present day (Balloch & Jones, 1990).

According to the NASW Code of Ethics, the primary mission of the social work profession is to enhance human wellbeing and help meet the basic human needs of all people with particular attention to the needs and empowerment of people who are vulnerable, oppressed, and living in poverty (NASW, 2018). Thus, social action to promote social change and social injustice is central to social work practice. Therefore, poverty's social problem could not be incongruent to social work values, mission, and ethics.

How/when has this problem been identified historically, and what were the actions taken to address this concern?

Poverty has and continues to be a social problem in the United States and most parts of the world. Throughout its history, the United States has struggled with the paradox of poverty amidst influence. Over the past 45 years, according to research data on the American economy, poverty has steadily increased (Bitler et al., 2005). However, measuring poverty is always relative since measuring is a social production that changes both over time and from one society to another. In the United States, poverty threshold measurement was developed in 1963 – 1964 by Mollie Orshansky, an Economist at the social security administration. Also, an individual is at the poverty level if their total family pre-taxed money income in a given year is below the poverty threshold of their family size and age (Fisher, 1992).

History of Poverty in the United States

Historically, poverty has been present in the United States from colonial times. During the great depression of 1929, when many families lost their jobs, assets, and stocks, this also contributed to the poverty in the United States. However, over the years, the rise, and the decrease of poverty in the United States continued to fluctuate (Cullen, 2010). According to research on poverty and economic inequality, the United States has the highest poverty and the most significant gap between the rich and the poor of developed nations. Also, the United States, a very wealthy society, is far less committed to providing a decent life for the poor than other developed nations (Currie, 1998). Given the American exceptionalism, why do people struggle economically in a nation blessed by almost any international or historical standard with abundant opportunities? And how society can help the poor citizens? (Shihadeh et al., 1994).

In August 14, 1935, President Roosevelt passed the social security bill to help combat poverty, which provided aid to families and children. Thus, government programs such as security and Aid to Family with Dependent Children (AFDC), which was later replaced in 1996 by Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), were implemented to help families experiencing poverty (Shepard, 2015). Also, in 1954, President Johnson signed into law the Economic Opportunity Act. This Act was signed in the hope of improving the income capacity of poor citizens, helping poor citizens help themselves, and breaking the chain of poverty. Thus, to combat poverty's social problem, government policy was signed to provide public or government welfare assistance to low-income families struggling to find employment or struggling to pay for life essentials such as housing, childcare, or food.

How have the groups affected by this concern changed over time?

Poverty falls within the realms of "stigma." It is not poor that is the stigma but the social perception of the attribute that deems it a stigma. Thus, poor people are perceived by the non-poor as having more characteristics defects than the rich (Balloch & Jones, 1990). The snapshot of current poverty in America can be found in large cities, urban America, and the country's most rural parts. According to research, women are more likely to be poor than men, and race, ethnicity, lack of education, elderly, and disability are all strongly related to the possibility of living in poverty (Freeman, 2001).

Describe the policy area related to this social problem

The Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program (TANF) is a public assistance policy welfare program that targets families with children and needy adults. This program aims to help these family's transition from welfare to employment. TANF provides cash and non-cash assistance in transportation, childcare, employment support, counseling, training subsidies, job training, housing programs to low-income families and children. This program was created in 1996 by Federal legislation, which made the program out of the former Aid to Family with Dependent Children (AFDC). There is an income criterion eligibility requirement for a citizen to receive the TANF assistance (Rainwater, 1982).

Is the policy identified by you dictated by local, state, or federal statute or a combination?

While Federal block grants fund the TANF assistance, the state is free to spend its fund without restriction. Also, states are free to define needy families' definition and their definition of who consists of a family unit. The state brought flexibility over the use of these block grants means that a family experienced with TANF depends heavily on their state. Therefore, when states do not invest in their TANF funding on essential assistance, they harm all families facing a crisis or struggling to pay for basic needs (Rainwater, 1982).

Who supports and opposes the policy?

Public assistance in the United States has always been controversial. They are generating many strong feelings about what reforms are needed, reasons why people need public assistance, the pressure of sustaining public assistance, and benefits of the program, to name a few. Thus, means-tested programs like TANF are routinely under attack from critics like the conservative movement, republican party, republicans in congress, to name a few. These critics have argued that the program creates a culture of dependency that produces intergenerational dependency and allows women to have children and raise them without husbands, which in their view has contributed to family breakdown (Popple & Leighninger, 2019).

