The SAFE-T Act

 Bail in the United States is a very controversial topic. While the idea behind it is logical to an extent, being that people will be less likely to just ditch court and other post-jail time proceedings if they’ve already invested something; it is not fair to those who may not be able to afford it, whether or not they desire to. With Illinois becoming the first state to remove bail, an interesting opportunity arises, to finally see how a bail-less environment will impact things like jail-time and crime rates. It will be interesting to see if it has any significant impact, positive or negative, on the effectiveness of the criminal justice system.

I personally believe that this can most likely only be beneficial or neutral in terms of the statistics mentioned prior. I had previously done a project on a possible bail removal in Illinois, and I was very intrigued and pleased by the idea. Bail inherently affects jail-time, especially for lower income families. A rich person may commit a crime worse than someone of lower socioeconomic class, but spend virtually no time in jail because they have a greater wealth to spend on bail. Now, obviously just because you are able to pay bail does not mean you are free or off the hook. However, this still matters because of the unfair level of freedom between socioeconomic classes that this causes.

In the past, I’ve seen documentaries on bail (specifically pertaining to low-income households and how they are affected by bail) and on other topics where bail would be brought up. In them, the true tragedy that bail can cause was well illustrated. For example, in the one focused on bail in particular, someone had committed a petty crime, and in another family someone got committed for a crime they possibly did not even commit. Despite this, the families could not see their respective beloved family members, since they could not afford the bail. Imagine not being able to see your mother or father, your daughter or son, or another close relative outside of a cell the government is keeping them in because you do not have enough money. That, to me, sounds absolutely gut-wrenchingly vile, that a government would keep a system in place where it is easily possible and not uncommon for this to happen.

What surprises me the most is that nothing like this has been truly attempted before in the US on this scale, at least not from my recollection. I was ecstatic hearing that this was finally being realized, but I still worry it may not last, and that Illinois may be the only state to try this to this extent. A decision like this is clearly a very big one to make, one with risks, but I firmly believe it is worth it to have a good chance at making the criminal justice system more fair. Considering all of the other terribly unjust aspects of it – the greater incarceration rate for people of color and the many innocent people who are convicted and imprisoned being prime examples – I think we truly need a law or policy like this as a great step towards a more free and fair nation.

The fact that our country’s incarceration rate is one of the highest in the world should be a wake-up call in and of itself; we need to focus on that much more than we already do. Especially since many of the issues surrounding it, much like this one, can repeat themselves and become perpetual if nothing is done. For example, if a very young child’s poor single mother has to go to jail for some minor crime, but their family cannot afford the bail, so they must simply wait out the time, the child may grow up for a substantial portion of time without a parental figure. This could lead to the child growing up without certain values or manners instilled in them. Combine this with the fact that the family is low-income to begin with, they may end up not learning or understanding how to be a stable, secure, and independent adult. They may end up committing crimes and/or staying unemployed because they do not know better. Stories akin to this one are all over America, and it’s one of this country’s greatest failures in my eyes. Hence, this bail removal in Illinois is a wonderful change that ought to have some significant impact, and I hope other states consider adopting it as well.

I like your open-mindedness and curiosity about ending cash bail. There are obvious problems with the bail system, and your characterization of some of those systemic problems being “gut-wrenchingly vile” seems appropriate. The problem of inevitable error (all social welfare policies have errors, and changes that reduce one sort of an error will usually increase some other type of error) applies, and there are risks of problems with ending cash bail.  At least Illinois is working as a laboratory, and talking about the desire to end a system that inflicts harms of injustice and unfair treatment based on income/wealth. If the problems resulting from ending cash bail in Illinois are not too egregious, perhaps other states will follow the Illinois example, and this will be a step toward a more perfect union, with more freedom and justice, and less unfair discrimination against persons lacking wealth or well-paying employment. I personally communicated with my representatives in the General Assembly endorsing the SAFE-T Act, but I studied criticisms of the act as well. I’m pretty confident the new practices will have more benefits than harmful consequences, but if significant problems emerge, I think and hope that the state government will be able to solve them without returning to systems of cash bail. 

