Connecting Policy to Practice in the Human Services

In this volume the authors argue that, as currently developed, policy seldom responds to the needs of service users. While well-intentioned in their efforts, policy makers in the head offices of human service organizations just can't get it right! For their part, practitioners are frustrated in their attempts to provide appropriate services and by their inability to have their wisdom respected in the policy process. Indeed, neither policy maker, practitioner, nor those who receive services are satisfied with policy outcomes. This text attempts to come to grips with this unsatisfactory state of affairs. The first section of the book describes the policy making process, including a detailed discussion of policy analysis. Particular attention is given to the implementation stage of the policy process where practitioners assume primary responsibility. The second section outlines new and more inclusive approaches to policy making: shared decision making (Stephen Owen), policy communities (Deborah Rutman), and community governance.

Table of Contents:
Part One Policy-Making and the lack of inclusiveness in the human services: policy - what is it and who makes it?; policy-making models and their connection to practice; stages and structures in the policy-making process; analyzing and evaluating social policies; implementation - the interface between policy and practice. Part Two Toward an inclusive paradigm in policy-making: shared decision-making: a case study; a policy community - developing guardianship legislation; community governance; conclusion. Appendix: a social policy analysis of the 1996 federal reforms to unemployment insurance.

About the Author :
Brian Wharf is currently Professor Emeritus, Faculty of Human and Social Development at the University of Victoria. He received his B.A. and M.S.W. from the University of British Columbia, and was employed as a social worker and probation officer before receiving his Ph.D. from Brandeis University. Dr. Wharf taught at Brandeis University and McMaster University before joining the School of Social Work at the University of Victoria as Professor and Dean in 1975. His numerous publications include Community Organizing: Canadian Experiences (with Micheal Clague, OUP, 1997), Rethinking Child Welfare in Canada (with Marilyn Callahan and Ewan MacIntyre, OUP, 1993), Communities and Social Policy in Canada (OUP, 1992), and Social Work and Social Change (OUP, 1990). Brad McKenzie is Associate Professor at the Faculty of Social Work, University of Manitoba, where he teaches in child welfare, social policy, and program evaluation. He has completed extensive research and evaluation in child welfare, particularly in relation to First Nations child and family services. He is currently involved in several studies, including an educational program for separating and divorcing parents and the Canadian National Innocence Study on Child Abuse and Neglect. He was Anglophone Editor of the Canadian Social Work Review from 1996 to 1998. Recent publications include articles on the development of community-based child welfare standards in First Nations communities and the 1994 book Current Perspectives on Foster Family Care for Children and Youth.