Social policy planning in a federal structure: A social learning strategy

Current social welfare policy planning reflects an inadequate sense of the problems to be solved and an incentive structure which discourages responsible decision making. Proceeding from overly simple cause and effect models, social welfare policies are designed with detailed administrative regulations to insure uniformity and regularity of behavior across the states. When problems are not solved, policy makers focus on the failures of personnel to follow all the detailed regulations. This leads to additional efforts to enforce compliance. There is evidence that implementation personnel consistently and purposively do stretch or ignore regulations in order to service clients. An alternative to further detailed regulations then is to use the autonomy of state units in the federal structure by eliminating negative incentives to innovation and creating incentives to experiment with alternative programs. As a social learning strategy this would encourage innovation and make it possible to learn from the experience of personnel who daily confront the realities of welfare problems and the large array of administrative details.     

Preparing Social Workers for Child Welfare Practice: An Innovative University–Agency Learning Collaborative

This paper describes the evolution of a university–community child welfare learning collaborative based on an adaptation of the teaching hospital concept. This partnership between an agency providing a range of child and family welfare services and two university units, the school of social work and outreach, was intended to accomplish multiple agency, university and community goals: implement best practices in the agency, enhance social work education, increase staff resources in child welfare, influence public policy, and improve the lives of children and families in the child welfare system. The major strategy was ‘Grand Rounds’ modeled after the system used to train medical students through multiple transactions with experts in a clinical setting. The first year was very successful, with students, agency staff and faculty giving the sessions high ratings in content, quality and utility. One key to the success of the initiative was that it was an agency‐driven process and was based on working relationships of mutual respect and trust. Building such relationships takes both time and effort. Future challenges will include garnering the resources, both human and financial, to sustain the collaboration over time.     

Public or Private Management? A Comparative Analysis of Social Policies in Europe

Across the world, political leaders and policy experts frequently use the labels ‘public’ and ‘private’ to organize social policies. A line seemingly separates public from private efforts, with social policies publicly organized in some countries and privately organized in others. According to this perspective, a public social policy is undertaken by government or deals with a public matter. When a social policy is private, non‐public actors and institutions, like employers, undertake it or it deals with a private matter, like body control. This article examines whether public or private approaches to managing social policies are currently emphasized in European countries. I begin by defining social policy and then provide an overview of the public–private dichotomy in managing social policy. I review predominant typological frameworks of public–private organization of social policies and examine three welfare social policies and three social policies dealing with body control by comparing public–private organization of these six policy areas across 21 European countries. I conclude by discussing the limited diversity of public–private organizations of social policies in Europe.     

National policy approaches to social care for elderly people in the United Kingdom and Singapore 1945-2002

The authors compare policy approaches in the United Kingdom and Singapore on social care for older persons. The context of these approaches is discussed showing the development of policies, in each country from the aftermath of the Second World War to the present. Given that Singapore is a former British colony, it is of interest to scholars of social policy to examine its welfare approach as compared to the welfare state approach espoused by the United Kingdom. Both nations are faced with the challenges of an aging population, which necessitates handling similar problems with strategies that are in harmony with their respective economic, social, and cultural contexts. This paper considers their divergence of philosophies and policies, concluding with the recognition that the major difference lies in national and governmental expectations regarding the extent of the financial and regulatory responsibility for care for older people carried by the individual, the family, and the state.     

Third Sector Social Policy Research in Australia: New Actors,New Politics

Human service NGOs have become central actors in contemporary welfare states. The broadening of the role of NGOs in Australia as both providers of the human services that are an integral part of the welfare state and as lobbyists or advocates and agents of social change has been widely acknowledged; however, this paper focuses on a recent deepening of the role of human service NGOs in the Australian welfare state by exploring an additional dimension of their growth. Based on a recent study, it is evident that there has been increasing involvement by human service NGOs in the production of social policy knowledge through ‘policy research’ activities. The research mapped policy research activities, policy research infrastructure and policy research resources in human service NGOs, and also captured NGO policy researchers’ perceptions of the rationales and motivations driving NGOs in this direction. It was clear that this shift is based on strong beliefs that researchers located within human service agencies are best placed to produce the kind of knowledge that should form the basis of social policies responding to human need. Other drivers identified by policy researchers suggest, however, that the inclusion of third sector organizations in policy processes cannot simply be understood as the ‘opening up’ or ‘democratization’ of social policy processes to include Third Sector participants. The motivations for human service NGOs moving into social policy knowledge production in Australia are thus complex and diverse. Drawing on the findings of our study, Researching the Researchers, this paper reflects on the implications of this reconfiguration of welfare state politics. Who produces the knowledge that influences, moulds, and even determines the allocation of resources for the delivery of human services, and how this knowledge is produced have been ongoing concerns in social policy scholarship. We suggest, that in the case of human service NGOs in Australia, entry into the field of social policy research can be understood as a reconfiguring of the democratic system of policy determination. It may also be one in which the NGOs become ‘experts’ on citizens’ needs through research practices that are fundamentally less, rather than more inclusive, of the subjects of social policy. The implications of a possible shift in power to influence and in some cases determine who gets what in the welfare state is of deep concern in relation to future models of social protection and ultimately the redistributive and democratic processes of nation states. This paper seeks to question the often-unquestioned ascendancy of the third sector in welfare and asks whether this shift is in keeping with the democratic process and whether it is the best way to determine and satisfy human need.     

