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Yonsei University
Graduate School of Social Work
Fall Semester, 2009
Monday: 9:00-12:00
Room: Appenzella 101
Office hours: by appointment
Kyunghee Lee, Ed.D., Ph.D.
email: choiky@msu.edu
Office: Appenzella 206
Tel: 2123-6213
US Social Work and Social Policy
COURSE DESCRIPTION: The course involves the study of the application of social welfare policy to
social work agency. Material to be covered includes the current changes in welfare, health, and other
social policy and their impact on social work clients.
REQUIRED TEXT
DiNitto, D. M. (2007). Social welfare: Politics and public policy (6th edition). Boston, MA: Allyn &
Bacon.
Additional readings: (selected articles): Students can download through the internet – as indicated with
Course Pack (CP).
COURSE OBJECTIVES
Upon completion of this course, students will be able to:
1. Examine social service agencies as settings that offer opportunities and limitations for good
social work practice;
2. Understand and describe the methods of policy planning, development, and implementation;
3. Understand social welfare issues and trends in selected international settings;
4. Utilize research studies to enhance understanding of social welfare policy issues.
EVALUATION AND BASIS FOR GRADING (100 total points for the semester):
1. Class attendance, active participation (10%)
2. Four Take Home Exams: 40% (each 10%)
3. Final Paper (50%)
Requirement 1: Class participation (10%).
A) This course requires that students actively participate in their learning. A variety of
techniques will be used to facilitate participation, including an interactive lecture style, group
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discussions, and informal class presentations. Lectures will be presented in Power Point but
will be interactive. The students are responsible for summarizing the entire lecture if they need to
keep a record for future references.
Attendance is mandatory to receive points for class participation (see the attached class
participation grading sheet). For an excused absence, the students should notify the instructor
with a written document. The instructor will decide whether the absence will be excused. Keep
the written document from me (email, for example) for your record.
B) Students can participate in class by talking about their ideas about the course material during
class discussions or by posting on the discussion board in ANGEL (to be introduced at the first
class). The number of times that you posted at the discussion forum will be counted toward your
participation points. Other ways to participate include bringing to class articles from newspapers
about related current events that should be appropriate to the weekly topic).
C) Master Policy Chart – Student should fill out (must be typed) the Master Policy Chart and
hand it in class at the end of the semester.
Requirement 2: Four Take-Home Exams (40%)
Four exams will be take-home exams covering the material from the semester. The exam will
contain essay questions, true/false questions, and multiple choices. You will be graded based on
how well you demonstrate your knowledge of the course material in a synthesized, organized
manner. (Final Date will be determined)
Requirement 3: Final Paper (50%)
The students will choose a major social welfare policy and investigate the impact of welfare
policy. The completion of the paper should be consisted of three components: (1) introduction of
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social welfare policy affecting child welfare; (2) analysis of problem or success; and (3)
suggestions and/or recommendations to improve current services. The paper should include the
comparative perspectives between Korea and US. The groups are expected to make an in-class
presentation at the end of the semester (Specific guidelines will be distributed in class). Paper
can be written either in English or Korean. Paper can use empirical data analyses methods.
TOPICAL OUTLINE:
Week 1: 9/7
Course introduction and overview
No Reading
Week 2: 9/14
Why should we care about social welfare policy?
Concepts related to social welfare policy
Text: DiNitto, Chapter 1: Politics, rationalism, and social welfare (1-35).
Week 3: 9/21
Social welfare history
Text: DiNitto, Chapter 2: Government and social welfare
Week 4: 9/28
Take Home Exam 1
Week 5: 10/05
Poverty and welfare policy
Text: DiNitto, Chapter 3: Defining poverty
Chapter 4: Preventing Poverty: The social insurance programs
CP1 : U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (2009). The 2009 HHS Poverty
Guidelines. http://aspe.hhs.gov/poverty/09poverty.shtml
CP2: Institute for Research on Poverty (2008). Poverty thresholds and poverty guidelines.
http://www.irp.wisc.edu/faqs/faq1.htm
CP3: Green Book 2008 (Appendix E): Poverty, income distribution and
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Antipoverty effectivenessE:p.1 – 15.
http://waysandmeans.house.gov/media/pdf/110/appE.pdf
Week 6: 10/12
Income maintenance programs for adults
Text: DiNitto, Chapter 5: Helping the “deserving poor”: Aged, blind, and disabled
CP4: Lucie Schmidt (2004). Effects of welfare reform on the Supplemental Security Income
(SSI) program. Policy Brief. MI: National Poverty Center.
http://www.npc.umich.edu/publications/policy_briefs/brief4/brief4.pdf
Week 7: 10/19
Take-Home Exam 2
Week 8: 10/26
Income maintenance programs for children
Text: DiNitto, Chapter 6: Ending welfare as we knew it: Temporary Assistance for Needy
Families
CP5: Lens, V. (2002). TANF: What went wrong and what to do next.
Social Work, 47(3), 279-290.
http://proquest.umi.com.proxy1.cl.msu.edu/pqdweb?index=12&did=147292011&SrchMode=3&
sid=1&Fmt=6&VInst=PROD&VType=PQD&RQT=309&VName=PQD&TS=1250537221&cli
entId=3552&aid=1
Week 9: 11/2
Nutrition policy for children
Text: DiNitto, Chapter 7: Fighting hunger, fighting fat: Nutrition policy and programs in the US
Earned Income Tax Credit
CP6: Steven G. Anderson (2002). Ensuring the stability of welfare-to-work exits:
The importance of recipient knowledge about work incentives.
Social Work, 47(2), 161-170.
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http://proquest.umi.com.proxy1.cl.msu.edu/pqdweb?index=4&did=118263241&SrchMode=3
&sid=2&Fmt=6&VInst=PROD&VType=PQD&RQT=309&VName=PQD&TS=1250537468&c
lientId=3552&aid=1
Week 10: 11/9
Take Home Exam III
Week 11: 11/16
Health Care Policy
Text: DiNitto. Chapter 8: Improving Health Care: Treating the Nation’s Ills
CP7: Anderson, Steven G., & Eamon, Mary Keegan. (2004). Health coverage instability for
mothers in working families. Social Work, 49(3), 395-405.
http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?index=10&did=671516191&SrchMode=3&sid=5&Fmt
=6&VInst=PROD&VType=PQD&RQT=309&VName=PQD&TS=1187816093&clientI
d=3552&aid=5
Week 12: 11/23
Breaking the Poverty
Head Start
Text: DiNitto, Chapter 9: Changing paradigms: The Poverty Wars
CP8 (optional) : Office of Head Start. http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/ohs/index.html <use
this site to understand Head Start program>.
CP9 (optional): Lee, K. (2008). The Effects of Children’s Age at Entering Head Start on their
Short- and Long-term Developmental Outcomes. Social Service Review, 82(4), 663-702.
http://www.journals.uchicago.edu.proxy1.cl.msu.edu/doi/pdf/10.1086/597018
Week 13: 11/30
Take-Home Exam IV
Week 14: 12/7
Child welfare: Child Abuse and Neglect
Foster Care/Adoption
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Text: DiNitto, Chapter 10: Providing social services: Help for children, the elderly, and
individuals with mental illness (read section on child welfare policy, pp. 410-427)
Week 15: 12/14
Final Paper Presentation
Week 16: 12/21
Final Paper Due
Master Policy Chart Due