Student supports specific bill to ban high capacity magazines

 Senator Tammy Duckworth
524 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington DC 20510

Senator Richard J. Durbin
711 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington DC 20510

Dear Illinois Senators Duckworth and Durbin, 

    My name is ________, and I am a senior in the Social Work program at the University of Illinois-Springfield. I have lived in Illinois for all of my 21 years. I am writing to thank you both for your support of the reintroduction of the Keep Americans Safe Act. This bill aims to ban the “importation, sale, manufacturing, transfer, or possession of gun magazines that hold more than ten rounds of ammunition,” (“Senators Markey & Menendez Re-Introduce”, 2023). Although this bill died in the 117th Congress, I am glad it is being reintroduced to the 118th with the help of cosponsors like you. 

    The most widely accepted definition of a mass shooting is an event in which four or more people are shot and killed (Uribe & Sherman, 2023). High-capacity magazines, which hold ten or more rounds of ammunition, make mass shooting events more deadly. According to Everytown Research (2019), between 1981 and 2017, mass shootings that involved a high-capacity magazine injured 14 times as many people and were twice as deadly as those that did not. Within the past decade, the five deadliest mass shootings in the United States were carried out using high-capacity magazines (Everytown, 2019). If the Keep Americans Safe Act had been implemented, the hundreds of people killed in Las Vegas, Orlando, Newtown, Sutherland Springs, and Parkland may still be alive today. High-capacity magazines are designed to kill and to kill fast. There is no reason for civilians to have access to these kinds of weapons. 

    As a student, I would be lying if I said the idea of a mass shooting occurring at school did not frighten me. Less than two weeks ago, there was a mass shooting at Michigan State University, which is just five hours north of my own university. I have undergone routine school shooter drills since the fourth grade. For over a decade, teachers and administrators have told me, “hide,” “don’t try to save your friends,” “don’t make a sound,” “use anything you can find as a weapon,” “we won’t let you in the classroom if you’re in the hall during a lockdown,” among other things. Children should be able to go to school without fear of dying next to their friends. People should be able to go to the supermarket without fear of being gunned down in the meat aisle. Everyone should be able to leave home without fear of becoming a victim in the next mass shooting. The Keep Americans Safe Act is a step in the right direction. 

    Assuming both of you hold the values of caring and fairness, the Keep Americans Safe Act is a fine reflection of these. By cosponsoring this bill, you are placing the emotional and physical well-beings of American citizens above all else. By advocating for the prohibition of high-capacity magazines, you are advocating for people to be able to go places with less fear and likelihoods of mass shootings. Additionally, since this bill is regarding the ban of high-capacity magazines—not all guns—there is a fair balance between citizens’ safety and their Second Amendment rights. As a future social worker, I, too, value care and fairness, which contributes to my support and appreciation of your cosponsoring of this bill.

    I look forward to seeing how the bill progresses through the 118th congress. I will be sure to consider you both when it comes time to show up to the polls. Thank you, again, for your dedication to keeping Americans safe from unnecessary harm.

Sincerely,
_______________

References

(2019, March). Assault weapons and high-capacity magazines. Everytown. https://everytownresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2020/07/EFGV02_Assault-Weapons-and-High-Capacity-Magazines_Rd2_6-1.pdf

(2023, February 8). Duckworth, Durbin join senate colleagues in reintroducing legislation to ban high-capacity magazines. Tammy Duckworth U.S. Senator for Illinois. https://www.duckworth.senate.gov/news/press-releases/duckworth-durbin-join-senate-colleagues-in-reintroducing-legislation-to-ban-high-capacity-magazines

(2023, February 9). Senators Markey and Menendez re-introduce Keep Americans Safe Act which bans high-capacity firearms. Framingham source. https://framinghamsource.com/index.php/2023/02/09/senators-markey-menendez-re-introduce-keep-americans-safe-act-which-bans-high-capacity-firearms/

