Social Welfare Commons^™

Making A Difference: Human Service Interest Group Influence On Social Welfare Program Regulations, Richard Hoefer

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Social workers increasingly understand the importance of political action to affect legislative policy-making. This paper sheds light onto the unexplored subject of interest group influence on the executive branch, specifically on the writing of program regulations for social welfare programs. It describes groups active in the process and what they do in their quest for influence. It also presents a preliminary model of interest group influence on regulation writing. Results show that having greater access, articulating a liberal policy position, choosing a "better" strategy and devoting more resources to influence efforts are all significant predictors of a group's influence level …

The Potential Impact Of Gender Role Socialization On Welfare Policy Formation, Magalene Harris Taylor

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

This paper addresses a five year welfare reform pilot project conducted at the state level. The outcome of research findings for this project indicate that factors other than the obvious are barriers to women choosing work over welfare. Gender role socialization may play an active and very significant role in this process. The reality of which may inhibit welfare reform efforts at the state and national levels.

Work And Economic Outcomes After Welfare, Thomas P. Vartanian, Justine M. Mcnamara

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Using data from the 1969 to 1993 Panel Study of Income Dynamics, this article examines a number of models to determine the characteristics of AFDC recipients who fare well economically after they initially leave the welfare system. The study includes analyses of income levels, time spent employed and not employed, and time spent below the poverty line. Hypotheses regarding state welfare payments, area economic conditions, human capital and time spent receiving welfare are examined. The findings indicate that area employment conditions and the ability to quickly find work greatly affect the likelihood of faring well economically after welfare. We found …

Focal Point, Volume 14 Number 01, Portland State University. Regional Research Institute

Research and Training Center - Focal Point

FROM THE EDITORS. It is with great pleasure that we welcome you to the premiere collaborative issue of Focal Point. The joint effort between the Center For Effective Collaboration and Practice and the Research and Training Center on Family Support and Children’s Mental Health exemplifies a larger partnership initiative put forward by the Center for Mental Health Services’ (CMHS) Comprehensive Community Mental Health Services for Children and Their Families Program. The goal of an enhanced partnership is to promote improved services that lead to better outcomes for youth and their families. Along these lines we hope you find the fruits …

Review Of Social Security And Retirement Around The World. Jonathan Gruber And David A. Wise (Eds.). Reviewed By Martin B. Tracy, Southern Illinois University., Martin B. Tracy

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Book review of Jonathan Gruber and David A. Wise (Eds.), Social Security and Retirement Around the World. Chicago, University of Chicago Press, 1999. $62.00 hardcover. [June 1, 1999].

The Missing Safety Net And Families: A Progressive Critique Of The New Welfare Legislation, D. Stanley Eitzen, Maxine Baca Zinn

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

This is an overview essay on the 1996 welfare legislation and its consequences. The paper is divided into five parts: (1) The basic elements of the legislation; (2) The conservative assumptions undergirding this legislation and the progressive responses to them; (3) The consequences of the legislation for individuals and families; (4) The missing elements in the new welfare legislation; and (5) The progressive solution to welfare.

Review Of The East Asian Welfare Model: Welfare Orientalism And The State. Roger Goodman, Gordon White And Huck-Ju Kwon (Eds.). Reviewed By Kwong-Leung Tang, University Of Northern British Columbia, Kwong-Leung Tang

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Book review of Roger Goodman, Gordon White and Huck-ju Kwon (Eds.), The East Asian Welfare Model: Welfare Orientalism and the State. New York: Routledge, 1998. $90.00 hardcover, $29.99 papercover.

Soziale Arbeit Und Ökonomie : Politische Ökonomie - Arbeitsmärkte - Sozialpolitik Grenzen Der Ökonomisierung - Soziale Ökonomie Gemeinwesenentwicklung - Bürgergesellschaft, Susanne Elsen, Dietrich Lange, Isidor Wallimann

Books

Globalization has seen the removal of borders and increased global flows of capital and goods and services, changing the employment landscape, pressuring revenues and social-welfare spending of modern welfare states. This collection of essays brings together perspectives from different disciplines to discuss the role globalization has had on social policies of the modern welfare state and the changing relationship between social policy, social work and the economy, describes its consequences and presents innovative approaches for action.

Costing Child Protective Services Staff Turnover, Michelle Graef, Erick L. Hill

Center on Children, Families, and the Law: Faculty Publications

This article details the process used in one state to determine the financial costs to the child welfare agency accrued over the course of one year that were directly attributable to CPS staff turnover. The formulas and process for calculating specific cost elements due to separation, replacement and training are provided. The practical considerations inherent in this type of analysis are highlighted, as well as the use of this type of data to inform agency human resource strategies.

Focal Point, Volume 14 Number 02, Portland State University. Regional Research Institute

Research and Training Center - Focal Point

Young people are assuming more, and more empowered roles in systems of care. They participate actively in planning for their own services and treatment, setting policy, and evaluating programs. This issue includes a discussion of resources that have been developed to help in the process of developing youth-adult partnership in these areas.

