Reference no: EM132155408

Question: 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 to choose a social justice issue that is important to you, gather current research and data on the subject matter, and write a one page professional and formal letter to your elected local, state, or national representative responsible for your social justice matter you have identified.

Choose a social welfare problem that you believe is in need of change 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 1-2 page explanation of your letter. Your explanation will provide the rationale behind your chosen issue and the approach you took with the specific representative.

Assignment: In the same document, submit both Part I and II of the assignment (2-4 pages):

Part I: Letter to Representative

Your letter should include:

A description of the social welfare issue

• Use United States Senator Joe Donnelly from Indiana for the letter/ their are a lot of bills up for consideration concerning the opiate problem and President Trump just signed one. It should have information on this topic readily available if you would like to use that topic.

• 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 credible facts and research.

Part II: Explanation (1-2 pages, double-space, APA format)

For this part of the assignment, provide an explanation of:

• Why you selected the issue

• How the issue affects social work

• The reason you chose the specific representative

• The approach you took with the representative (consider the representative's voting history, political affiliation, and any other factors you considered)

Example letter.

Your street address

City, state, zip code

Phone number

Date

The Honorable (full name)

Address

Dear Representative OR Senator (last name): I am a registered voter in (City, County, District) and I am a social worker at (place and location). It has come to my attention that the United States Senate is considering (describe action and if possible give a bill number). I am concerned about the negative impact this action will have on social work education in IN.... OR, I support action being taken to improve support for social work in IN (Give cost implications and anecdotal information about client impact.). (If you are writing about the Child Welfare Education Collaborative remind them that students pay back educational support with services in their counties. Include concerns about incidents of child deaths in other states.)

I realize that you are faced with many tough decisions as you prepare the state's budget. But, not providing services to people who desperately need them is not the way to balance the budget. Have the courage to do the right thing and invest in all our people. Please let me know your position on funds from the federal budget for (your issue). Sincerely, Your name.