Legislative Policy Briefs

Abstract

Opportunities for social workers to be involved in policy making have never been greater. Schools of Social Work are now challenged to make policy a more important part of the curriculum. Making policy practice real to students is a challenging endeavor. By combining the resources and perspectives of advanced policy analysis courses with program evaluation content, the authors have developed a methodology that builds credibility for both the students and their schools, provides a tangible product that impacts policy making and teaches the students techniques that they can carry into their professional careers irrespective of role or field of practice. The policy briefidea is an adaptation of the analysis produced by the Congressional Research Service, modified to fit the unique needs of human services policy makers at the state level.

Key Words:

• Social work education
• social policy
• social legislation
• state policy
• policy making
• state legislation