Local, State ,and Federal Social Policy Identification - Coursework Example

Local, State and Federal Social Policy Identification

Policies in the United States of America originated from the local, state, and federal levels of government. The policies in the respective governments are confined to the jurisdiction of the particular level of government. For instance, a local policy may only be applicable within the municipal boundaries of the city, and state policy is only applicable within that particular city while a federal policy applies the United States of America country in its entirety (Popple & Leighninger, 2007). All in all, local, state, and federal policies aim to achieve a novel objective and, in most cases, shape the law and the social behavior of the people by improving their lives in a myriad of ways.

Firstly, a local policy aims at improving the lives of the residents in that specific town or district by easing service delivery or preventing adverse effects of environmental degradation to the people. Houston's Novel Strategy to Control Hazardous Air Pollutants is a policy formulated by Mayor Bill White’s administration to reduce or control the emission of hazardous air pollutants to the atmosphere. It is noteworthy that Houston's Novel Strategy to Control Hazardous Air Pollutants was formulated in 2005 following the election of Bill White as the Mayor of Houston city (Hernandez et al., 2015). The city of Houston hosts most of the big manufacturing companies in the United States of America with high levels of emission of hazardous gases to the atmosphere hence the pollution of the air. The levels of benzene and 1,3 butadiene were so high as a result of the manufacturing companies hence the deteriorating health of the residents in the city. The policy came up to reduce pollution and offer clean air for the Houstonians.

Notably, the policy involved the scaling down of hazardous gas emissions through fixed and negotiated agreements with the leading pollutants and the amendment of the law to place the municipal government as the ultimate detector and overseer of the laws appertaining pollution in the city. The department of health in the city reported a decrease in the cases of cancer and other lung-related diseases after the implementation of the policy. Moreover, the quality of air improved since the quantity of benzene and 1,3 butadiene decreased in the atmosphere; thus, the improvement of the lives of the Houstonians (Kraft & Furlong, 2015). This is a classic example of a local policy that influenced the lives of the people by improving their health and well-being through the provision of clean air within the city of Houston. Therefore, the policy improved the well-being of Houstonians and other people within the city.

Secondly, at the state level, policies are aimed at addressing specific aspects of the lives of the people within that particular state. States have the power to make laws as per the preamble of the constitution and the substantive constitution, which established states as independent in certain aspects. The Tenth Amendment also increases the independence of the states. The State of New York State Runaway and Homeless Youth Policy was developed with the aim of fostering education for the homeless Ney York School going children who lived in temporary shelters. The policy provides the means of transport for the homeless children and the extra rights which accrue to the said children (Kraft & Furlong, 2015). The homeless and those who run away from their homes are provided for by the policy informs of reimbursements of transport fee to and from school (Fernandes, 2016). The overall aim of the policy is to improve education in the state district schools by facilitating the education of those in temporary shelters.

Moreover, the policy provides funds from the New York State Education Department which cushions the vulnerable children thus making education more palatable in the state of New York. The finances come from the State of New York budget and are distributed from the Education department to the schools. It is noteworthy that the policy has improved the lives of the New Yorkers and through facilitation of access to education for all children regardless of their economic status (Fernandes, 2016). The homeless and the run-away children form part of the society hence the need to ease the access to education in the State of New York. The policy came to increase access to education by facilitating the transport of pupils and students to and from school.

Federal policies guide the entire country in reaching a specific objective. The Federal Health policy on affordable health care is geared at providing healthcare to the United States citizens at an affordable price (Barr, 2016). The policy is characterized by amendment of laws to provide affordable health care services to citizens. The establishment of Medicare and Medicaid as primary public health insurance bodies facilitates the provision of affordable health care services. It is noteworthy that the policy targets the vulnerable in the society and aims at improving the health care of such people.

Medicare cushions the elderly senior citizens of the United States of America by providing finances for the healthcare services sought by people who are above 65 years of age. The fund benefits the senior citizens and improves the quality of life in old age through health care (Barr, 2016). Medicaid is a fund established to cushion and pay medical bills for the disabled and the poor in the society with the aim of improving the quality of life for this category of people. The policy has therefore improved access to health care services and the lives of the target group through payment of hospital bills.

The role and impact of social policy on social service delivery and access to social services.

Social policy refers to the various ways through which governments respond to human social needs. Policies are aimed at solving and meeting the specific needs of people in a particular country or demographic category. A social policy is the tool and instrument used by the various governmental agencies in meeting the needs of the people in the society (Popple & Leighninger, 2007). Notably, social policies are inextricably interlinked to the social service delivery. Social services include education, health, and provision of energy, housing, and pensions among other issues. Social policy comes to address issues which affect the society such as poverty, child abuse, elderly abuse and the care to the mentally impaired. All the above issues are social issues which call for reaction from the government in relation to the same.

Notably, the government and its agencies respond to social needs and challenges through the formulation of policies which precede legislation. It is noteworthy that a policy paves way for a statute and acts as the guiding principle upon which legislation is based. The various policies have an underlying objective of improving the lives of the people in the society through increasing accessibility to social amenities and services. Service delivery to the people is one of the major roles of the government as people elect officials to serve them (Popple & Leighninger, 2007). Social policy affects service delivery positively by providing mechanisms which grease the wheels of service delivery making the same palatable and appealing to the society. For instance, a policy which provides for the smooth registration of persons with disability for the purpose of government aid paves the way for effective and efficient service delivery to the people (Barr, 2016). By providing the registration criteria for people with disability, the policy seeks to effect the service delivery by ensuring the services providers act with easiness. Therefore, service delivery is improved by the formulation of a policy.