Towards an integrated and synergized social policy: Concepts and strategies

In first reviewing the most recent trends of social policy in Western Europe, the present article argues that social policy is best conceived of as a plural action system that enhances the interactions between community care and intermediary welfare organizations and does this within the framework of a welfare state working as an Observation‐Diagnosis‐Guidance system. Social policies for the 1990s can be better understood, planned, and implemented if seen as a new way for steering social systems.     

The Policy Transfer Model

ABSTRACT

“New” social welfare policies are often actually policies borrowed from other states or nations. This paper reviews the recent theoretical developments in understanding the processes of policy transfer and presents a “policy transfer” model that can be a useful heuristic tool for social workers engaged in policy making. It discusses how the field of social work can benefit from understanding the factors underlying successful and unsuccessful policy transfer, and argues for the inclusion of the study of policy transfer in social welfare policy courses.     

We Have Choices: globalisation and welfare user movements

This article connects and juxtaposes two important contemporary discourses in social policy: those of globalisation and of the 'welfare users' movements, particularly the movements of disabled people. It questions the widespread use of the globalisation process as a rationale for accepting that social policies should be subordinated to narrow economic constraints. It discusses the implications of social policies associated with globalisation for disabled people and other welfare service users, and their response to these. In particular the movements' emphasis on asserting choice in policy and their ability to influence the policy process is noted. The article concludes that there is much to be gained from a closer dialogue between the users' movements and social policy as a discipline, although there still seems to be some resistance to this from the latter.     

Sexual and reproductive health policies for foster youth in California: A qualitative study of child welfare professionals' experiences and perceptions of policies

Child welfare professionals and foster parents increasingly suggest the importance of establishing clear and consistent policies and procedures to address the sexual and reproductive health of youth in foster care. The present study examines the content and context of such policies across 18 California counties through a search of publically available county policy documents, and surveys and expert interviews with child welfare professionals (N = 22). A policy framework for agenda setting and policymaking was used to guide the data collection and analysis process. Child welfare professionals were aware of multiple sources of information, support and services for foster youths' sexual and reproductive health, though few practiced in counties with formal policies that outline the resources and support that youth should receive. Participants demonstrated widespread recognition that issues of youth sexual and reproductive health were significant; posing challenges to youth, foster parents and child welfare staff. Identified policy solutions included: 1) training for social workers and foster parents; 2) collaborative partnerships with public health nurses and community providers; 3) data tracking and monitoring of outcomes to assess youth needs and evaluate the impact of programs and policies; and 4) involvement by advocacy organizations in defining problems and advocating for improved services and support for youth in care. Social workers largely perceived that support from child welfare administrators and policy leaders is necessary to prioritize this issue and initiate policy formation. Additional research is needed to further examine the impact of policy mandates on social workers, foster parents and youth in foster care.     

Message and price components of Family Caps: experimental evidence from New Jersey

In this paper, we examine the relative efficacy of two mechanisms--price consideration and the message of social responsibility--in accounting for Family Cap effects on fertility behavior. The Family Cap is a component of welfare reform policy that denies additional cash benefits to children born 10 or more months after a woman entered the welfare rolls. We use data from the New Jersey Family Development Program (FDP) evaluation that employed a classical experimental design. We find that fertility behaviors are influenced by both Family Cap price and message mechanisms but that these effects are conditioned by welfare recipients' time on welfare and race. Black women who have longer stays on welfare are more likely to be influenced by price while women with shorter stays are influenced by both price and the social message. We believe our results have implications not only for future public welfare policy initiatives but for any social policies that attempt to influence behavior directly, through individual rewards and punishments, and indirectly through the activation of social or community pressures.     

