Promoting the Relevance of Policy to Practice

This paper describes an approach to teaching social policy using the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. This approach helps students develop and exercise practice policy skills, and encourages them to see policy intervention as integral to social work practice. Proposed course resources include the legislation itself, speakers and media sources, and a student assignment. The author suggests that countering social work's current trend away from policy practice requires demonstrating the natural link between policy and practice and helping student see policy practice skills as within their inherent abilities and interests.