Read chapters 12 and 13 from the textbook: An Overview of the Human Services
SECOND EDITION
KRISTI KANEL
California State University, Fullerton
Contributing Author:
MELANIE HORN MALLERS.
California State University, Fullerton
For this final assignment, which I am calling “Think Big!” you are being asked to think about a social problem that you would like to help improve. You can even consider the population served in the interview assignment you conducted for this course.
Definition I want to ensure you know first:
-White paper is a document is a formal document that addresses complex issues, such as elder abuse, and shares strategies and solutions to address the issue).
-Advocate is someone who publicly supports or recommends a particular cause or policy
-Policy is a course or principle of action adopted or proposed by a government, party, business, or individual.
-Policy maker is one who is involved in the formulation of policies, especially politicians, lobbyists, and activists
-Legislator is someone who creates or enacts laws, especially a member of a legislative body.
-Change agent is an individual who promotes and supports a new way of doing something.
Now, complete the following:
First, identify a population or issue you want to advocate for. WRITE IT LIKE THIS: I am interested in advocating for older adults who are abused.
Second, find 2 documents on related policy that exist. For example, I googled “elder abuse state policy” and found https://www.justice.gov/elderjustice/about-elder-abuseLinks to an external site.
I also then googled “elder abuse white paper” and found this: https://www.sec.gov/files/elder-financial-exploitation.pdfLinks to an external site.
POST THE 2 DOCUMENTS, BUT YOU DO NOT NEED TO GIVE A SUMMARY; I JUST WANT TO SEE THEM. Will need links of the documents to post
Third, get a “gist” of the content, e.g., the sorts of content shared, the headings and subheading, etc) and then complete step 4.
YOU ARE NOT POSTING ANYTHING FOR THIS STEP
Fourth, imagine you are talking to a policymaker/legislator. NOW, POST YOUR ANSWERS to the following 3 questions:
A. what is the issue and why is it a problem? (give at least 3 reasons why, such as by using statistics you read or other facts shared from the documents you found/read in step 2 and 3)
B. how can we solve the problem? (think of at least 3 things that society can do to alleviate the problem; you can use some of the ideas from the documents you read)
C. what will YOU do to help? (think of at least 1 thing YOU will do/can do to be an advocate and change agent)? You can consider programs that you would develop, research to collect, laws to create/strengthen. Be specific and detailed about your actions.