Social work and social control in the penitentiary system: an empirical study in northern Italy

In Italy there is a prison and probation system based on a rehabilitative model, which is connected with social policies and entrusts relevant tasks to the helping professions. Among these, social work is affected by changes in social policies, marked by the influence of neoliberal thought. Contemporary sociological studies highlight the transition from a model mainly focused on ensuring social welfare, to a model in which the dominant interest is to increase effective social control. In this transition there has been an impoverishment of social protection for the most vulnerable segments of the population. This article presents the results of a qualitative research study carried out in northern Italy, among professionals working in the penitentiary sector (mainly social workers). Research has focused on the representations of the respondents on specific issues, including: the relationship between the crisis of the welfare state and the penal-welfare system; the culture of control and the changes in the role of social workers. Results show, inter alia, that social workers reject punitive responses, especially those towards the most disadvantaged social groups. Moreover, in this crisis of the welfare state and the rehabilitative model, political ideals, felt by the entire professional community, seem to be lacking.     

Parents' experiences of child welfare interventions: an Anglo-French comparison

This paper reports on an Anglo-French project comparing parental experiences of child welfare interventions in both countries; it does not aim to discuss policy implications but to raise questions about the basis on which policies are decided. We explored differences and similarities in the two countries' systems and practices by asking what it is like to be on the receiving end of professional decisions and actions in order to highlight those aspects of our own system that might otherwise be taken for granted. Considerable overlap was found in English and French parental concerns and in the type of professional assistance offered. However, differences in access to this assistance suggest that parents in England are often thrown into relations with social services that may be counterproductive to child and family welfare.     

Parity of participation in liberal welfare states: human rights,neoliberalism, disability and employment

Governments continue to face challenges in implementing effective strategies to increase social and economic participation of people with disabilities. In a recent OECD high-level policy forum on Sickness, Disability and Work, the main policy message was the need for a culture of inclusion; with a dual focus on short-term active policy interventions and long-term structural reform. This paper examines policies in liberal welfare states that encourage people receiving disability benefits to participate in the labor market. Examples from the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia of active labor market programs aimed at moving people with disabilities from workfare are analyzed in the context of international disability rights and neoliberal discourse. The paper explores the extent to which new approaches to activation policies are facilitating parity of participation and factors that impact the effectiveness of these policies.     

Social Policy as Social Risk Management

With the growing sophistication in social policy instruments and the advances made in the analysis of their impact, it became clear that the analytical separation of social policy and social security policy from other policy areas is increasingly difficult. The paper discusses a new analytical approach based on the social management of risks. It redefines social policy as public interventions to assist individuals and households to cope with their risks. The conceptual framework starts with the notion of main needs and defines and subdivides the risks threatening the satisfaction of these main needs. An important feature of the framework is that social policy is not only linked to the satisfaction of the main needs at a certain moment, but to the risk that, at a certain moment in the life-course of an individual, the needs cannot not be satisfied. Social policy is then no longer solely focussed on the guaranteeing that all individuals in an economy can fulfil their main needs in a static framework. Quite the contrary, social policy is focused on preventing contingencies to materialize, on mitigating the effects before they materialize and on coping with the unfortunate moment bad luck, shocks or unfortunate events strike. The social risk management framework rests on the observation that the satisfaction of main needs and the management of risks, is not the sole responsibility of public authorities. Social welfare is produced by at least three institutions symbolically summarized as the social welfare triangle of which markets, families and public authorities form the corner points.     

‘Being in the Spaces where Decisions are Made’: Reproductive Rights Advocacy and Policy Influence in Two Regions of Peru

In the 1990s, some segments of Latin American feminist movements shifted to advocacy strategies to influence government policies. Long-standing social movement theories predict that this tactical change to institutional means has two possible consequences for a movement: either it gains greater influence over policy arenas and becomes more effective in achieving outcomes, or it loses capacity to carry out protest tactics and becomes less effective in achieving outcomes. However, empirical studies on Latin American feminist organizations intervening in policies, and recent social movement theorizing, indicate that the relationship between social movements and policy influence is more complex. Moreover, these theories have been formulated based on empirical studies in contexts with established democratic frameworks and institutions. The study presented here employed Grounded Theory to examine inductively the research questions of how reproductive rights organizations carry out advocacy to influence government policies in Peru. Data was collected through participant observation and focus group discussions among two reproductive rights coalitions in the regions of Arequipa and Cusco. The findings indicate that the reproductive rights coalitions develop a multiplicity of interactions with government officials, as a means to influence policies through various channels and handle constraints on their ability to act as independent pressure groups. In addition, the findings show that the coalitions deal with a wide range of factors to influence policies: organizational capacity, advocacy strategies, issue frames, relationships with other policy actors as well as political and social aspects that facilitate or hinder advocacy. The study concludes that the relationship between social movements and policy influence is more complex than portrayed by long-standing theories. Instead, the findings are consistent with, and enhance the scholarship on Latin American feminist organizations involved in policies, as well as recent social movement theorizing that takes into account how various factors affect social movement influence on policies.     

