Social Science - Sociology Assignment 2
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2 years ago
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files (2)SOCIAL.docx
WEEK3.docx
SOCIAL.docx
Think back to your passion and reason for pursuing social work. In Week 3, you used that as the basis for a deep dive into a social problem or issue and a related policy analysis. This week, you bring these threads together in a policy paper. The goal of a policy analysis such as this is to analyze as many facets of an issue as possible and existing policy for the goals of either improving policy or innovating with new policy. From this process, you develop the reasons and rationale for pursuing change.
Resources
Be sure to review the Learning Resources before completing this activity. Click the weekly resources link to access the resources.
To Prepare
· Refer to your Week 3 Assignment and the feedback you received to apply to this Assignment. Note: You should not use your Week 3 Assignment verbatim, but you can draw upon what you established there to develop further for some aspects of this paper. WEEK 3 PAPER ATTACHED SEPARATELY.
· Refer to the Social Welfare Policy: Search Tips site listed in the Learning Resources for strategies for finding additional research. Also note that reputable non-profits and other organizations, some of which you will find throughout the Learning Resources in this course, can be good sources.
ASSIGNMENT BELOW
Submit a 5- to 8-page paper that addresses the following:
The social problem/issue
· Identify a social problem/issue you would like to address.
· Describe the context—historical and/or contemporary—of society’s perception and approach to this social problem/issue.
· What current research (including facts and statistics) supports the need to address the social problem/issue?
The policy
· Identify a specific policy that addresses the selected social problem/issue.
· Describe the historical context of the policy.
· Briefly provide enough detail about the social, economic, and political circumstances that inspired action.
· Include reputable references/resources to support current updates, implementation, and/or changes related to the policy.
The population and programs
· Identify the population served by the policy.
· What qualifies a client for inclusion in the policy?
· What successful or widely accepted programs have come out of the policy?
In practice
· What role(s) do social workers play in the success of the program?
· Does the policy work in practice as intended? Why or why not?
· Does the policy achieve its goals?
Social change
· Does the policy contribute to social justice? How? If not, explain how or why it does not contribute to social justice.
· Identify opportunities for improvement in the policy.
· Explain how you would go about improving the policy.
Sources
· You must reference a minimum of eight scholarly references, which may include electronic government documents and reputable websites.
· Your reference list should appear on a separate page, and it is not included in the 5- to 8-page requirement.
WEEK3.docx
1
Social Problem and Policy Analysis
WEEK 3 ASSIGNMENT
Social Problem and Policy Analysis
The social problem in which I am most interested as a social worker involves homelessness, mainly as it affects our nation's veterans. It is a social issue not only that is so widespread but threatens to create so much instability for our country in terms of mental health, family units, and the overall social environment. Besides that, the development of PTSD, drug addiction, and inability to adjust to everyday civilian life are some other issues generally found in veterans. These are some of the reasons that make many veterans more prone to homelessness compared to any other member of the general population (Enserink et al., 2022). The problem needs to be addressed for a place to stay, developing long-lasting recovery processes, access to mental health, and reintegration with society.
Goals for Addressing Homelessness Among Veterans
The most significant long-term goal of addressing homelessness among veterans should include a comprehensive support system that incorporates mental health services, job training, and permanent housing solutions. Presently, too many programs sustain temporary relief through things like shelter and emergency housing (Tsai et al., 2021). Due to the lack of long-term, stable housing opportunities and because treatments of mental health problems often need to be continuous, this turns into a vicious circle: veterans end up in the streets again after certain temporary assistance.
A secondary objective would be to provide front-end services, such as outreach programs, to veterans leaving military service. These would include access to mental health, financial planning, and job placement to hopefully avoid the circumstances that would lead a veteran into homelessness.
Policy Overview: VA's HUD-VASH Program
One significant policy for addressing homelessness among veterans is Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing, commonly referred to as HUD-VASH. It's a joint effort by the Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Department of Veterans Affairs to provide Section 8 housing vouchers to veterans, coupled with case management and clinical services provided by VA medical centers (Sanders & Scanlon, 2021). The program will address immediate housing needs and long-term rehabilitation through case management and access to VA health care.
