Syllabus

9/7, 9/14, 9/21, 9/28, 10/5, 10/12, 10/19, 10/26, 11/2, 11/9, 11/16, 11/30, 12/7, 12/14

Topic I: Introduction to Social Welfare Policy

Defining Social Welfare Policy & Systems

DiNitto, Diana (2000). Social Welfare: Politics and Public Policy. MA: Allyn & Bacon. Chapter 1.

Topic II: Historical Perspectives on Social Welfare

9/14, 9/21

Children waiting in line for soup given out each night by the city mission, a community chest- financed organization. Dubuque, Iowa.

Elizabethan Poor Law through the formation of the Welfare State

Readings:

Trattner, Walter (1994). From Poor Law to Welfare State. New York.

For students interested in the history of Columbia University School of Social Work, see:
Kahn, Alfred J. (1998). Themes for a History: The First One Hundred Years of Columbia University School of Social Work. New York: Paper presented at CUSSW Centennial Conference. http://www.columbia.edu/cu/ssw/events/ajkahn/

Additional Readings

Topic III: The Dimensions of Social Welfare Policy & Systems

9/28, 10/5

Social Welfare Expenditures

Universalism and Selectivism

Public and Private Sector Roles

The Devolution of the American Welfare State

DiNitto, Chapter 2.

And:
Gilbert, Neil and Paul Terrell (1998). Dimensions of Social Welfare Policy, 4th Edition. MA: Allyn & Bacon. Chapters 4 & 5.

A Social Welfare Expenditures handout will be distributed.

Additional Readings

Topic IV: Poverty, Income Inequality and Changing Demographics

10/5, 10/12

Defining and Measuring Poverty

Trends and Causes of Poverty

Income Inequality

Age, Gender, Race/Ethnicity, Marriage and Poverty

Immigration

Readings:

DiNitto, Chapter 3.

Review at least one other source listed below:
Neil G. Bennett and Hsien-Hen Lu (August 2000). Child Poverty in the States: Levels and Trends from 1979 to 1998 Childhood Poverty Research Brief 2. Columbia University, N.Y.: National Center for Children in Poverty http://cpmcnet.columbia.edu/dept/nccp/cprb2txt.html

Poverty Rate Hits Lowest Level Since 1979 As Unemployment Reaches A 30-Year Low. Washingtom, D.C.: Center for Budget and Policy Priorities http://www.cbpp.org/9-26-00pov.htm

Rebecca A. Blank (1997). It takes a Nation: A New Agenda for Fighting Poverty. New York: Russell Sage .Chapter 1.

For some interesting background information on poverty, visit:

The Institute for Research on Poverty, University of Wisconsin http://www.ssc.wisc.edu/irp/

The Development and History of the U.S. Poverty Threshold http://aspe.hhs.gov/poverty/papers/hptgssiv.htm

The 2000 HHS Poverty Guidelines http://aspe.hhs.gov/poverty/00poverty.htm

Additional Readings

Topic V: Preventing Poverty by Redistributing Income

10/19, 10/26

Social Insurance Programs: OASI, Unemployment, and WorkerÕs Compensation

Tax structures and tax expenditures

The future of social security

Readings:

DiNitto, Chapter 4.

And read one of the following for a broader view of issues being debated:
Social Security Administration (2001). 2001 OASDI Trustees Report.SSA Publication No. 05-10055 ICN No. 462560 http://www.ssa.gov/OACT/TR/TR01/index.html

Social Security Administration (1999). The Future of Social Security. SSA Publication No. 05-10055 ICN No. 462560 http://www.ssa.gov/pubs/10055.html

Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (March, 2000). Social Security Experts Expose Errors And Misleading Claims In Draft Interim Report Of President's Social Security Commission. Washington, D.C.: CBPP http://www.centeronbudget.org/7-23-01socsec-pr.htm

Peter R. Orszag (May 2000). Voluntary Individual Accounts for Social Security: What Are the Costs? Washington, D.C.: CBPP http://www.cbpp.org/5-15-00socsec.htm

And visit:
Social Security Online
http://www.ssa.gov/

Understanding Social Security
http://www.ssa.gov/understanding.htm

Additional Readings

Topic VI: Welfare and Welfare Reform

11/2, 11/9

Public Assistance Programs (TANF, SSI, Food Stamps, child care & support)