Le genre des politiques sociales. L'apport théorique des « gender studies » à l'analyse des politiques sociales

In English-speaking countries and Scandinavia, where feminist and gender studies have developed over the past thirty years, the issue of sex and then of gender has led to a very fertile renewal of social policy analysis, in particular in the field of comparative welfare state studies. By insisting on the cultural, social, normative and historical construction of welfare states and social policies, this approach sheds light on the societal paradigms that define how social policies are drawn up and their impact in terms of gender. It enables us to undertake a critical, original examination of the concepts, theories and analytical tools traditionally used in comparative welfare state litterature. This article presents an inventory of the theoretical advances made in writings on this topic.     

Preparing social work students for policy practice: an Australian example

This paper presents an innovative approach to the teaching of policy skills across the two years of an Australian Social Work degree programme. It argues that placing policy back into practice and teaching the skills involved provides social work practitioners with a better capacity to effect change. Australian Catholic University, School of Social Work is located in Australia's capital city. The policy units have a clear framework within which to understand policy development and provide students with real hands‐on policy experience combining an experiential based learning approach with traditional teaching methods. The second year subject is structured around a number of policy workshops. Each workshop deals with a current policy problem and examines a different stage of policy development. It has as a consultant to the process a social worker who works as a policy practitioner providing a role model of practice in a policy area. Feedback from students has been extremely positive reporting increased confidence in policy skills and a recognition of the importance of these skills in social work. This teaching experience reinforces the need to focus on the educational considerations in teaching a subject where conceptual, theoretical and skill components are equally important if policy practice is to effect change.     

Inheritance of Welfare Recipiency: An Intergenerational Study of Social Assistance Recipiency in Postwar Sweden

Intergenerational transmission of welfare dependency has received increasing attention among social scientists, especially in the United States, as greater availability of longitudinal data has shed new light on this issue. It remains unclear, however, to what extent the intergenerational correlation of welfare recipiency observed in the United States reflects or interacts with unobserved variables, the racial composition of the population, and the institutional structure of social policies. This study focuses on Sweden, a country with an ethnically homogenous population and institutional social policy structures that differ from those in the United States. It utilizes an internationally unique longitudinal data set to test hypotheses on the inheritance of welfare benefit recipiency as indicated by reliance on means‐tested social assistance. A clear intergenerational effect is observed. This effect, however, reflects a combination of social assistance in the family of origin, children's school adjustment, and parental criminality. Children who lack this combination of problems do not show signs of intergenerational welfare dependency.     

Using rapid city surveys to inform municipal social policy—an application in Cali, Colombia

Many developing countries assign local governments increasing responsibilities in fighting poverty. This requires local social policy to go beyond the execution of centrally designed and funded education and health programs. Hence, local governments and their partners have both an opportunity and a need to analyze key local bottlenecks for poverty reduction and social development. Drawing on an example from Cali, Colombia, this paper describes a tool for such policy formulation at the local level, a rapid city household survey. Although the survey uses pre-coded and closed ended questions, it is contextual in the sense that it is tailor-made to social and economic conditions in Cali. The survey places particular emphasis on collecting both key quantitative information, like household welfare and service access, as well as qualitative information, such as service evaluations and population priorities. Combining the quantitative and qualitative data allows, e.g., to map population budget priorities or service satisfaction levels by welfare group. With costs of the survey moderate and turnover time short, rapid city household surveys could provide an important tool for the development of local social policies.     

社会养老服务的观念嬗变——基于国家层面的政策精神

伴随着人口老龄化进程,我国养老服务的需求在日益增长,为此,政府颁布了一系列的通知、意见和规划。在这些政策背后,体现了国家对社会养老服务的认知和理念。经过对10多年来的政策梳理后发现,国家层面对社会养老服务的观念演变,经历了三个阶段,养老服务的社会福利观、养老服务的层次体系观和养老服务的社会管理观。每个阶段,国家对社会养老服务的责任主体、概念界定、服务对象、服务主体、服务内容等均有一定的规定,且愈发清晰、完整和细化。系统把握国家层面政策,有助于深入掌握政策精神,有助于政策的更好实施,有助于预见新的政策导向。