Federal Policy Analysis and Recommendations : H.R.1593 - Second Chance Act of 2007

Assignment Overview

So far in the project, you have explored a social problem, selected a relevant federal policy, and analyzed the policy's development and potential impacts. These assignments have not only enabled you to demonstrate mastery of the course competencies, but have provided you with an initial experience with federal policy analysis, a valuable professional practice for your work as a social worker.

By successfully completing this assignment, you will demonstrate your proficiency in the following EPAs and practice behaviors:

• Competency 2: Engage Diversity and Difference in Practice
  • C2.GP.A: Apply and communicate understanding of the importance of diversity and difference in shaping life experiences into practice at the micro, mezzo, and macro levels.
    • Related Assignment Criteria:
      • 1. Analyze the social justice issue and its connection to the chosen population, including addressing cultural values, privilege, and power in your analysis.
      • 2. Analyze the federal policy and its connection to the social justice problem and the targeted population.
• Competency 5: Engage in Policy Practice
  • C5.GP.B: Assess how social welfare and economic policies impact the delivery of and access to social services.
    • Related Assignment Criteria:
      • 4. Evaluate the effectiveness of the policy, including addressing issues with policy design, implementation practices, and external constraints that inhibit effectiveness.
      • 6. Draw conclusions about the continuing effectiveness of the policy.
• Competency 5: Engage in Policy Practice
  • C5.GP.C: Apply critical thinking to analyze, formulate, and advocate for policies that advance human rights and social, economic, and environmental justice.
    • Related Assignment Criteria:
      • 3. Analyze the historical issues and context leading up to and including the development of the policy.
      • 5. Evaluate the feasibility of the policy from political, economic, and administrative perspectives.
      • 7. Provide recommendations to improve the policy or to replace it with alternative solutions, including a plan for advocacy and implementation.

Assignment Description

This assignment is the final component of your course project. Part of this assignment is a compilation of all previous assignments, revised according to your instructor's feedback. All the course assignments will be combined to create a policy analysis report. The purpose of this assignment is to analyze the extent to which your chosen federal policy addresses the social justice issue concerning your chosen population and to make recommendations.

Assignment Instructions

As noted above, use the revised work you have done in your Policy Selection and Background (Week 4) and Policy Analysis (Week 6) assignments to develop a complete analysis. Additionally, this final submission includes recommendations you would make regarding future changes to the policy to improve its effectiveness in address the social justice issue for the chosen population.

For your final version, include:

Introduction

Body of Paper

Address the following, based on revising the assignments you submitted previously:

• Analyze the social justice issue and its connection to the chosen population, addressing cultural values, privilege, and power in your analysis.
• Analyze the federal policy and its connection to the social justice problem and the targeted population.
• Analyze the historical issues and context leading up to, and including, the development of the policy.
• Evaluate the effectiveness of the policy, including addressing issues with policy design, implementation practices, and external constraints that inhibit effectiveness.
• Evaluate the feasibility of the policy from political, economic, and administrative perspectives.

Conclusion

1. Provide a brief summary of the current state of the policy's implementation in regard to the chosen social justice issue and target population.
2. Draw conclusions based on your analysis about the continuing effectiveness of the policy. What have been the policy's strengths and weaknesses, and how might these look going forward? Cite specific examples to support your analysis.

Recommendations

1. Provide recommendations to improve the policy or to replace it with alternative solutions, including a plan for how you will advocate for these changes. Should the policy be replaced, modified, or extended upon?
   • Justify your recommendations for new policies or revisions with a detailed rationale.
   • Describe how the new or revised policy for the chosen population will be implemented into policy planning and action.

Guidelines

Before completing this assignment, make sure you also refer to the rubric that will be used to grade your work.

Example assignment: You may use the assignment example, linked in the Resources, to give you an idea of what a Proficient or higher rating on the rubric would look like.

Additional Requirements

The assignment you submit is expected to meet the following requirements:

• Written communication: Written communication is free of errors that detract from the overall message.
• APA formatting: Resources and citations are formatted according to current APA style and formatting standards.
• Parts of the paper: Include a title page, table of contents, body of paper, references, and running headers.
• Cited resources: Minimum of eight scholarly sources. All literature cited should be current, with publication dates within the past five years.
• Length of paper: 12–16 double-spaced, typed pages.
• Font and font size: Times New Roman, 12 point.
• Due date: Assignment must be submitted to your instructor in the courseroom no later than 11:59 p.m. on Friday of this week.

Resources

• Capella University Library.
• Library Research and Information Skills: What Is Scholarly?
• Introduction to the Capella Library.
• Week 10 Assignment Example [PDF] Download Week 10 Assignment Example [PDF].
• Evidence and APA.
• How Do I Find Peer-Reviewed Articles?