Uribe, M. R., & Sherman, A. (2023, February 14). What counts as a “mass shooting”? The definition varies. PolitiFact. https://www.politifact.com/article/2023/feb/14/what-counts-as-a-mass-shooting-the-definition-vari/

Example of student letter to administrative body asking for changes in IEP process for classroom placements

 To the Members of the Illinois State Board of Education,
    The mission statement of the Illinois State Board of Education is to “provide each and every child with safe and healthy learning conditions, great educators, and equitable opportunities by practicing data-informed stewardship of resources and policy development, all done in partnership with educators, families, and stakeholders.”  The goals, vision, and commitments of this institution are aligned in a commitment to provide a quality education for every child, ensuring that each student leaves our schools equipped to make a meaningful contribution to society. However, some children are still facing disadvantages in our school system, including some that have been inadvertently created by the very programs intended to help them.
    My son, R_______, was born in May of [year]. Although he began showing signs of autism at only eighteen months old, he was not formally diagnosed until January of 2020. When he started preschool in the fall of [year] at the [School and its location], his father and I already knew he was neurodivergent, but the psychology professionals were hesitant to diagnose him at such a young age. During his screening for public school, we voiced our concerns to the professionals who administered the tests, but R____ was having a good day and eagerly participated in the tasks. He was judged to have no problems and placed in a normal classroom.
    The problems began almost immediately. R____ was used to receiving individual attention and was not capable of understanding that his teacher was responsible for another twenty students. He began lashing out on a daily basis, disrupting the classroom and sometimes endangering those around him by throwing or pushing large objects. Luckily, the school now had evidence that R____ had special needs and moved him to a smaller classroom that boasted three teacher aides and a teacher skilled in dealing with students with behavioral problems or emotional disability. Under her patient care, R____ began to learn and socialize with other students. R____ was given his first IEP and dedicated, specialized care that helped him enjoy and learn during his school experience. In addition to having four adults to manage his class of twelve, R____ received daily one on one time with his social worker, who worked tirelessly to help him learn to control his emotions and manage his behaviors.
    The pandemic robbed R____ of kindergarten, so his first year at [elementary school] was in the classroom of Mrs. [teacher name]. Mrs. [teacher name] was a joy to have as my son’s teacher, but, once again, the setting of a normal classroom was simply not conducive to R____’s learning. There was not enough adult attention, the level of overlapping noises of twenty children caused sensory overload, and he was often confused by the curriculum and had no one to ask. When we as parents inquired about the services R_____ should have been receiving, we found that his IEP from the [previous school] was not even considered and R_____ was receiving no accommodations. We were then told that he could not be moved because he was to be placed in the “least restrictive environment,” among normal students if possible.
    Despite the incredible efforts and passionate advocacy of Mrs. [Teacher], R______ learned nothing during his time at [school] and was suspended a total of twenty times before the principal stepped in and demanded that R______ receive accommodations that would create a better learning environment. The decision of the committee was that R______ should be placed at [Name of School] Elementary School. Mrs. [Teacher], R_____’s father, and I argued that if R_____ were given an aide to assist him in regulating his emotions and to help him understand classroom instructions, he would be able to remain in a normal classroom. While R______ had known many exemplary teachers, Mrs. [Teacher] was the first to really bond with my autistic child, and I was often humbled by her fierce advocating for my son and grateful for her advice and experience. It was she who advised us to find an advocate to help navigate the system after we were out of her hands. The professionals at the IEP meeting did not even consider our request, instead informing us that there were procedures to follow. R______ must move to the next level rather than receiving the accommodation recommended by his teacher, social worker, and psychologist.
    The next step in placement turned out to be a classroom for intellectual disabilities, even though R______ is not and has never been intellectually disabled. Worse, the string of suspensions were worded in such a way that the new teacher interpreted them to mean that my six-year-old was violent and dangerous, and she treated him as though he would attack at any given moment. In the short month in which he attended her class, I received daily phone calls, all of which occurred after incidents. However, by this time, we had found an IEP advocate, an incredible woman named Susie Woods. During the first IEP meeting attended by Ms. Woods, the educators of [School] expedited R______’s placement to a classroom for children with emotional disabilities. In August of [year], he began attending a classroom designed for children with social and emotional problems. R_______ has begun progressing academically and making friends, but the bureaucratic method used by local schools to determine placement for special needs students cost him over a year of education and caused significant setbacks in his social and behavioral development.
