Social Policy and Professional Ethics Flashcards

Question

Social Policy Issues: Policy Discussions Invariable Center on Standards of Need

Answer 1

How should the standard be established and by whom? Should there be a national standard or should each state have the widest flexibility? To what extent should standards conform to local conditions? The criteria used for setting benefit levels have many implications states with more generous benefits or easier eligibility criteria could become magnets for the poor, attracting poverty-stricken recipients from more penurious jurisdictions local conditions differ rural areas in many states are far less expensive than large urban centers uniform benefits would have to account for differing local standards

Answer 2

How can government mediate between the competing interests of various groups? For example, does affirmative action discriminate against the white poor? Should society provide relatively high benefit levels for the elderly, when the numbers of children and young mothers in poverty are rapidly growing? Should costly medical treatments from seriously ill patients take prioirty over preventative care?

Answer 3

Who should pay for social programs? How can costs be limited? Can welfare recipients shoulder more of the burdens? Should government rely more on user fees? Should social security taxes become more progressive?

Answer 4

services should be rendered on temporary case basis as a response to catastrophe, personal misfortune, or mismanagement residual social services are to be available only when normal market forces, family resources, or other private resources are overhwlemed or break down residual services or programs are means-tested or based on some deficiency they usually fight a stigma

Answer 5

social services are a central function of the society and must be available to all, not just for emergencies or abnormalities in individual, family, or community functioning services are only rehabilitative but developmental and preventative geared towards helping individuals reach their fullest human potential these services are not means-tested and carry no stigma

Answer 6

provides Old Age, Survivors, Disability, and Health Insurance a federal program operated by the Social Security Administration, a part of the Department of Health and Human Services the nation's largest social program and covers 90 percent of the workforce employers and employees contribute to workers' Social Security retirement fund there is a maximum contribution tied to a maximum eligible salary tax regressive since it has its highest impact on lower wage workers, while the highest paid workers, particularly those over the Social Security maximum, pay at a very low rate under social security, the basic benefit paid to a retired or permanently disabled worker is related to retirement age and the level of covered earnings dependents and survivors receive a proportion of the benefit is not means-tested in the last decade, Social Security rules changed and eligible recipients may continue to work and earn income

Answer 7

concerned about the fiscal health of the Social Security system as the large "baby boom" generation becomes eligible for benefits begun claiming cash and medical benefits

Answer 8

paid to surviving minor children (and those still in school and under age 22) and their surviving parent, and to dependent parents of deceased worker

Answer 9

paid to disabled adults who are unable to work; most people over 65 are entitled to Medicare and voluntary supplemental medical insurance for physician fees

Answer 10

originally passed in 1935 as part of the Social Security Act employers contribute to a state unemployment fund that benefits workers who are dismissed the states administer UI programs and benefits very from state to state workers must register with the U.S. Employment Service and show willingness and ability to work benefits are time-limited and are based on past earnings and length of employment

Answer 11

a social insurance program providing cash payments and medical benefits to workers who are injured on the job and suffer a significant disability the states operate the program, and its coverage varies

Answer 12

passed in 1972 and administered by the Social Security Administration a program for certain categories of the poor: the aged, blind, and disabled individuals who are single, healthy, and employable are not eligible for SSI since the program is administered by a federal agency, eligibility requirements are identical for all states many states add small cash supplements to the government's minimum payment

Answer 13

replaced in 1996 by Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) variation in payment levels and some states provide benefits below subsistence levels

Answer 14

Supreme Court struck down the rule under which families with a man in residence were ineligible for child support, even if the man was not the child's biological father

Answer 15

the law has far-reaching implications for Medicaid and family cash assistance programs it eliminates the open-ended federal entitlements (for state reimbursement) of the Aid to Families with Dependent Children program (AFDC) and creates a block grant for states to provide time-limited cash assistance for needy families make extensive changes in child care, food stamps, SSI for children, benefits for legal immigrants, and the Support Enforcement Program modifications to child nutrition programs and reductions in the social services block grant current laws for child welfare and child protection programs are unchanged the legislation will reduce federal expenditures with the majority of savings due to changes in the Food Stamp Program and reductions in benefits for legal immigrants states will have increased flexibility in setting benefit levels and providing related services

