In the 1960’s programs were expanded and created that were aimed at assisting poverty stricken families out of poverty, removing slum areas from our cities and creating educational and health programs to assist families in need (Burger, Youkeles, 2004). Today many of these programs are still in place in some form and continue to help poverty stricken families. Although the past goal was to eliminate poverty, this goal has not been met and continues to challenge Americans.

America continues to struggle with the issue of poverty; it is a challenge that we have been unable to compete with for decades. Many

This course helped me to realize the ways that social policy and government regulations impact health care and human services. I have worked in health care for several years now but never truly understood the creation of social policy or the laws that impact them. I understood how lobbying can create and impact social policy but, I never understood why and to what extent. In my future career in health care, I plan to be an advocate for the clients that I serve while keeping in line with best interests of my organization along with adhering to current laws and regulations. I believe that advocacy is important, and there is a fine line between being and advocate and being a radical. I, of course, plan to stay on the side of the advocate in order to assist me in my employment endeavors while maintaining professional respect in my position.

The future of health care and human services is sure to lead to policy struggles, increased technology and privacy laws and the need for advocates to fight for the rights of those in need. As the income gap continues to rise between our nations poorest and richest, human service and health care workers will be called upon to assist in this ever-changing society to enable everyone to have equal opportunity.

The issue of poverty in America has been widely debated especially in the 1990’s when lawmakers chose to tackle the issue of welfare reform (Williams, 2006). One of the biggest issues facing the health and human services industry today is that of law makers and their interest in health and human service programs. The welfare reform act removed the duties of the federal government and welfare and placed the control of the programs in the hands of individual states without national guidelines other than the requirement to move a majority of welfare recipients into the workforce (Williams, 2006). In the eyes of many lawmakers, the program was a success since the number of welfare recipients decreased by more than half by the end of the 1990’s (Williams, 2006). Unfortunately, statistics also show that the national poverty rate has barely decreased as a result of welfare r

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