    Of the nearly two million students enrolled in public school in the state of Illinois, approximately 16.5% have IEPs, a total of 307,555 students in 2022. Students who qualify for IEPs often have disadvantages when compared to students who do not need individualized plans for their education. Programs such as special education and accommodations made for students with IEPs are designed to level the playing field and help relatively disadvantaged students succeed. However, students with IEPs are 10% more likely to be chronically absent from class and 5% more likely to be chronically truant. In addition to these issues, students with IEPs are more likely to drop out of school before achieving their diploma, a relatively small difference in percentage but one that remains persistent going back to 2018, when the percentage of students with IEPs who dropped out was nearly double the number of “normal” students who dropped out. While the gap is closing, its persistent presence seems indicative of ongoing problems faced by students with special needs.
    The Illinois State Board of Education installed a policy regarding Least Restrictive Environment (LRE) in February of 2000 which was intended to establish guidelines that follow the requirements of the Individuals with Disabilities Act of 1997. The policy states that “to the maximum extent appropriate, students with disabilities aged 3 through 21, in public or private institutions or other care facilities, are educated with children who are not disabled.” It further requires that the first placement option “is a regular education environment, with the use of supplemental aids and services as needed. Special classes, separate schooling, or other placements by which students with disabilities are removed from the regular education environment should occur only if the student’s Individual Educational Program (“IEP”) team determines that the nature or severity of the disability is such that education in a regular classroom setting, even with the use of supplemental aids and services, cannot be achieved satisfactorily.”
    On the surface, the policies surrounding students with IEPs and Least Restrictive Environment provide reasonable accommodations to students with special educational needs without unnecessarily segregating them from the general population. However, in practice, these policies are causing some students with IEPs to suffer delays in their education as they are shuffled from one unsuitable classroom to the next in an attempt to keep them in a “less restrictive environment.” Since change of placement takes time, it can take a year or more to find the best environment for a special needs student—years during which these students fall further and further behind their peers.
    I do not want you to advocate for extensive change in policy; least restrictive environment policies are most often beneficial and prevent students with IEPs from feeling isolated or abnormal and keeping them actively a part of the population. However, the policy should be amended to allow for more rapid change of placement for students when it is found that the classroom they have been placed in is unsuitable. This could be accomplished by giving  the IEP committee more discretion in placement decisions. For example, educators should be able to forego steps in placement, moving the child to a “more restrictive environment” sooner if the committee deems it appropriate.
    In addition, each student with an IEP should be automatically assigned an IEP advocate. The well-being of a child in our education system should not be dependent on how knowledgeable their parents are regarding their rights, nor should they be reliant on the goodwill of individual educators. Even if the child has knowledgeable or caring parents, the parents may not be able to attend IEP meetings; for example, single parents cannot always get the time off work. An assigned advocate would be able to represent the child’s best interests at these meetings when their guardians cannot.
    These changes would assist families and educators to minimize delays in providing special needs students with the setting, services, and accommodations required for effective learning. However, it cannot be ignored that these changes will incur financial costs and require school districts to employ IEP advocates. Another complication arises from having these advocates employed by the school districts, which may make it difficult for the advocates to remain unbiased when representing a student against their employer.
    It is the vision of the public education system of the State of Illinois to provide every child with the tools and skills they need to succeed and make a meaningful contribution to society. To this end, it is my recommendation that these changes be adopted as a policy by the Board of Education.
    