Contrary to the argument by the critics of social welfare that welfare disincentivizes people from working. Welfare recipient beneficiaries are often those who cannot work. Asides from an adult, social welfare can also brighten the future of poverty-stricken children by ultimately halting the cycle of poverty in families at risk. Therefore, welfare benefits are not for the lazy but for the needy. The people who support welfare benefits are the progressive, the democrats, social reform advocates, professionals in the helping profession, and people who understand the threat of potential economic difficulty befalling on any person should be protected by the majority (Popple & Leighninger, 2019).

Changes/amendments made to the policy

TANF caseload and labor market have been substantially different than when TANF was established in 1996. They also vary significantly from state to state. Unfortunately, the TANF work rate is the primary measure that the Federal government judges the state's TANF programs. Thus, States have designed the program to maximize their success in meeting the work rate, often at the expense of actually helping the most vulnerable families find employment. Therefore, due to this stringent upfront work requirement, recipients of TANF who have the most to gain from employment assistance are quickly sanctioned and removed from TANF participation because they fall short of the expectation outlined in their work plan.

Changes due to COVID-19

As a response to the COVID-19 pandemic, changes in state TANF policies include:

a) Some states opt to count the economic impact payments or the additional unemployment insurance payments as income or assets in determining TANF eligibility.

b) Some states were using or expanding their short-term benefits programs (nonrecurring benefits designed to address a specific crisis or need) for families impacted by COVID-19.

c) Some states have changed their policies to issue good cause exemptions for all or targeted groups of recipients (Shantz et al., 2020).

Explain how this policy affects clients you might see in a clinical setting and why, as a clinical social worker, it would be essential to advocate for change

Poor people lack the means and authority which so many of us take for granted. They are often passive when faced with their powerlessness regarding increasing their income. Therefore, means-tested programs like the TANF have provided resources for the poor and vulnerable in society. Our society's story about putting ourselves out of poverty is considered both possible and praiseworthy. It is the American story of the possibility of the American dream. Thus, social worker plays a vital role in the potential of this American dream by acting on the client's behalf and representing the client's interest to an outside organization to fight for the right to income and also prevention of poverty through campaigning for clear, adequate, and enforceable non-means-tested entitlements. Thus, helping the poor and working to eradicate poverty by advocating for clients to obtain needed resources and providing assistance for the client at the Micro, Macro, and Mezzo levels (Balloch & Jones, 1990). Therefore, to be an effective social practitioner, the social worker needs to understand, engage with, or be influenced by a social policy in their practice because these policies impact our work with our clients. As such, social workers who value social justice and human rights have an ethical responsibility to participate in social policy advocacy (Popple & Leighninger, 2019).

References

Balloch, S., & Jones, B. J. (1990). Poverty and Anti-poverty Strategy: The Local Government Response: a Study of the Development of Anti-poverty Strategy in Metropolitan Authorities. Association of Metropolitan Authorities.

Bitler, M. P., Gelbach, J. B., & Hoynes, H. W. (2005). Welfare reform and health. Journal of human resources, 40(2), 309-334.

Cullen, F. T. (2010). Elliott Currie: In tribute to a life devoted to confronting crime. Criminology & Pub. Pol'y, 9, 19.

Fisher, G. M. (1992). The development and history of the poverty thresholds. Soc. Sec. Bull., 55, 3.

Freeman, R. B. (2001). The rising tide lifts...? (No. w8155). National Bureau of Economic Research.

National Association of Social Workers. (2017). Code of ethics of the National Association of Social Workers. Retrieved from https://www.socialworkers.org/About/Ethics/Code-of-Ethics/Code-of-Ethics-English

Popple, P. R., & Leighninger, L. (2014). The policy-based profession: An introduction to social welfare policy analysis for social workers. Pearson.

Rainwater, L. (1982). Stigma in income-tested programs. In Income-Tested Transfer Programs (pp. 19-65). Academic Press.

Shantz, K., Hahn, H., Nelson, M., Lyons, M., & Flagg, A. (2020). Changes in State TANF Policies in Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic. Washington, DC: Urban Institute.

Shihadeh, E. S., & Steffensmeier, D. J. (1994). Economic inequality, family disruption, and urban black violence: Cities as units of stratification and social control. Social Forces, 73(2), 729-751.