Review Of Forming Nation: Framing Welfare. Gail Lewis (Ed.). Reviewed By Leslie Leighninger, Louisiana State University, Leslie Leighninger

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Book review of Gail Lewis (Ed.) Forming Nation: Framing Welfare. New York: Routledge, 1998. $75.00 hardcover, $22.99 papercover.

Review Of Shifting The Color Line: Race And The American Welfare State. Robert C. Lieberman. Reviewed By Jill Quadagno, Florida State University, Jill Quadagno

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Book review of Shifting the Color Line: Race and the American Welfare State. Robert C. Lieberman. Reviewed by Jill Quadagno, Florida State University

Focal Point, Volume 13 Number 01, Portland State University. Regional Research Institute

Research and Training Center - Focal Point

This issue of Focal Point examines the ways in which families with employed caregivers and children with emotional and behavioral disorders manage to meet the demands of employment and family responsibilities. Finding a fit between the demands of work and family life is a struggle for every employed mother and father. For parents whose children have emotional, behavioral, or mental disorders, meeting this challenge can prove extremely stressful, particularly since supportive services are notably lacking. Although Fernandez has estimated that 10% of all employed parents have at least one child with a disability living in their homes, there has been …

A Path Analysis Of The Effect Of Welfare On Infant Mortality, Michael A. Lewis

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Social epidemiologists have found a relationship between poverty and infant mortality. Welfare policy experts have found that welfare benefits affect work effort, family structure, migration, and the rate of intergenerational transmission of welfare receipt. Social epidemiologists have paid little attention to the effects of poverty policies on infant mortality. Welfare policy experts have paid little attention to the effect of welfare on infant mortality. This paper merges the concerns of social epidemiologists and welfare policy experts by examining the relationship between welfare and infant mortality. The key finding is that welfare directly and indirectly affects infant mortality rates. States with …

America's Changing Attitudes Toward Welfare And Welfare Recipients, 1938-1995, Laurie Macleod, Darrel Montero, Alan Speer

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

This paper examines American national public opinion on welfare, welfare recipients, and the government's role in welfare programs. The data were gathered from published public opinion polls of national samples of adults taken between 1938 and 1995. The findings indicate that public opinion has remained relatively stable over this 57-year period, with the majority of Americans believing that the government has a responsibility to help those in need. At the same time, the majority of those polled believed that the government spends too much on welfare. The findings also show that the public is in favor of reducing income differences …

Historical Trends In State-Level Adc/Afdc Benefits: Living On Less And Less, Sandra Wexler, Rafael J. Engel

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

This paper, using government statistics, describes state-level variation in ADC/AFDC benefits from 1940-1995. The findings illustrate that the "race to the bottom" began in 1975, especially among higher paying states. The concomitant declines in benefit value relative to the poverty line places TANF-dependent recipients in serious jeopardy. Implications for education and advocacy are discussed.

A Socio-Economic Analysis Of The Three Paths To Social Security Reform, Rebecca A. Van Voorhis

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

As this century ends, old-age pension systems worldwide are experiencing tremendous strain and undergoing rigorous examination. At issue is the ability of current schemes to survive demographic changes which threaten to bankrupt most OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development) members' old age pension systems by the early part of the twenty-first century (Peterson, 1996; Steuerle & Bakija, 1994; World Bank, 1994). A variety of proposals have been advanced in response to this concern, which reflect different underlying values and priorities. Varying significantly in their recommendations for the appropriate balance between public and private efforts, these proposals form a continuum …

A Comparative Assessment Of The Status, Structure And Process Utilized By Nevada's Family Support And Preservation Consortia To Achieve Collaboration, Marlys A. Morton

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

This paper presents a framework for understanding inter-organizational collaboration and describes and analyzes how collaboration was used as a method to build new service networks, the characteristics of the consortia, and the status of the collaborative processes.

Although the literature on inter-organizational collaboration in the human services is increasing, little is known about how regional consortia view the process of working together towards a common purpose. The results reported in this paper are intended to help fill that gap.

The findings reported in this study are based on a survey process using a standardized questionnaire to study the collaborative status. …

Autonomy And Genetic Predisposition: The Relationship Between Original Organizational Configuration And The Tendency For Autonomy. An Analysis Of Three Drop-In Centres Servicing Street Youth, Heike Mertins

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

This thesis is a comparative analysis of three non-profit service providers and the effect of particular development traits on their degree of autonomy. The three non-profit providers examined in this thesis are all drop-in centres for street youth. Recent government cuts have demonstrated the clear relationship between autonomy and organizational survival of non-profit agencies. For years many have argued that the practice of relying on government funding depoliticized these organizations. many of which perform social justice work. Hence, from a political perspective. organizational autonomy has become an increasingly important issue. This thesis addresses the question of why some non-profit service …

Social Support's Contribution To Reduced Welfare Dependency: Program Outcomes Of Long Term Welfare Recipients, Frank A. Sansone

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Long term welfare recipients participated in a state job training and welfare reform demonstration which provided education,job training, and supportive services via intensive case management. Social support research has focused on stress and physical and psychological health outcomes not welfarejob training and education outcomes. Job training and welfare to work policies and programs have not emphasized providing social supports but the supportive services of transportation and child care. Program outcomes at follow-up included: education and job training certificates, including GEDs with some still studying; jobs; and a 50% reduction in welfare receipt. Results of hierarchical regression analysis suggest a participant's …