Sources:
Illinois Report Card
https://www.illinoisreportcard.com/state.aspx?source=studentcharacteristics&source2=iep&Stateid=IL

Student makes a plea for immigraton reform by sharing a story

 

Dear Congressman Cleaver,

I write to you today, because my family has found ourselves in a position that I believe is unjust. And while we have been able to work through our situation and struggles, I worry for other families in our same position. I want you to make immigration reform a priority, and I want Congress and the White House to change some of the laws for immigrants to make our system more humane.

My husband’s name is R_________. He is a Lebanese man who at 18 left everything and everyone he knew to come into the United States of America. He took every single minute step to insure he came to this country, completely legally and correctly. He sharpened his English skills and scored one of the highest test scores in his entire country. He has done nothing but work hard to not only get to the United States, but also to stay here. R______ has been here for five years and working for four and a half. 

When I met R_________ in January 2022 he had just accepted a job with the state of Missouri working as a DFS caseworker. After working there for several months, he switched to another position with the state. However, in December 2022 our lawyer informed us that R_____ would not be able to work past January 31. This came as a huge shock and upset to us. Mainly because R_____ was the sole provider of our home. He paid for groceries and he paid our rent. I work as a waitress and am a full-time student; solely based on my income we could no longer afford our rent. We had to find somewhere else to live within the next month. However, for people who cannot afford a lawyer this notice can be even shorter.

Now, luckily for us, we were blessed, and my parents very happily had us move into their home. However, for families, not as blessed as mine, the same situation could have put them into debt, out of home and in a complete spiral. I haven’t stopped thinking about that since we had to move. So that’s why I think families should be protected from this. R_____ is a perfect representation that you can do everything by the book and properly and still be thrown to the wolves so to speak. We were one of the lucky ones who had support behind us. But I worry for those who don’t have the support. This is why I think there should be an implemented policy that if a legal immigrant has worked in the U.S. for over two years, there should not be a lapse of time where the person cannot work. These are people who have already been contributing to their communities and this country. People who want to positively affect the United States of America. These people should not be put in a situation that can completely sabotage an entire family. 

We have to wait for R_____‘s green card for him to be able to work. At this point for us that means he will be out of work for a total of 6 to 8 months. But for some people who aren’t blessed enough to have lawyers and be able to afford a lawyer, this could mean it takes a year or more. People who successfully migrate here completely legally and buy the books should not be sabotaged by a rule that can completely destroy a family. If not for my parents having open arms, my husband, the person I’m supposed to spend the rest of my life with, wouldn’t have been able to afford to stay in this country. He would’ve had to have gone back to an unsafe country. R_____ loves this country, and most of the time more than Lebanon. And even though going through this made us lose our home when we were first getting started, R_____ has done nothing but be thankful that he’s even in this country.

Congressman, I ask you to just think about what could happen to a family in this situation. All I can ask of you is to consider that families can be destroyed by this. And if you are as upset and concerned about this, as I am, consider putting in a protection plan for the people who just want to be in this country with their families. 

I appreciate the time you’ve taken to read this, and I hope that our story can help set in motion something to protect others from this. 

Sincerely, ____ ________

This would have been stronger (but it is already good) if you had explained how it was that your husband was working and had accepted a job at the Missouri DFS. I assume he had come to the USA as a student, and after graduating he was hired in a field where an insufficient number of citizens were applying to fill positions.  That could be true for social workers such as those who work in child and family services. So, his student visa was converted to a work-related visa, and then when he switched jobs he was forced to take time off and not work until his new status (as a permanent resident, with a “Green Card” because he was now the spouse of a U.S. citizen) became processed and official.  I think what you are asking Congressman Cleaver is to sponsor or co-sponsor a bill that would allow foreign citizens who work here legally under any of the various schemes that allow their employment to not lose their status if they change from one job to another, nor lose their status of being allowed to work while their legal status changes from one type to another.  You didn’t explain exactly what you wanted, but just told an excellent personal narrative with moral content that shows that the current situation is bad. 

The other thing that you could do to make this more persuasive would be to comment on your story and point out the moral implications.  You sort of do that by stressing how great R_____ is, and how much he loves our country.  But you have to be direct and say, “the situation is wrong because it breaks [some moral principle of fairness or justice]”.  That is, you are not merely asking your audience to do something related to legislation: you are asking them to take a step to make the world a better place where government policies conform to standards of morality, ethics, human rights, justice, and so forth.   