View Rubric

Week 10 Assignment - Federal Policy Analysis and Recommendations

Week 10 Assignment - Federal Policy Analysis and Recommendations
Criteria	Ratings	Pts
Analyze the social justice issue and its connection to the chosen population, including addressing cultural values, privilege, and power. (C2.GP.A) view longer description	32.5 to >27.63 pts DISTINGUISHED Analyzes the social justice issue and its connection to the chosen population, including addressing cultural values, privilege, and power, and uses outstanding details and examples to support the analysis. 27.63 to >22.75 pts PROFICIENT Analyzes the social justice issue and its connection to the chosen population, including addressing cultural values, privilege, and power. 22.75 to >0 pts BASIC Identifies but does not analyze the social justice issue and its connection to the chosen population, including addressing cultural values, privilege, and power. 0 pts NON_PERFORMANCE Does not identify the social justice issue and its connection to the chosen population, including addressing cultural values, privilege, and power.	/ 32.5 pts
Analyze the federal policy and its connection to the social justice problem and the targeted population. (C2.GP.A) view longer description	32.5 to >27.63 pts DISTINGUISHED Analyzes the federal policy and its connection to the social justice problem and the targeted population, and uses outstanding details and examples to support the analysis. 27.63 to >22.75 pts PROFICIENT Analyzes the federal policy and its connection to the social justice problem and the targeted population. 22.75 to >0 pts BASIC Identifies but does not analyze the federal policy and its connection to the social justice problem and the targeted population. 0 pts NON_PERFORMANCE Does not identify the federal policy and its connection to the social justice problem and the targeted population.	/ 32.5 pts
Analyze the historical issues and context leading up to and including the development of the policy. (C5.GP.C) view longer description	32.5 to >27.63 pts DISTINGUISHED Analyzes the historical issues and context leading up to and including the development of the policy, and uses outstanding details and examples to support the analysis. 27.63 to >22.75 pts PROFICIENT Analyzes the historical issues and context leading up to and including the development of the policy. 22.75 to >0 pts BASIC Identifies but does not analyze the historical issues and context leading up to and including the development of the policy. 0 pts NON_PERFORMANCE Does not identify the historical issues and context leading up to and including the development of the policy.	/ 32.5 pts
Evaluate the effectiveness of the policy, including addressing issues with policy design, implementation practices, and external constraints that inhibit effectiveness. (C5.GP.B) view longer description	32.5 to >27.63 pts DISTINGUISHED Evaluates the effectiveness of the policy, including addressing issues with policy design, implementation practices, and external constraints that inhibit effectiveness, and uses outstanding details and examples to support the analysis. 27.63 to >22.75 pts PROFICIENT Evaluates the effectiveness of the policy, including addressing issues with policy design, implementation practices, and external constraints that inhibit effectiveness. 22.75 to >0 pts BASIC Describes but does evaluate the effectiveness of the policy, including addressing issues with policy design, implementation practices, and external constraints that inhibit effectiveness. 0 pts NON_PERFORMANCE Does not describe the effectiveness of the policy.	/ 32.5 pts
Evaluate the feasibility of the policy from political, economic, and administrative perspectives. (C5.GP.C) view longer description	30 to >25.5 pts DISTINGUISHED Evaluates the feasibility of the policy from political, economic, and administrative perspectives, and uses outstanding details and examples to support the analysis. 25.5 to >21 pts PROFICIENT Evaluates the feasibility of the policy from political, economic, and administrative perspectives. 21 to >0 pts BASIC Makes some comments but does not evaluate the feasibility of the policy from political, economic, and administrative perspectives. 0 pts NON_PERFORMANCE Does not address the feasibility of the policy from political, economic, and administrative perspectives.	/ 30 pts
Draw conclusions about the continuing effectiveness of the policy. (C5.GP.B) view longer description	30 to >25.5 pts DISTINGUISHED Draws conclusions about the continuing effectiveness of the policy, and uses outstanding details and examples to support the analysis. 25.5 to >21 pts PROFICIENT Draws conclusions about the continuing effectiveness of the policy. 21 to >0 pts BASIC The conclusions about the continuing effectiveness of the policy are not clearly stated or contain errors. 0 pts NON_PERFORMANCE Does not provide conclusions about the continuing effectiveness of the policy	/ 30 pts
Provide recommendations to improve the policy or to replace it with alternative solutions, including a plan for advocacy and implementation. (C5.GP.C) view longer description	30 to >25.5 pts DISTINGUISHED Provide recommendations to improve the policy or to replace it with alternative solutions, including a plan for advocacy and implementation, and uses outstanding details and examples to support the analysis. 25.5 to >21 pts PROFICIENT Provides recommendations to improve the policy or to replace it with alternative solutions, including a plan for advocacy and implementation. 21 to >0 pts BASIC Provides only partially articulated recommendations to improve the policy or to replace it with alternative solutions, including a plan for advocacy and implementation. 0 pts NON_PERFORMANCE Does not provide recommendations to improve the policy or to replace it with alternative solutions, including a plan for advocacy and implementation.	/ 30 pts
Communicate in a manner that is scholarly, professional, and consistent with expectations for members of the social work profession. view longer description	30 to >25.5 pts DISTINGUISHED Communicates in a manner that is scholarly, professional, and consistent with expectations for members of the social work profession, consistently and with no errors, referencing at least eight well chosen scholarly sources. 25.5 to >21 pts PROFICIENT Communicates in a manner that is scholarly, professional, and consistent with expectations for members of the social work profession, referencing at least eight scholarly sources. 21 to >0 pts BASIC Inconsistently communicates in a manner that is scholarly, professional, and consistent with expectations for members of the social work profession; or, does not support the claims with at least eight scholarly sources. 0 pts NON_PERFORMANCE Does not communicate in a manner that is scholarly, professional, and consistent with expectations for members of the social work profession.	/ 30 p