Answer 16

provides block grants to the states

Answer 17

states may use block grant allocations for any "manner reasonably calculated to accomplish the purpose of Title I (TANF)" activities authorized under Title IV-A and IV-F as of September 30, 1995, are also eligible uses the bill ends the federal entitlement of individuals to cash assistance under the old AFDC program, and states have complete flexibility to determine eligibility and benefit levels welfare payments are limited to a 5-year lifetime maximum; states may request waivers states are expected to provide job training and child care to unemplyed mothers receiving welfare payments if a two-parent family receives federally funded child care, then both parents must work, with exceptions for parents of severely disabled children or parents who are themselves disabled states will continue to experiment with measures to control the fertility of mothers on welfare by limiting or restricting benefits to unmarried women who continue to bear children while on welfare

Answer 18

states may exempt single custodial parents with a child under one year from the work requirement a parent may only receive this exemption for a total of 12 months

Answer 19

assistance may be reduced if adult family members refuse to work a state may terminate assistance and Medicaid for the individual whose cash assistance is terminated for failure to work

Answer 20

to receive assistance, unmarried teen parents of a minor child at least 12 weeks of age must participate in educational activities directed toward receiving a high school diploma or GED, or participate in an alternative education or training program approved by the state states must also deny assistance if the teen is not living at home or in an approved adult-supervised setting

Answer 21

a state must reduce a family's grant by 25 percent or may terminate it completely, if the parent fails to cooperate in establishing paternity or in establishing, modifying, or enforcing support order

Answer 22

cash assistance and food stamp benefits may be denied to individuals convicted of drug possession, use, or distribution, though other family members can receive benefits to circumvent this provision, states must pass legislation

Answer 23

the federal government federal matching funds for states experiencing an economic downturn, states must have met one of two triggers to access the fund: an unemployment rate of 6.5 percent the number of food stamp recipients must reach a certain legislatively established number

Answer 24

adults in families receiving assistance under block grants are required to participate in work activities after receiving assistance for 24 months recipients must participate in community service within two months of receiving benefits if they are not working

Answer 25

states may deny assistance to additional children born or conceived while the parent is on welfare (family cap) states may deny assistance to unmarried teen parents and their children, and require school attendance by parents and children in a family

Answer 26

-SSI and Food Stamps are limited for legal resident aliens -the law allows for some exceptions: refugees, asylees, or those granted withhholding of deportation are eligible only for their first five years -lawful permanent residents with 40 qualifying quarters of work may receive benefits

Answer 27

-States can determine eligibility of current legal immigrants for federal cash assistance under Title IV-A (TANF), Medicaid, and services under the Social Services Block Grant (SSBG) -states decide to provide or deny services at their option -Immigrants arriving after the bill was enacted are first subject to the five year federal bar, and then states may provide services -General assistance originally mandated by the Social Security Act, but funded by the states and localities -To receive federal subsidies for TANF and Social Security Programs, states must offer local financial aid to those poor who do not fit into any federal assistance category; each state administers the program differently

Answer 28

initiated in 1937 provides federal subsidies for construction of low-income public housing public housing is subsidized and means-tested as a result more successful families are often forced to leave their housing a central criticism of public housing arises from this policy, since every housing project ultimately concentrates the poorest and least successful of the poor

Answer 29

1969 federal law subsidizes the difference between the operating costs of public housing and tenants' ability to pay

Answer 30

gives communities more opportunity to use federal block grant aid, and recipients of rent subsidies greater than housing choice

Answer 31

the most problematic questions regarding public housing rest with the growing problem of violence and drug use that seems difficult to control in many large high-risk projects many cities have demolished large projects built in the 1950s that have become centers of social problems few new projects are under consideration, as agencies move to scattered site development and housing subsidies to reduce concentrations of poor people in large projects

Answer 32

the initiation of Obamacare or ACA altered the landscape for healthcare programs and dimensions are not fully understood at this time and its major features are being debated Congress, Unions and large corporations have sought exemption from the act causing some doubt about its popularity

Answer 33

added to Social Security Act (SSA) in 1965 a combined federal and state program that pays for physicians and other health-related services states administer the program and set policies within federal guidelines states differ in eligibility requirements but must cover TANF families, SSI recipients, and other poor