Moreover, service delivery of social services is predominantly impacted by the existence of a policy governing the specific social service. Medicare and Medicaid allow the smooth service delivery of health care services to the elderly and the disabled respectively (Barr, 2016). Therefore, service delivery and social policy are two intertwined concepts which speak to the intended objectives. A policy provides the path way through which social service providers walk in dispensing their duties to the society (Popple & Leighninger, 2007). The effectiveness with which services are provided to the public by the use of policies informs the formulation of social policies in all social needs.

Access to social services and amenities is a fundamental point in the social sphere of citizens as the same is a reference point when assessing the achievement of elected government. Access to social amenities is one of the Standard Development goals by the United Nations Development program hence the need to elevate the position of accessibility of social facilities and amenities. A policy comes in handy to aid in ensuring the social amenities are accessible to the people (Popple & Leighninger, 2007). For instance, the Run-away and Homeless policy of New York state ensures that children who live in temporary shelters have access to schools through provision of fare to and from school through the Education Department. Similarly the United States Federal Health policy ensures that all Americans have access to health care at affordable prices (Barr, 2016). Therefore, policy influences the service delivery and access to social services through effective planning which ensures that a harmonious service delivery exists between the service providers and the service seekers.

Formulation of a policy

Problem statement

The second amendment to the constitution acts as the foundational ground for private gun ownership. The amendment prohibits any law that aims at taking away the right of people to bear and possess arms (Kraft & Furlong, 2015). Notably, in the recent past the incidences of gun violence have increased with mass shootings drawing public attention to the ownership of guns. In 2018 an armed man entered a thousand Oaks place in California and shot students attending a party with 12 dead and more than 15 injured in the incidence. Similarly, the capital gazette shooting led to 5 people losing their lives and three wounded when gun violence ensued from a man who stormed the premises (Morrall, 2018). It is also noteworthy that guns account for 61% of the homicides and suicides in general hence the social problem facing citizens in the United States of America.

Moreover, more than 1,200 are victims of gun violence every year in the country with a prediction of an increase in the number. This is a problem which attracts a policy to deal with the same and improve the lives of the people in the country by shielding them from gun violence (Morrall, 2018). The gun violence which involves mass shootings is fuelled by the porous gun laws which provide a lee way for people to acquire and own guns more easily without regard to their character. The porosity of the gun policies is the main cause of gun violence in the United States of America and poses a challenge to the lives of the citizens in general.

Therefore, gun violence which is depicted by lack of sufficient gun control policies is a social challenge and a problem which calls for a policy response. It is noteworthy that the mass shootings and homicide incidences in the country are caused by the possession of guns as the primary tool. Moreover, guns are lethal as they increase the consequences of violence (Winker et al., 2016). More than 700 people are victims of gun violence in 2020. This is a salient problem calling for redress and social response.

Policy

Gun violence control policy is aimed at providing a different approach to the previous gun control policies which have tremendously failed. The second amendment only prohibits the taking away of arms from the people and not an attempt to control the possession of arms by the people. The policy herein provides that guns should only be issued to people with unquestionable character and a clean criminal record. To facilitate this, the license for selling guns should be divorced from private practitioners. The rationale of this is that private practitioners dealing in guns are more susceptible to manipulation and abuse of the licenses together with guidelines than government entities.

The criminal department should create an agency which deals with the public acquisition of guns with people only allowed to buy guns from the department. The criminal department is well suited with resources to scrutinize and interrogate the criminal history of any person seeking to acquire guns as well as assess the mental and psychological past of the potential buyer of guns. This gives the federal government an increased control of the possession of guns in the country. Moreover, the agency created will be solely responsible for the acquisition of guns in the country thus reduction of gun violence incidences.

The gun control Act of 1968 and the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act of 1993 both regulate the possession and use of guns (Winker et al., 2016). It is noteworthy that the above Acts which emanated from policies in response to social needs, provide for private gun dealer licenses which confer authority to private dealers to sell guns to the public albeit in accordance with guidelines.

Advocacy

In contrast, the policy herein will limit the selling of guns to a federal government agency under Homeland Security which interrogates people before issuing guns to them. This will ensure a reduction of gun violence and an improvement of the lives of the society in the country. Similarly, pollution will be reduced as the number of manufactured firearms will reduce drastically (Popple & Leighninger, 2007). The policy will be administered by collaboration between the Homeland security and the Criminal Investigation Agency as the two are well versed with the criminal database of offenders ineligible for acquisition of firearms. The collaboration is geared at creating a credible agency with access to criminal information database hence the complete confidence in issuance of guns to the public.

The strategies employed by this policy involve a change in the issuer of guns to the public from private dealers to a federal government agency (Popple & Leighninger, 2007). The change is aimed at making sure that guns are only issued to people who have clean criminal records hence eligible to possess guns as opposed to the inadequate database available to firearm dealers. This is a control measure which is consistent with the Second Amendment hence legal as it transfers selling of guns from private dealers to the government hence making the government more accountable for the use of weapons by citizens. This is informed by the indication that previous gun laws have not worked in reducing gun violence.

Analysis

The gun violence control policy addresses social challenges in the society. For instance, it responds to the social issue of public mass shootings which is a menace and a challenge to the society. Additionally, the policy responds to homicides and domestic violence orchestrated by the possession of guns by the people (Popple & Leighninger, 2007). Therefore, the policy advances social justice by restricting the people eligible for the possession of guns in the United States hence reducing the victims of gun violence. The health status of citizens is also advanced as lives are saved by the policy and medical bills reduced.

The policy advances economic justice as people do not have to go to hospitals as a result of gun violence. The money to be used in treatment sis channelled to other areas which improve the lives of the people. Additionally, the manufacture of guns is associated with environmental pollution hence reducing the issuance of the same to public reduces the manufacturing capacity hence reducing the environmental pollution. Therefore, the policy herein responds to social, economic and environmental justice.