As an astute social worker and professional policy advocate, once you have selected and identified a social problem, you begin the process of creating and implementing a policy that addresses that social problem. One of the first things you do in the implementation process is an analysis of the social policy you identified. There is always the possibility that the policy created and implemented to address the social problem you identified is not viable for a variety of reasons.

In this case, you must explore a policy alternative.

In Part 4 of your ongoing Social Change Project assignment, you will identify a policy alternative to better alleviate the social problem you identified.

To Prepare:

• Review the article by McNutt in the Learning Resources this week.
• Review your previous Final Project Milestone Assignments and your Instructor feedback. Consider the following:
  • Identification of a Social Problem (Week 2)
  • Issue Statement (Week 4)
  • Identification of a Policy (Week 4)
  • Social Advocacy Proposal (Week 6)
• Based on your work to date, including your insights into the selected social problem, careful analysis of a policy, and goals for advocacy, identify a policy alternative that would work to better alleviate the social problem while mitigating adverse impacts for the relevant populations.
• Search for and select at least five scholarly articles to support your selection and review of a policy alternative.

By Day 7

Submit a 3- to 4-page paper that addresses the following:

• What is the policy alternative?
• What, if any, change(s) in the policy alternative are necessary, and where will they need to occur (local or state)?
• Is this policy alternative congruent with social work values? Explain.
• What is the feasibility of the alternative policy (political, economic, and administrative)?
• Does the policy alternative meet the policy goals (e.g., social equality, redistribution of resources, social work values, and ethics)?
• What are the forces that are for the policy? What are the forces that are against the policy?
• What policy advocacy skills can be used to support the policy alternative?
• How does the policy alternative affect clinical social work practice with clients?
• What changes could be made in the policy to support the needs of clients seeking clinical services?