Welcome!

This site is an interactive syllabus for the class SSW 701.50: Social Welfare Policy at The Silberman School of Social Work at Hunter College. For the purposes of The Open Knowledge Fellowship, the syllabus is being adapted to a Zero Textbook Cost (ZTC) version. SSW 701 is a required survey class on social welfare policy for Master of Social Work Students. The term “EPAS” used below in the Course Objectives refers to Educational Policy and Accreditation Standards, which are produced by the Council on Social Work Education. These standards govern and regulate professional social work education in the United States.

About

I previously taught this class twice, in Fall 2021 and Fall 2022. This version is based off the SSW 701 Master Syllabus, which was last revised in Fall 2023. It is my understanding that the master syllabus will be revised again in Fall 2026, and this syllabus will need further revision at that time.

Course Description

Circumstances that give rise to social problems and their policy solutions; frameworks for analyzing these developments; values and skills needed to understand social policy and engage in advocacy and social change are stressed.

Expanded Description

This foundation course furnishes you with the orienting knowledge and skills needed to examine social welfare policies and to understand their relevance to social service delivery and social work practice. Drawing on liberal arts knowledge, Social Welfare Policy and Services I contextualizes social welfare policy and the social work profession, historically, conceptually, and ideologically. You will become familiar with basic issues, concepts, values, terminology, frameworks and ethical issues that define social welfare policy and that influence their ability to work with diverse groups and populations at risk and to think critically. This course exposes you to knowledge about family life, the market economy, government policies and other social structures that may or may not meet basic human needs, promote social and economic justice or recognize human rights. It alerts you to social welfare policy’s contribution to both oppression and social justice and explores how you and your social work colleagues can work to support but also to change the social welfare system. 

Course Objectives

  1. Formulate a working definition of social welfare policy (EPAS 2a)
  2. Identify, examine and critique the ideological perspectives that shape social policy (EPAS 2a)
  3. Examine the ways in which social policy influences service provision and direct practice (both micro and macro) (EPAS 2a)
  4. Apply multiple analytic frames to understand how social welfare policy impacts diverse groups and populations and can help or hinder social and economic justice (EPAS 2a)
  5. Recognize the interaction between social welfare policy and the wider social, economic and political context (EPAS 2a)
  6. Integrate the ways in which the dynamics of classism, racism, sexism, heteronormativity, cisgenderism, and ableism affect the formation, impact and outcome of social welfare policy (EPAS 2a)
  7. Analyze and explain the relationship between social policy, social change, and effective social work services. (EPAS 5a & 5b)

CSWE EPAS and Corresponding Practice Behaviors

CSWE EDUCATIONATIONAL POLICY AND ACCREDITATION STANDARDS & CORRESPONDING PRACTICE BEHAVIORS SSW 701
Educational Policy and Accreditation Standard (EPAS)Practice BehaviorsMeasures  
2a. Advance Human Rights and Social, Racial, Economic, and Environmental JusticeAdvocate for and engage in strategies to eliminate oppressive structural
barriers to ensure that social resources, rights, and responsibilities are distributed equitably and that civil, political, economic, social, and cultural human rights are protected.		Demonstrated through presentations and written/recorded assignments.
5a: Engage in Policy PracticeUse social justice, anti-racist, and anti-oppressive lenses to assess how social welfare policies affect the delivery of and access to social services.Demonstrated through presentations  and written/recorded assignments.
5b: Engage in Policy PracticeAnalyze, formulate, and advocate for policies that advance human rights and social, racial, economic, and environmental justice.Demonstrated through presentations and written/recorded assignments