Social Policy and Social Programs: A Method for the Practical Public Policy Analyst

Explores the basics of social policy and program analysis, such as designing new programs or evaluating and improving existing ones.

Social Policy and Social Programs is distinctive in providing specific criteria for judging the effectiveness of social policies and programs. These criteria can be applied to the analysis of widely different social services such as counseling and therapeutic services, supportive assistance, and “hard” benefits like food stamps, cash, and housing vouchers.

By focusing especially on social problems, policies, and programs in major practice areas like child welfare, health, poverty, and mental illness, the author provides students with the tools they need to understand and evaluate the programs in which they are doing their field placements.

Upon completing this book readers will be able to:

• Analyze the effectiveness of current social programs
• Create new programs based on the criteria provided
• Apply what they have learned to evaluate their field placement programs