Answer 34

added to SSA in 1965 funded partly by contributions from the elderly and by general tax revenues a universal health program to help elderly not means-tested covers hospital and medical costs for persons 65 and over and for disabled Social Security beneficiaries provides basic hospital insurance and optional supplementary medical insurance patients pay small fees to discourage unnecessary use new recent drug benefits provide limited benefits and are largely administered by profit-making corporations

Answer 35

efforts to limit costs of Medicare and Medicaid led to a variety of cost control strategies 1983, DRGs (Diagnostic Related Groups) were introduced and had set maximum reimbursements rates for hospital care under Medicare HMOs are major providers of medical care for large groups of elderly with the encouragement of the Department of Health and Human Services

Answer 36

individuals responsible for medical bills up to some limit, after which insurance pays

Answer 37

employment related health care insurance

Answer 38

the 1973 HMO Act offers federal assistance to independent organizations providing comprehensive health care for those enrolled members pay fees that entitle them to hospital and physician care many communities, under pressure from federal policy makers and seeking to control the costs of health care for the poor, are currently emphasizing managed care as a solution for providing health services

Answer 39

costs are uprising as the population ages and many new treatments are developed analysts claim HMOs have squeezed out most of the waste and their costs will rise dramatically over the next few years complaints about HMOs and their tendency to deny expensive treatments in some instances are leading to additional regulation (example: minimum hospital stays for childbirth and others are developing oversight mechanisms)

Answer 40

first begun under Great Society's Office of Economic Opportunity federally-funded health centers are found in many low income areas many health centers are affiliated with hospitals and managed care organizations, and are able to offer a widespread spectrum of health services

Answer 41

efforts to enact a comprehensive national health insurance system with universal and mandatory coverage begin with the original SSA in 1935 the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, signed into law March 23, 2010 represents that latest development of the drive for universal health care

Answer 42

first federal program from 1939-1943 revised in 1963 and significantly expanded in 2010 largest federal food subsidy program federal and state government operate the program jointly

Answer 43

-Federal government pays the direct cost of food stamps and some state administrative costs -States administer the program; some have requirements for childless families; able-bodied adults must register and accept work that pays prevailing local rates -Recent statistics suggest that the program now provides assistance to 40 percent of American families

Answer 44

special supplemental nutrition program operated by Food and Nutrition Services of the Department of Agriculture through local agencies and health clinics pregnant and nursing high in important nutrients

Answer 45

federal reimbursement provided assistance is provided for meals served free or at reduced cost to poor children

Answer 46

includes Meals on Wheels program and congregate meals in institution

Answer 47

-Teenage sex, pregnancy, and parenthood -Acquired Immune Deficiency Symptoms (AIDS) -HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases -Alcoholism and drug abuse -Smoking

Answer 48

most direct way of increasing earnings of working poor, but farm and domestic workers are not necessarily covered liberal view is that raising minimum wage will ease poverty conservatives argue that increasing minimum wage will increase poverty because employers will reduce hiring and will not hire entry level workers

Answer 49

for mentally and physically disbale who have a reasonable chance of being employed states run programs according to federal guidelines, supplemented with federal funding each recipient is assigned a counselor to develop an individualized plan

Answer 50

integrate disabled people into society all federally subsidized programs and facilities must have affirmative action programs to hire, promote and not discriminate against qualified disabled persons and provide access

Answer 51

-Affirmative Action -Desegregation -Head Start: initiated under 1964 Economic Opportunity Act; provides compensatory preschool education for poor children -Mainstreaming: educating special needs children with other children to the extent feasible

Answer 52

Title IV E of Social Security Act provides child welfare services for disabled, abused, and homeless children

Answer 53

requires states to mandate reporting of child abuse and neglect all states have relatively similar reporting laws, though some variation exists as to who is required to report

Answer 54

created a network of regional centers to encourage adoption of children encourages alternatives to foster placement, and mandates case planning and periodic reviews, etc.

