Assignment:
Advocating with Policy Makers:
In social work, advocacy is very important to promote social change. Letters are often used as an effective tool to bring attention to social justice issues. This assignment requires you write a social justice issue letter and paper concerning military Veteran suicide, gather current research and data on the subject matter, and write a professional and formal letter to your elected national representative (Congressman Michael Turner of Ohio) responsible for your social justice matter you have identified.
Choose a social welfare problem that you believe is in need of change (Military Veteran Suicide and suicide rate) and write a letter to an elected local, state, or federal official regarding the issue you have chosen. You are not required to send the letter; however, it must be written in a professional, well organized, clear, and concise format.
Writing letters to public officials is a form of political advocacy for clients and social workers. For this Assignment, you will write an advocacy letter to public official about a problem and a policy. In addition, you will write a 2-3 page explanation of your letter. Your explanation will provide the rationale behind your chosen issue and the approach you took with the specific representative.
By Day 7
Assignment: In the same document, submit both Part I and II of the assignment (4-5 pages):
Part I: Letter to Representative Michael Turner of Ohio (2 pages)
Your letter should include:
- A description of the social welfare issue Military Veteran Suicide
- An explanation of how you want the legislator to respond to the issue (vote, create legislation, hold public hearings, etc.) and why.
- Support of your viewpoints with 3 credible facts and research. References to a peer reviewed article, government website, and scholarly material.
Part II: Explanation (2-3 pages, double-space, APA format)
For this part of the assignment, provide an explanation of:
- Why you selected the issue – My goal is to work at the Veterans Administration to help address the issue of veteran suicide.
- How the issue affects social work
- The reason you chose the specific representative – He’s a major supporter of the Military, Wright-Patterson AFB, and is our local elected official.
- The approach you took with the representative (consider the representative’s voting history, political affiliation, and any other factors you considered)
- Support of your viewpoints with 4 credible facts and research. References to a peer reviewed article, government website, and scholarly material.