Example of advocacy letter to promote Pretrial Fairness Act

 Dear Representative [Republican Representative to the General Assembly of Illinois],

    I am writing to you as a constituent and Social Work student regarding a provision of the SAFE-T Act, the Pretrial Fairness Act. I am urging you to vote in favor of the Pretrial Fairness Act. This legislation would eliminate the role of the money bond in Illinois, protecting the families of those who are waiting for trial, ensuring that wealth will not play a role in release and detention decisions. (Grace, 2021)

    On an average day in the United States, there are almost a half a million people who are in jail, waiting for their criminal cases to move forward. A study from this year showed that people in pretrial detention make up more than three quarters of the jail population. Of the Not Convicted population in jail, almost sixty-eight percent are being held on non-violent charges. (Sawyer, 2023) It is not because they are a risk to the public but because they cannot pay bail. For those who cannot afford their bail, this pretrial jail time can lead to the loss of jobs, connections and stability for themselves and their families, not to mention the danger one can be in while in jail. They often must wait for months and years for their cases to be resolved. (Bail, 2021) Bonds can be set around ten thousand. When they are paid in full, the people who pay the bonds can retrieve their money at the conclusion of a case. Most people cannot afford this amount so they have to rely on a bail-bonds company. To work with them, it required that 10 percent of the bail would be paid to the company. One thousand dollars is a lot of money to many. This situation could lead to poor decisions being made such as choosing between getting your friend or family member out of jail or pay rent. On top of the potential scramble for money, unlike paying the full bond to the court, they will not receive that ten percent back from the bond company.(White, 2021)

    In the New York Times a few years ago, there was a story done about a 53-year-old man named Tyrone Tomlin. He had just been at a convenience store when a police officer stopped him. Tyrone let the officer search him. All that he found was a fountain soda with a straw. He was handcuffed and placed under arrest for the possession of drug paraphernalia. The officer said that the straws are commonly used to hold heroin. When he was brought in front of a judge, he pleaded guilty so bond was set at one thousand five hundred. Tomlin could not afford the bond, so he was sent to Jail to be held until his arraignment the following week. When describing the jail, he said “This place is miserable, it’s dangerous. It’s every man for himself. You could get abused, you could get raped, you could get extorted. That stuff is all around”. His Aunt was worried about him and his employer had no idea where we was. When he came back to court, he refused to plead guilty and take the plea deal again, which led to another two week stretch in jail. While he was in the shower, he was jumped by a group of men. He was beaten and stomped and ended up with a misshapen face. Finally, three weeks after he was arrested, the straw was tested and was negative for drug residue. The judge said he was not guilty and was free to go. (Pinto, 2021)

    The Pretrial Act would prevent situations like Tomlin’s from happening here in Illinois. Under this legislation, Tomlin would get a ticket with a court date. He would be able to work while he waits for his trial date, saving taxpayers’ money. It would give people like him a chance to keep their family, work and potentially community from falling apart. It would also prevent them from experiencing potential abuse and violence at the hands of inmates. 

I urge you to vote in favor or the Pretrial Act. If you do so, it will show that you are in favor of protecting the family unit. It will also show that you are for keeping the responsibility of making court dates in the hands of citizens and not the government. 

Sincerely,
______________



References
Grace, S. (2021, October 7). Pretrial Fairness Act - Coalition to End Money Bond. Coalition to End Money Bond. https://endmoneybond.org/pretrialfairness/
Sawyer, W. Wagner, P.   (n.d.). Mass Incarceration: The Whole Pie 2023. Prison Policy Initiative. https://www.prisonpolicy.org/reports/pie2023.html
Pinto, N. (2015, August 13). The Bail Trap. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/16/magazine/the-bail-trap.html
The Bail Project. (2021, March 4). After Cash Bail - The Bail Project. https://bailproject.org/after-cash-bail/#easy-footnote-bottom-5-39386
White, G. B. (2017, May 12). Who Really Makes Money Off of Bail Bonds? The Atlantic. https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2017/05/bail-bonds/526542/

Student urges someone to support public service loan forgiveness in a specific county

 Dear whomever it concerns, 

It’s better when you figure out the name of the person to whom your letter ought to be addressed if you were to actually send it.