Answer 55

a policy initiative supported by Title 2e of the Social Security Act, it required public child welfare agencies to establish standards of accountability and practice designed to insure that children in placement or likely to require placement will receive services designed to insure a permanent home is found

Answer 56

-Amends previous child welfare reform legislation -Established national goals for children in the child welfare system; seeks to make the system more responsive to children and families, reaffirms the need for linkages between the child welfare system and other systems of support for families, as well as between the child welfare system and the courts, and encourages removal of barriers that prevent permanency

Answer 57

-Safety of children is of paramount concern and must guide all child welfare services when making service provision, placement and permanency planning decisions -Foster care is a temporary setting and not a place for children to grow up -Permanency planning efforts for children should begin as soon as a child enters foster care and should be expedited by the provision of services to families -The child welfare system must focus on results and accountability (law requires annual reports on state performance; creation of adoption incentive) -Innovative approached and demonstrations are encouraged to achieve the goals of safety, permanency and well-being (expands authority for child welfare demonstrations; allows states greater flexibility to develop innovative strategies; requires criminal record checks for prospective foster and adoptive parents; health insurance coverage for children with special needs)

Answer 58

-Benefits youths who have aged out of foster care or are preparing to leave foster care -Requires states to create job-training and college guidance programs directed to teenagers both before and after leaving foster care -States will be able to extend Medicaid coverage from 18-21 years of age as well as raise the personal asset level so teenagers in foster care can save for such things as a car or down-payment on an apartment, to ensure smoother transitions between foster care and independent living

Answer 59

to improve quality of life for the elderly

Answer 60

coordinated by federal government lifting of mandatory retirement caps to enable workers to retire at a later time of their own choice

Answer 61

-Alcohol, Drug Abuse, and Mental Health Administration -Community mental health centers -Deinstitutionalization and its aftermath (supportive community services were inadequate and failed to provide necessary services to stabilized mentally ill released from inpatient care; led to increase in numbers of homeless mentally ill and remission-reinstitutionalization cycles) -Rights of mental health patients

Answer 62

grants to states for providing personal social services such as child welfare services and family planning state and local governments direct the spending of block grants

Answer 63

-Individual, marital, and family counseling -Homemaker services -Alcohol and drug abuse rehabilitation -Tenant organizing -Advocacy and legal aid service -Information and referral service -Crisis hotline and walk-in services -Shelters and Counseling for Domestic Violence -Family Planning Services -Youth Centers and Programs -Ethnic Mutual Aid Associations -Senior Centers

Answer 64

select a standard program in which doctor visits are covered by Medicare Part B Part B has been significantly cut with the advent of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act hospital care is paid through Part A if an HMO is selected there are no additional fees, though recipients may be required to pay co-payments for doctor visits managed care plans receive 95 percent of what the government expects it would spend in traditional Medicare prescription benefits are available under Medicare Part D

Answer 65

broad term for any kind of health insurance where the insurer manages or oversees the care a patient gets -- as opposed to traditional "indemnity insurance," where the patient goes to a doctor and the doctor bills the insurance company, which pays without questioning

Answer 66

insurers may required that patients start out with a general practitioner or primary care doctor instead of going straight to a specialist insurers may pay primary care doctors to become care managers by being paid a monthly fee for each member-patient who signs up with them, instead of getting a fee for each service rendered patient may be required to use certain hospitals doctors may have to seek permission from the insurer regarding a patient's hospital stay, surgery or specialty care common forms of care are HMOs and PPOs

Answer 67

broad term for managed care systems that provide health care services for a monthly premium people who join HMOs get full medical care, but only from doctors and hospitals that belong to their HMO HMOs require patients to see primary care doctor assigned to manage the patient's care, ideally seeing the patient has good preventive care so the patient's overall health care costs will be low

Answer 68

most integrated type of HMO doctors are full-time employees of the HMO and work on salary facilities or clinics are owned by the HMO, and patients go to hospitals owned by the HMO tend to be the largest HMOs; they have fewer enrollees overall than other types

Answer 69

contracts with groups of doctors to provide care second most popular type of HMO, behind IPAs

Answer 70

doctors contract with HMOs to provide services depending on the arrangement with the HMO, the doctors may be paid a monthly fee for each member or for each services provided doctors in IPA finance, who run their own offices, are often in contract with more than one HMO IPAs have more members than any other type of HMO

Answer 71

have been called "managed care lite" because they have fewer restrictions than conventional HMOs PPOs consist of doctors, hospitals, and other health care providers who have made a deal with insurer to provide patient care at a reduced fee to the insurer most PPOs allow people who belong to go to any doctor or hospital in the network for, at most, a low co-payment members may also go directly to a specialist PPOs allow members to go to doctors or hospitals outside their network for an extra payment

