Subject and Course Guides: SOCW 5395 Integrative Seminar: Social Policy

Finding Policies

Congress.gov
Congress.gov is the official website for U.S. federal legislative information
The Green Book
The Green Book published by the Committee on Ways and Means of the United States House of Representatives provides background material and data on the programs within the jurisdiction of the Committee on Ways and Means.
CQ Press Library
CQ Press Library - the place to search or browse resources on American government, current affairs, history, politics, public policy, and data analysis for the social sciences. Find a search demo for CQ at https://youtu.be/-My7q6bxCRs
Benefits.gov
Benefits.gov is a government site created to help citizens identify sources of assistance and benefits available. The site provides information from 17 federal agencies about more than 1,000 government programs. Users can search by categor, browse by state or by federal agency and find links to other federal resources providing programs and benefits.
HUD.gov
U.S.Department of Housing and Urban Development
USA.gov
USA.gov is the official U.S. portal to federal, state, local, tribal, and international government information and services.
Homeland Security Digital Library
Resources and topics in the HSDL cover a wide range of topics and are carefully selected and evaluated by a team of librarians and content specialists.
GovInfo.gov
Online portal from the US Government Printing Office. Provides access to collections of bills, laws, government reports, and Public Papers of the Presidents. Open access for all users.
USA.gov - Government Benefits, Grants & Financial Aid
This site provides links to information on government programs by broad topics, such as housing assistance, educational assistance, help for seniors and people with disabilities, assistance for children and families, and assistance related to health and nutrition.

Find more government information

Government Information

Useful Links on Citing Legislation and Laws

Writing References for Federal Statutes
From the APA
Citing Web Sources: Organizational, Governmental and Legal (APA Format)
From Cook Library, Towson University

Citing Laws & Bills

Federal Statute

APA citation style for statutes is constructed with the following elements:

Name of Statute
Title Number
Source (e.g. United States Code or U.S.C. for short)
Section Number(s)
Year

Example: Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993, 29 U.S.C. §§ 2601–2654 (2006).

For more information, please review Writing References for Federal Statutes from the APA blog.

State Statute

Example of a state law citation from the Purdue OWL website: Mental Care and Treatment Act, 4 Kan. Stat. Ann.§§ 59-2901-2941 (1983 & Supp. 1992).

Explanation: This Kansas act can be found in codified version between sections 2901 and 2941 in Chapter 59 of volume 4 of the 1983 edition of Kansas Statutes Annotated. Two amendments to the act and additional references are provided in the 1992 supplement for the Kansas Statutes Annotated.

Federal or State Bills

For unenacted bills, gather the following information:

Name of Bill
Senate or House bill number. Use S. for Senate, H. for House
Congressional session number
Year
URL of page you found the bill

Oil Pollution Prevention and Response Act of 2009, S. 684, 111th Cong. (2009). Retrieved from http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c111:S.684

Resources for Finding Information on Policies

Congressional Research Service
Search reports from the Congressional Research Services
Kaiser Family Foundation
Kaiser is a non-profit organization focusing on national health issues, as well as the U.S. role in global health policy. It develops and runs its own policy analysis, journalism and communications programs, sometimes in partnership with major news organizations. It serves as a non-partisan source of facts, analysis and journalism for policymakers, the media, the health policy community and the public.

PAIS Index This link opens in a new window
Provides subject access to public policy issues of concern to governments, including economic, political, and social background information and statistics. The scope is international
Provides subject access to policy approaches in areas and issues of concern to governments, including economic, political, and social background information and statistics. The scope is international with access at global, regional, national, and local levels. PAIS International contains references to journal articles, books, government documents, statistical directories, grey literature, research reports, conference reports, publications of international agencies, microfiche, Internet material, and more. Newspapers and newsletters are not indexed. The database includes publications from over 120 countries throughout the world. In addition to English, some of the indexed materials are published in French, German, Italian, Portuguese, and Spanish.
CQ Researcher This link opens in a new window
Provides reports focused on topics of current interest covering a wide range of social, economic, political, and environmental issues. A great tool to use for discovering research topics and gathering background information.

Policy Searching Tutorial

Citing Government Reports & Websites

Government Webpage

List as much of the following information as possible--you might need to look closely at the website:

Government Agency. (Date of publication). Title of webpage. Retrieved from http://Web address

Example: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2014). School-associated violent death study. Retrieved from:
http://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/youthviolence/schoolviolence

Government Report

Citing a government report is similar to citing a book. Often the author will be the government agency. If there is a specific report number available reference, include it in parentheses after the title.

Example: National Institute of Mental Health. (1990). Clinical training in serious mental illness (DHHS Publication No. ADM 90-1679). Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.

Macro Practice

The Macro Practice course in Social Work examines generalist community and administrative practice roles and includes the perspectives of historical inequities and social injustice and the impact on communities and diverse groups, strengths, empowerment, evidence-based practice, and global practice along with the values of social justice, diversity, and participation. Specific attention is given to assessing community assets and needs.

The guide created by UTA Librarians for Social Work Macro Practice is linked here: Social Work: Macro Practice

Here is the textbook required for Macro Practice:

Generalist Practice with Organizations and Communities by Karen K. Kirst-Ashman; Bryan D. Hull; Grafton H. Hull
ISBN: 9780495507154
Publication Date: 2008
Now available in paperback format and thoroughly updated to reflect the latest CSWE ethical standards and current social work literature, this hands-on text offers a practical, user-friendly, and comprehensive introduction to foundation macro practice.

Micro Practice

Social Work Micro Practice introduces graduate students to both theory and methods for social work practice with diverse individuals, families, and small groups. It emphasizes a generalist perspective, beginning interviewing and relationship skills, problem assessment, goal setting, and contracting. Special attention is given to the common roles assumed by social workers (e.g. facilitator, broker, advocate) as well as development of self-reflection skills in relationship to the dynamics of intersectionality of those served.

The guide created by UTA Librarians for Social Work Micro Practice is linked here: Social Work: Micro Practice

Here are the required Reading resources for Micro Practice:

Direct Social Work Practice by Dean H. Hepworth; Jo A. Larsen
ISBN: 0534199569
Publication Date: 1992
By delineating discrete, practical skills and providing both skill-development exercises and modeled responses adapted from actual clinical situations, Hepworth and Larsen prepare students effectively for delivering social work services to individuals, couples, families, and other groups.
The Social Work Skills Workbook by Barry Cournoyer
ISBN: 0534356788
Publication Date: 1999-07-09
Using this experiential workbook, readers can practice all the steps important to social work practice. The author includes case examples and situations that clearly illustrate the essential skills of social work practice, dozens of summaries and skill-building exercises.

NASW Code of Ethics
The NASW Code of Ethics is a set of standards that guide the professional conduct of social workers.

SOCW 5395 Integrative Seminar: Social Policy

Policy Resources