My name is _____________ and I wanted to talk to you about the Student Loan Forgiveness for Social Workers. Specifically I would like to talk about the PSLF, which helps public service workers by giving them college loan forgiveness. I want you to push for getting this policy approved for Macon County Students. I believe it is important that social workers and public service workers can get help with their school, as they have gotten their degree to help their community. As we all know, public service workers do not get paid much; teachers, social workers, and anyone who works for the community they are in does not get paid as much as they deserve. 

Why is that? They work overtime, that most of the time they are not even paid extra for their long hours? On top of everything that they work for, they also have to get the money together for their student loans, but students pay the same  This is going to make people not want to go into being a social worker or a public service worker and then we will not have any. We need to help the ones who are helping our community and our society’s future. 

I believe that if we make this policy a reality in Macon County, we will help the Public service workers, and have more help in school, DCFS and all of that. So please, consider this and help with our society’s future. 

Thank You,

_____________

You are suggesting that Macon County provide scholarships for students who, after graduating from local high schools, earn degrees in social work and other forms of public service (teacher education, I suppose), and these scholarships would be modeled on the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) policy, which forgives remaining balances on federal direct loans for education if a person who has debt from such loans has made 120 payments on their direct loan while earning an income from a qualified employer (qualified employers are mostly in government, which is why this is a “public service” policy). 

As a federal policy, PSLF is available to all students, including those who reside in Macon County. Is it your intention that the County Board in Macon County (or perhaps the City Government in Decatur) should offer college loans to students from Macon County, and then forgive the balance on those loans if a recipient of such a loan has resided in Macon County and worked for a public entity in Macon County for a total of ten years? 

It’s a very interesting idea: that a body of local government might get into the college lending business, supporting high school graduates and residents in the jurisdiction of the local government to earn university degrees and then stay in the jurisdiction after earning those degrees. Presumably the local government body would work with some sort of coalition of local banks and credit unions, who would set up the lending process and maintain the record-tracking. I could see this being an interesting policy that might help retain talent and innovation in localities that suffer from brain-drain as educated young adults flee the area and move to Chicago or out-of-state. This policy might also help recruit nurses, social workers, school teachers, law enforcement workers, emergency medical services workers, and so forth, if any of those types of occupation were having difficulties recruiting and retaining employees. 

You would certainly want to write a letter with a little more clarity and detail, to help your audience understand what exactly you are suggesting. What you have done well in the letter is convey a sense that many professionals in public service are offering their diligent effort and expertise in the workplace, but they are not enjoying the respect or compensation that would encourage them to continue doing so, and in fact, such work is becoming less attractive.  That point does help persuade your audience that something should be done. You might have explored why offering locally-sourced education loans that are paid back by the county or city governments after a loan recipient has paid back a certain number of times might be a better way of handling the problem compared to something more direct, such as increasing the wages of workers in these areas, or reducing their working hours or caseloads.  I imagine the loans off the opportunity for the local government and local lending institutions to earn some profits from the interest payments as loans are repaid.  It also may improve the opportunities for local households, whereas raising salaries or improving working conditions directly may benefit persons who are not local, who take local jobs and move into the area. 

As you write letters for decision-makers, you must try to be very clear about what you are asking them to do, and explain why they should do what you want them to do. You need to be able to clearly tell them why a particular course of action is the best thing to do. Telling them that a situation needs fixing and giving them a general idea about the problem and types of solutions is fine, as that gets them thinking about a problem, but will probably find it more satisfying to push for very specific things when you do advocacy in the public policy sphere. 