Answer 72

fastest growing form of managed care members can receive regular HMO care or be partly subsidized if they want to use a doctor or hospital not in the HMO allow patients to go to doctors or hospitals that are not part of the plan, for an extra charge

Answer 73

groups of doctors and hospitals who have joined together to offer managed care act like a full-fledged HMO, selling their services as a full-service health insurer to businesses and individuals patients will not necessarily know they are in a physician or hospital-owned plan unless they ask specialty PSNs also contract with HMOs, for example, providing all the obstetrical and gynecological care to the HMO members

Answer 74

in 2012, approximately 15 million Medicare beneficiaries, were in HMOs 149 million people were part of managed care plans according to the American Association of Health Plans, the industry trade group; strongest in the Western part of the country individuals as well as group participants may join managed care plans; eligibility and costs depend on the managed care company and the state since 1997 insurers have been required to sell individual policies to people who have been covered before under a group policy even if they have a history of illness under Obamacare, existing medical conditions may not be used to refuse coverage

Answer 75

previsouly the predominant form of helath insurance patients may use any doctor or hospital, and the insurance company pays some or all of the cost doctors and hospitals have complete flexibility when indemnity insruance applies there is no management of care by the insurer

Answer 76

an HMO innovation in which HMOs pay doctors and hospitals a monthly fee for every HMO member they agree to care for -- whether the member spends months in the hospital or no time at all, and whether the patient goes to the doctor weekly or not at all thought to increase the incentive for preventative care

Answer 77

when insurers recruit the healthiest people and avoid insuring people with serious and costly existing conditions some states have laws against overt adverse selection (also known as "cherry picking")

Answer 78

doctors in staff-model HMOs do not have to set up and run their own office or deal with billing many primary care doctors prefer managed care organizations as they emphasize primary and preventative care doctors are concerned that the managed care companies will drop them if they complain about the company to patients some managed care companies offer incentives to limit patient care

Answer 79

rules in HMO contracts that limit what doctors can say to their patients some contracts say doctors cannot impugn the quality of an HMO some go further, prohibiting doctors from informing patients about medical services that are not covered by the HMO, or any financial deals between the doctor and the HMO

Answer 80

a payment from an HMO to a doctor for limiting the number of procedures, or for limiting of referrals to specialists

Answer 81

when managed care plan markets its services to healthy people, avoiding those who are sick and would cost the plan a lot of money

Answer 82

when a health care provider contracts with a managed care plan to provide a particular type of care a member of the managed care plan who needs psychiatric care might be sent to a contracted clinic members are generally not aware of a carve-out

Answer 83

some states require a prescribed level of mental health coverage most plans have lower lifetime limits for mental illness compared to physical illness some plans provide mental health parity in which health plans treat mental health equivalently to physical health

Answer 84

an illness or condition diagnosed before an insurance policy went into effect conditions can include pregnancy, diabetes, cancer, and high blood pressure some states limit what can be considered pre-existing conditions some states do not allow insurers to charge extra

Answer 85

when in force, contract provisions can eliminate coverage for a particular condition for six months, a year, or forever for people who work for larger companies, where the costs of their pre-existing condition will be spread over many workers, the limit may ony be for a few months, if it is there at all people who have been covered in the previous 12 months for a pre-existing condition are not required to have a waiting period

Answer 86

-January 1, 2006, Medicare offered Part D, a new prescription drug insurance program replacing existing drug plans, either as an add-on to the government's traditional fee-for-service or as part of a comprehensive managed care plan -The program has income limitation and qualification features -Most prescription drug plans limits which medications are covered, a system known in the private sector as a preferred drug list formulary -In most cases coverage stops once recipients have spent $3,600 of their own money and will not resume until those out-of-pocket costs reach $5,100 -There are complicated requirements for changing prescription drug insurance carriers, and many seniors are having difficulty understanding requirements

Answer 87

covered drugs include any drug available only by prescription, approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), used and sold in the U.S., and used for a medically accepted indication, such as prescription drugs, biological products, insulin, vaccines, and certain medical supplies associated with the injection of insulin

