Homeless Veteran Policies
Order Description
Policy Analysis Paper (30 points)
Objectives:
? To take a social justice research approach about a social phenomenon using scholarly material and evaluate existing policies.
Tasks:
? Analyzes the social problem of homeless veterans by looking at:
o the historical emergence of the social problem,
o the history of policy interventions designed to address the problem, and
o the contemporary proposals, ideologies, and debates that surround the contemporary federal social welfare policy regarding the social problem.
Requirements:
? Use appropriate APA format for title page, citations and reference page.
? Include a title page with your full name, a main title and subtitle
? Include subheadings as numbered in the ?tasks? section above.
? Should be SEVEN FULL PAGES OF BODY TEXT
? Must be doubled-space, 12 point, Times Roman font.
? No abstract needed, but you need an introduction; including a THESIS STATEMENT ON HOMELESS VETERANS AND THEIR POLICIES
How to approach the paper
? Start by identifying a target population (HOMELESS VETERANS)
? Then choose a specific problem experienced by the population.
? The topic must be broad enough to ensure that contemporary and historical policy literature exists and narrow enough not to be overwhelming.
? In your discussion of the policy response, you will discuss one or two contemporary federal policies that address the problem. For example:
o if you?re looking at domestic violence, you may want to choose the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA);
o if you?re looking at the issue of poverty among the elderly, you might end up discussing the Old Age Security and Disability Insurance Program (OASDI) of the Social Security Act.
Sample outline for the Policy Analysis paper
You must cover the following six sections as outline below:
I. INTRODUCTION
a. Introduce your reader to your paper topic and state your argument/thesis.
b. What will you be discussing?
c. What are you going to argue/prove in this paper? ? thesis
II. THE SOCIAL PROBLEM
a. Introduce the reader to the population group and the social problem(s) that you have selected.
b. What is the specific problem being analyzed?
c. Who is the population experiencing it?
d. Provide some statistics regarding the subgroups who experience it.
e. You may include such factors as the age, gender, ethnicity, and region in your description of the target population.
f. What are the observable signs of the problem (e.g. scope, magnitude) and what are the consequences of the problem for the population, sub populations? ? this is a macro- view of the problem
g. Use this section to introduce your main argument or thesis. What are you trying to prove in this paper?
III. LITERATURE REVIEW
a. History of the problem
i. Explain, based on your literature review, the history of the emergence of this problem as a social problem in the United States.
ii. What social, economic, and political factors contributed to its emergence?
iii. How has the problem definition changed over time?
iv. What are the trends in ideological and value-based approaches to the problem as a social problem?
b. History of institutional response
i. Explain the history of government and/or other institutional response to the problem.
ii. How has the problem been treated over time?
iii. What policy solutions have been offered?
iv. What historical factors led to more or less relative concern with the problem? What are some of the underlying historical factors involved in these policy responses (e.g. were there gender, race, class, or other dynamics?).
v. You?ll need to link this historical analysis back to the paper?s main argument.
IV. DISCUSS CONTEMPORARY POLICIES STRATEGIES
a. Discuss contemporary solutions to the problem.
b. Focus on one or two (at most) federal policy solutions.
i. Where are we now in trying to solve the problem?
ii. What has changed today to influence the redefinition of the problem (i.e., how has the problem changed over time)?
iii. How has policy been reshaped?
iv. Describe in detail the current policy designed to meet the problem. You can use the Gilbert & Terrell (2009) reading to help with your discussion here.
V. EVALUATE THE POLICY/POLICIES
a. Provide an analysis of the current policies as it/they stand(s).
b. Your evaluation should also address social justice issues.
i. Has there been any outcome research concerning this policy strategy? If so, what does it show?
ii. Use the historical background to guide this analysis?How do contemporary strategies reflect their historical precedents? How do they differ?
iii. Be sure to weigh your evaluation against other viable alternatives. In this section, you will present your paper?s main argument in full force.
VI. CONCLUSION
a. Based on your comprehensive analysis, offer suggestions as to the policy direction that we should take in tackling the problem.
b. What are the barriers to moving in this direction? What are the social or economic conditions that might favor your suggestions?
VII. REFERENCES
a. Use a minimum of ten sources.
b. The Social Welfare Policy Research Guide available at the library- https://libguides.rutgers.edu/socialworkpolicy is a great place to start to help find references and resources.
c. The majority of your sources should be scholarly books and articles published in academic journals or policy brief and articles published by legitimate research centers/think tanks. You may also use sources from the syllabus.
d. You may also use IRIS books and electronic indices such as Sociological Abstracts, and America: History and Life are invaluable in finding sources through the library.
*** IMPORTANT: although 10 sources need to be used, you do not need to site all 10 in the actual paper. site 5-6 sources within the paper but make sure 10 sources are used as references. Also, an opinion is needed within the paper. Do not use first person, but rather third person should be used to give an opinion about the policies.