Developing coalitions, strengthening public support, and meeting with additional legislators.
Be Prepared to Try Again Next Session.
Be prepared for your bill to die in committee, fail to pass both houses, or be vetoed. Most state legislatures have between 3,500 and 4,000 bills introduced each session, but only a few hundred, at most, pass and become signed into law. Many of those bills that succeed have been around for several previous sessions. Their sponsors have persisted and compromised and honed their political skills by developing coalitions, strengthening public support, and meeting with additional legislators. Representative democracy is a great concept, but it is frequently not a tidy or efficient process. However, it works in its own fashion, and it is important that you be there!
Chapter 18 POLICY, POLITICS, AND HUMAN SERVICES: AN ADDRESS GIVEN TO MEMBERS OF THE
NATIONAL ORGANIZATION FOR HUMAN SERVICE EDUCATION, ON OCTOBER 9, 1992
HAROLD L. McPHEETERS
I wish to begin with a few words of special appreciation for Dr. Ron Feinstein of your organization. Dr.
Feinstein was one of the pioneers of the human service education movement. I have been privileged to
have been with him in perhaps two dozen meetings a
s we forged some of the concepts and directions
for the movement. I always found him to be knowledgeable, critical, analytic, and positively involved. It
was a pleasure to have known him and worked with him, but I especially want to mention his leadership
here because he was one of our most active human service educators in the area of public policy
development and political action. A few months ago he died from a heart affliction while in the office of
a Pennsylvania state senator on such a mission. We sha
ll miss him.
In modern times the primary sanction and funding for both human service delivery programs and
human service educational programs is government. The days when churches or private charitable
organizations provided the major impetus for health an
d welfare services and funding have long
receded despite some nostalgic urgings that somehow a “thousand points of light” might assume this
responsibility. There are still many private and charitable groups involved in human service delivery, but
most of t
hem receive both their sanction and much of their funding from federal, state, or county
governments. By sanction, I mean their charters and licenses for the programs and their staffs, required
standards of operation, tax exemption, liability, and often pu
blic oversight. Funding may be provided
through direct government grants or contracts or the fees from programs such as Medicaid and
Medicare. Virtually all human service educational programs are located either in public institutions or in
institutions tha
t receive much of their funding from government sources.
Thus, for self
–
interest alone, human service educators must be involved in public policy and politics
related to human services. In addition, human service educators, with their depth of understandin
g of
human service needs and programs, should be involved in helping key government officials make better
policy decisions for the human services. It is sometimes sad to see educators from the human service
education programs turn away from involvement in
policy development and politics or, worse yet, to
constantly criticize and express contempt for public officials and politicians. Such an attitude helps no
one, least of all one’s own program and its graduates. Many of the most effective human service
educ
ators are active in public policy developments and find that their programs and graduates are more
frequently requested and better regarded as a consequence.
The two areas of public policy and politics are closely related.
Public policy development is the
process of helping national, state, and local governments and
professional and voluntary associations decide what laws, regulations, programs, philosophies, and
values are to be implemented and how. It also involves deciding how to obtain the funds and oth
er
necessary resources for the programs.
Politics is the process of nominating and electing officials to legislative and top executive positions in
local, state, and federal governments (and sometimes judges) and drafting and enacting legislation to
implem
ent major policy directions.
Chapter 18 POLICY, POLITICS, AND HUMAN SERVICES: AN ADDRESS GIVEN TO MEMBERS OF THE
NATIONAL ORGANIZATION FOR HUMAN SERVICE EDUCATION, ON OCTOBER 9, 1992
HAROLD L. McPHEETERS
I wish to begin with a few words of special appreciation for Dr. Ron Feinstein of your organization. Dr.
Feinstein was one of the pioneers of the human service education movement. I have been privileged to
have been with him in perhaps two dozen meetings as we forged some of the concepts and directions
for the movement. I always found him to be knowledgeable, critical, analytic, and positively involved. It
was a pleasure to have known him and worked with him, but I especially want to mention his leadership
here because he was one of our most active human service educators in the area of public policy
development and political action. A few months ago he died from a heart affliction while in the office of
a Pennsylvania state senator on such a mission. We shall miss him.
In modern times the primary sanction and funding for both human service delivery programs and
human service educational programs is government. The days when churches or private charitable
organizations provided the major impetus for health and welfare services and funding have long
receded despite some nostalgic urgings that somehow a “thousand points of light” might assume this
responsibility. There are still many private and charitable groups involved in human service delivery, but
most of them receive both their sanction and much of their funding from federal, state, or county
governments. By sanction, I mean their charters and licenses for the programs and their staffs, required
standards of operation, tax exemption, liability, and often public oversight. Funding may be provided
through direct government grants or contracts or the fees from programs such as Medicaid and
Medicare. Virtually all human service educational programs are located either in public institutions or in
institutions that receive much of their funding from government sources.
Thus, for self-interest alone, human service educators must be involved in public policy and politics
related to human services. In addition, human service educators, with their depth of understanding of
human service needs and programs, should be involved in helping key government officials make better
policy decisions for the human services. It is sometimes sad to see educators from the human service
education programs turn away from involvement in policy development and politics or, worse yet, to
constantly criticize and express contempt for public officials and politicians. Such an attitude helps no
one, least of all one’s own program and its graduates. Many of the most effective human service
educators are active in public policy developments and find that their programs and graduates are more
frequently requested and better regarded as a consequence.
The two areas of public policy and politics are closely related.
Public policy development is the process of helping national, state, and local governments and
professional and voluntary associations decide what laws, regulations, programs, philosophies, and
values are to be implemented and how. It also involves deciding how to obtain the funds and other
necessary resources for the programs.
Politics is the process of nominating and electing officials to legislative and top executive positions in
local, state, and federal governments (and sometimes judges) and drafting and enacting legislation to
implement major policy directions.