Answer 88

certain drugs or classes of drugs are excluded by law (drugs when used for anorexia, weight loss, or weight gain; drugs used to promote fertility; drugs when used for cosmetic purposes or hair growth; drugs when used for the sypmtomatic relief og cough and colds; prescription vitamins and mineral products, except prenatal vitamins and fluoride preparations; nonprescription drugs; outpatient drugs for which the manufacturer seeks to require the associated tests or monitoring services be purchased exclusively from the manufacturer as a condition of sale; barbiturates; and benzodiazepines) plans are required to include at least two drugs in every therapeutic category under their umbrella of coverage

Answer 89

an idealized and structured approach that includes identifying and understanding a social problem, specifying alternative solutions and their consequences for consumers and society, and rationally choosing the best alternatives the rational approach minimizes ideological issues, a seemingly impossible task

Answer 90

an approach that acknowledges the importance of power, compromise, competing interests, and partial solutions those most affected by social policies often have the least political power to promote change those with political power are often influenced by interests seeking to protect their own position policy makers are often concerned with retaining power and privilege the needs of the disadvantaged can become marginalized unless aggressive advocacy is available

Answer 91

a constant struggle in social policy involves the conditions under which a problem affecting individuals is converted into a social issue that warrants public attention the criteria are unclear but the process always involves publicity, interest groups pressuring for amelioration of the problem, social research, and mobilizing public and media support

Answer 92

many problems are seen largely as the problems of individuals, rather than as symptoms of system dysfunctions the social system is more comfortable resolving social problems by treating persons who exhibit behavioral symptoms than altering or reforming the social institutions that contribute to individual failures

Answer 93

-Target population demographics; locate the at-risk population and catalogue any special characteristic -Review previous policies; perform historical analysis -Identify social science theories that explain the problem's causes and solutions -Create demonstration projects or other practice-based experiments to support alternative policies; identify international models to support domestic innovations

Answer 94

-Developing position papers -Stimulate debate, discussion, and feedback -Revise mission, goals, strategies, objectives, methods, etc

Answer 95

-Prepare a report describing findings and recommendations -Identify required legislative or policy changes -Review and amend specific policies, program protocols, measures of success, workloads etc

Answer 96

essential to create a climate of acceptance for policy or legislative changes

Answer 97

-"re-tooling" existing organization/system -Building organizational commitment -Establishing revised organizational mission -Obtaining necessary funding -Creating and staffing new agencies

Answer 98

-Reviewing rules and regulations -Creating guidelines for carrying out new plans and directives

Answer 99

-State, federal, municipal, and nonprofit organizations -Linking goals and methods to implementation strategies and resources

Answer 100

-Inadequate, incomplete, or faulty communications -Inadequate Resources -Organizational Competition -Rigid Bureaucratic Structures That are Unable to Adapt to New Assignments

Answer 101

evaluation to measure program results

Answer 102

evaluation designed to improve the intervention or the methods as the program develops

Answer 103

privacy is the general ethical and cultural framework for the rules that guide the more limited, but explicit concerns of social workers clients have a right to privacy but understand the limitations of confidentiality

Answer 104

Ask clients to review and sign informed consent forms that describe the limits of the confidential relationship with the agency

Answer 105

-Secure and lock records -Develop policies that insure records are not left where unauthorized persons can read them -Computerized records need to be secured with the same care given to written records -Conversations about clients should be held where they cannot be overheard

Answer 106

clients may provide consent for information to be shared with family members, or other professionals or agencies for referral purposes

Answer 107

all states have laws that mandate social workers to report mere suspicion of child abuse to appropriate local authorities

Answer 108

reporting of sexual abuse follows the same general rules as child abuse reports

Answer 109

the client's mental state is such that s/he might deliberately or accidentally cause harm to him/herself the client has made a direct threat to harm someone else and there is a reasonable possibility that the client can carry out the threat duty to warn of intent to harm clients with communicable diseases such as AIDS (still unclear where practice leans)

Answer 110

many states now require social workers to report cases of abuse or exploitation of elders by family members and other caretakers

Answer 111

a social worker sued for malpractice may reveal material discussed by clients limited to statements that are needed to support an effective defense

Social Policy and Professional Ethics Flashcards

(136 cards)