A Few Contributions Of Economic Theory To Social Welfare Policy Analysis, Michael A. Lewis

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

The National Association of Social Workers' (NAS W) code of ethics states that social workers have a professional obligation to advocate for social policies that promote the general welfare (NASW, 1996). Presumably, in an effort to provide social workers with the analytical tools that would allow them to do so, schools of social work typically require students to do course work in the area of social welfare policy. Although these courses provide students with valuable information, it is my view that they tend to be limited in one important respect. They usually do not contain a great deal of content …

Focal Point, Volume 12 Number 01, Portland State University. Regional Research Institute

Research and Training Center - Focal Point

Much of the family member involvement that is happening at the state and local level is due, at least in part, to the efforts by the federal government to institutionalize family involvement in policymaking. In 1985 Child and Adolescent Service System (CASSP) staff added a family goal to the program. This goal translated into a requirement that state applications for CASSP funds describe how families would participate in service planning efforts at the child and family, program, and system levels. In 1986 Congress passed the State Mental Health Services Comprehensive Plan (Public Law 99-660), which mandated family member participation in …

Acknowledging The Crisis In Social Liberalism: A Call For A New Approach To Teaching Social Policy, Roger A. Lohmann

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

A graduate social policy course at West Virginia University has been redesigned by a senior faculty member and lead instructor to recognize advances in political philosophy and to confront the decline of the social liberal welfare state and the rise of populist radicalism, through civic engagement by citizen-professionals.

Women "Reading The World:" Challenging Welfare Reform In Wisconsin, Kristine B. Miranne, Alma H. Young

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

The latest iteration of welfare reform, the 1996 Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (PRWORA), endorses work requirements and time limits on benefits, while giving greater discretion to individual states in developing welfare programs. Linking personal responsibility with work indicates that policy makers believe that it only takes properg uidancea nd minimal trainingfo r welfare recipients( predominately women) to make the transition from welfare to work. We suggest, however, that focusing on incentive, sanction, or compulsion ignores the structural features of poverty, especially as they impact the multiplicities of poor women's lives. In order for the welfare system to …

Exposing And Reframing Welfare Dependency, Elizabeth Bartle

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Defining the phrase welfare dependency from a feminist perspective offers a way to understand how the rhetoric around the use of this phrase continues to legitimize current changes in Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) while simultaneously diverting the public's attention from the real issues of poverty of and discrimination against women. This article includes a detailed definition of welfare dependency, a brief history of its usage, and a reconceptualization of women's use of AFDC on a long-term basis. This reconceptualization expands on international dependency theory and reframes dependency as interdependency that builds on women's strengths, women's rights, and …

Teen Mothers And The Revolving Welfare Door. Kathleen Mullan Harris

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Kathleen Mullan Harris, Teen Mothers and the Revolving Welfare Door. Philadelphia, Temple University Press, 1997. $ 39.95 hardcover.

Interfacing African American Churches With Agencies And Institutions: An Expanding Continuum Of Care With Partial Answers To Welfare Reform, Barbara W. Rogers, Douglas Ronsheim

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

It is unrealistic to presume that churches and other private charities can fill the void resulting from welfare reform (Sider,1995; Conniff, 1997); yet there are ways to structure an effective church- and community-based continuum of care that will help to do so. In this article African-American churches are viewed as major players. An explanation of the systems theory of isomorphic replication provides a key to understanding the success of this collaborative model, which addresses issues facing communities while building on their strengths and assets and reckoning with the challenges of working collaboratively. Recurring issues of race, culture, trust, and control …

Review Of Social Welfare In Global Context. James Midgley. Reviewed By Cryl Abrahams, University Of Calgary., Cryl Abrahams

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

James Midgley, Social Welfare in Global Context. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications. 1997, $ 52.00 hardcover, $ 24.95 papercover.

Armut : Der Mensch Lebt Nicht Vom Brot Allein : Wege Zur Soziokulturellen Existenzsicherung, Isidor Wallimann, Susanne Schmid

Books

While the usual discussion about the poverty of the minimum financial security speaks, the authors ask what it could mean for to be living in a secure socio-cultural minimum. The fact is that poverty can be both "caused" by various forms of exclusion, as well as the socio-cultural exclusion promotes or "causes".

Welfare "Reform": Com'in' Up On The Rough Side Of The Mountain, Loretta J. Williams, Roland Ward, Attieno Davis

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Through the lens of an innovative community-university partnership in the Greater Boston region, the authors analyze how welfare reform organizing overtook a resident-driven empowerment project. Since a major goal of the Chelsea/Dudley Partnership in MA is to support residents in exerting greater power over the practices and policies of community agencies, projects have been initiated in the city of Chelsea and the Dudley neighborhood of Boston to organize, and to strengthen, low income women by training them as welfare advocates. This paper examines how the efforts evolved, and how the community and the university partners are playing a key role …