While HUD-VASH has been able to achieve very impressive outcomes in terms of contributions toward solving the problem of homelessness among veterans, there are still some gaps in service delivery to the target population. These are mainly issues related to the availability of housing in certain areas, which, one way or another, discourages the veterans from using the vouchers. More than that, too many veterans remain unaware of the existence of the HUD-VASH program or how to access it; hence, there is a limitation in their effectiveness. This underlines the need for more aggressive outreach and advocacy to make veterans aware of and give them easy access to the services designed to help them.
Policy Gaps and Opportunities
One of the most remarkable gaps in the HUD-VASH program is a shortage of affordable housing units, many of which are in highly-priced urban cities. Veterans can indeed be granted vouchers, but when no affordably-priced options exist, it is impossible to serve them through the program. However, access to this veteran's program is much more difficult in the more rural parts of the country simply because of the general lack of available VA centers and places to live. To close these gaps in care and services, additional affordable housing developments would be required in critical areas, and an increase in funding would be needed to support services for veterans in rural locations.
Another chasm exists in the realm of access to complete mental health services. While the HUD-VASH program offers access to VA health care, far too often, those services can still reflect dramatic availability and quality differences on several levels (Evans, 2022). It is not at all unusual for patients to wait many weeks or months to be seen by a mental health professional, and far too often, services provided are inadequate in number and caliber to enable veterans to achieve a full recovery and re-entry into the community with full functioning.
Social Worker's Role in Policy Advocacy
It could also mean that my role as a social worker in addressing veterans' homelessness is multidimensional. First, I could engage in advocacy: raise awareness about the shortcomings of the existing policies and press for legislative changes that would devote more resources and attention to projects on affordable housing and mental health services. This would include collaboration with local government officials, organizations directly involved with veterans, and community leaders to foster needed reforms and increased funding.
I will help them make sense of the existing services. Too many veterans need to learn about the various resources available. A social worker may be instrumental in referring those people to the right programs. I will directly work with veterans to ensure a policy versus practice gap: all veterans know HUD-VASH programs, how to use them, and how to access them (Wong et al., 2022).
I may also contribute to the policy development that calls upon veteran services to include preventive measures in their service agenda. Encouragement of early intervention policies such as mental health screening during the transition from military services may help prevent the numbers from becoming homeless in the first place.
Veteran homelessness is a relevant social issue in which, with proper policies in place and the work of social workers, veterans can be assured of support. Decreasing the rate of veteran homelessness over the coming years and providing support toward reintegration into civilian life can only be achieved by reducing the gaps in current policies, increasing the availability of housing, and using prevention.
References
Enserink, B., Bots, P. W. G., van Daalen, C., Hermans, L. M., Kortmann, L. J., Koppenjan, J., ... & Thissen, W. A. H. (2022). Policy analysis of multi-actor systems. TU Delft OPEN Publishing. https://research.tudelft.nl/en/publications/policy-analysis-of-multi-actor-systems-2
Evans, E. J. (2022). US Department of Housing and Urban Development–Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing Program: Bring All Homeless Veterans Home. Health & social work, 47(3), 161-164. https://academic.oup.com/hsw/article-abstract/47/3/161/6617965
Sanders, C. K., & Scanlon, E. (2021). The digital divide is a human rights issue: Advancing social inclusion through social work advocacy. Journal of human rights and social work, 6(2), 130-143. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s41134-020-00147-9
Tsai, J., Pietrzak, R. H., & Szymkowiak, D. (2021). The problem of veteran homelessness: An update for the new decade. American journal of preventive medicine, 60(6), 774-780. https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0279973
Wong, M. S., Gabrielian, S., Lynch, K. E., Coronado, G., Viernes, B., Gelberg, L., & Taylor, S. L. (2022). Healthcare service utilization for formerly homeless veterans in permanent supportive housing: Do neighborhoods matter?. Psychological services, 19(3), 471. https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2021-51652-001