Factors affecting welfare dependency

PRWORA and it effectiveness

Supporting work efforts and child care

Making parents responsible - child support

Public Assistance Programs
DiNitto. Chapters 5, 6 & 8.
and
Ron Haskins, Isabel Sawhill, and Kent Weaver (January 2001). Welfare Reform: An Overview of Effects to Date. Washington, D.C.: Brookings Institution (Policy Brief No. 1). http://www.brook.edu/wrb/publications/pb/pb01/pb01.htm

Read at least one of the articles below:
Ron Haskins and Wendell Primus (July 2001). Welfare Reform and Poverty. Washington, D.C.: Brookings Institution (Policy Brief No. 4). http://www.brookings.edu/wrb/publications/pb/pb01/pb01.htm

Bell, Stephen (2001). Why Are Welfare Caseloads Falling? Washing, D.C.: Urban Institute, Assessing New Federalism. http://newfederalism.urban.org/html/discussion01-02.html

Loprest, Pamela (2001). How Are Families That Left Welfare Doing? A Comparison of Early and Recent Welfare Leavers. Number B-36 in Series, "New Federalism: National Survey of America's Families". http://newfederalism.urban.org/html/series_b/b36/b36.html

For update information on welfare related issues, visit
http://www.welfareinfo.org/index.html

Additional Readings

Topic VII: Family Supports

11/16, 11/30

Supporting work efforts and child care

Making parents responsible - child support

Helping families make it: child welfare services and personal social services

DiNitto, Chapter 10

and:

Elaine Sorensen and Ariel Halpern (1999). Child Support Enforcement Is Working Better Than We Think, Number A-31 in Series, "New Federalism: Issues and Options for States", The Urban Institute http://newfederalism.urban.org/html/anf_31.html

Patricia Schene (Spring 1998). Past, Present and Future Roles of Child Protective Services, Protecting Children from Abuse and Neglect (Vol. 8 Ñ No. 1). The David and Lucille Packard Foundation
http://www.futureofchildren.org/pcn/02_pcn.pdf

For more background read:
Greenbook. Sections on Child Welfare Services & Title XX.
http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/useftp.cgi?IPaddress=162.140.64.31&filename=wm014_11.pdf&directory=/diskb/wais/data/106_green_book
http://www.access.gpo.gov/index.html

Peter Pecora, Whittaker, J. K.; Maluccio, A.N.; & Barth, R.B. (2001). The Child Welfare Challenge: Policy, Practice, and Research, Chapters 1 & 2. New York: Aldine de Gruyter.

Protecting Children from Abuse and Neglect (Vol. 8 Ñ No. 1). The David and Lucille Packard Foundation
http://www.futureofchildren.org/pcn/

Additional Readings

11/30, 12/7,

Public Programs (Medicaid and Medicare)

Public/Private Partnership and effects of managed care

Issues of Access, Affordability and Coverage

DiNitto, Chapter 8.
And read at least one of the following according to your interests:

Millions Of Americans Are Falling Through The Health Care Safety Net (July 2001). Washington, DC: Families USA. http://www.familiesusa.org/media/pdf/holesreport.pdf

Walter M. Cadette (July 2001). Financing Health Care: There Is A Better Way, Policy Notes 2001/3. The Jerome Levy Economics Institute. http://www.levy.org/docs/pn/01-3.html

Stephanie Maxwell, Marilyn Moon, And Matthew Storeygard (May 2001). Reforming Medicare's Benefit Package: Impact On Beneficiary Expenditures. The Urban Institute. http://www.cmwf.org/programs/medfutur/maxwell_reforming_medbenefits_461.pdf

Kaiser Commission (March 2001). Health Care Coverage for Low-Income Children. Washington, DC: The Kaiser Family Foundation. http://www.kff.org/content/2001/2144-02/2144-02.pdf

Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation (1999). Medicaid: A Primer. The Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured.
http://www.kff.org/content/1999/2161/pub2161.pdf

Robert Kuttner (6/25/00). The Solution on Health Care, The American Propsect. http://www.prospect.org/columns/kuttner/2000/kuttner-r000625.html

Kaiser Commission (August 1999). Medicaid: A Primer. Washington, DC: The Kaiser Family Foundation. http://www.kff.org/content/1999/2161/pub2161.pdf
Additional Readings