This assignment allows students to write about any sort of policy connected in any way with social welfare services or policies. I want people to write about things that matter to them—I want students to care about the topics the address in these papers.  Do you care about the Public Service Loan Forgiveness policy?  Do you think 120 payments should be made before the remainder of the debt is wiped out? You can write about actual policies or made-up policies or policies that are being proposed but haven't been passed or implemented yet.  I think in this case you could be writing about the actual existing PSLF program, in which case it is unnecessary to ask a local politician to make it apply in a specific area, because it already is a federal program.  If you are using the same name, but imagining some other policy, or if you pretending that the PSLF program hasn't been enacted yet, then you would need to explain more about what it is and what it does. A single sentence that explains that some loans (those coming directly from the federal government) are forgiven eventually if someone had made payments on those loans 120 times. 

Student wants improvements to Social Welfare Kinship Policy

The social welfare system has taken on more children than they have the capacity for. The agencies do not have enough workers for the children that need their help. Another factor for the workers being unable to take in all the children in need is the difficulty of the work itself. Working in social welfare can be a very challenging and mentally draining with the stress that is put on someone. This is why there should be a policy that makes it easier on the system and workers.

Dear ______________,

I am writing to you to direct your attention to the problem we face in Illinois due to lack of staffing in the Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS).  We do not have a sufficient number of child protection workers and child welfare workers, and as a result, the social workers in DCFS are given appallingly high caseloads—numbers that obscenely reduce the ability of those social workers to support the families and children. Social workers staffing DCFS already endure work that challenges their stamina and drains their energy, stressing and fatiguing even the most dedicated child welfare professional. You and your colleagues in the Illinois General Assembly must do something about this.  You need to make the system easier on DCFS workers.

Kinship care is a great concept, but it takes many steps and a long time for a child to be placed with a relative. Making a policy that allowed the process of children to live with relatives easier would lessen the number of children in the foster care system. With so many children in need of help and little space in the social welfare system to do so, many children do not end up getting the help and die from neglect and/or abuse. The process that relatives must go through to be granted the ability to care for a related child is extensive. It takes a long time for their application to be granted, meanwhile that child is either stuck in an unsafe home or in foster care with people they do not know. 

Does it really take a long time to place children with kin? I thought it was somewhat easier and swifter to find a family member who is willing to take a child.  But, I suppose it might take a few more days, as one needs to track down all the possible cousins and siblings and aunts and uncles and so forth, whereas if there isn’t a preference for kinship care, then whatever family is next in line to take a child can immediately provide a home.  But, wouldn’t it be the case that a child would stay as a “visitor” with a general foster care family while the DCFS workers try to find a kinship care placement?  What exactly could be done to make it easier to place children in kinship care? There are risks to consider when placing a child in someone related to the parents who had their child removed, although in general kinship care is safer and better than other foster care placements, it’s not always better. You say “it takes a long time” without saying anything about why it takes so long or how long precisely it does take.

There are both positives and negatives to this policy, just like any other. The positives would include that it will allow for more space in the system. The policy would make more foster homes available to children who may not have any relatives able to take them in. In 2018, there were almost 17,000 children in the social welfare system and many more that need the help of the agencies, but there was not a large enough capacity for them to do so (The Annie E. Casey Foundation). On the other hand, this would shorten the timeframe for background checks and home visits. With the process being quicker and easier, that would mean the relatives would not have as intensive background checks in the beginning. This could be combatted with more intensive background checks and visits once the child is placed in the home.

About 2.6 million American children live in kinship care type households (79,000 in Illinois). You could give him all the information from Annie E. Casey:

Foster Family Home - Non-relative: 7,719 in Illinois; 182,386 in the whole USA.

Foster Family Home - Relative: 9,045 in Illinois; 137,356 in the whole USA.

Group Home or Institution - 1,205 in Illinois; 38,799 in the whole USA.

Pre-Adoptive Home - 683 in Illinois; 16,559 in the whole USA.

Trial Home Visit - 736 in Illinois; 18,250 in the whole USA.

So, you are saying that the child protective worker who removes a child from a family should place the child in a sibling of one of the parents, or a parent of one of the parents, or a cousin, or an adult sibling, after some sort of cursory background check, and then do a thorough background check on that person after the child has been placed?  You need to be very explicit about this, and honestly explain that there are risks if the parents are emotionally or mentally troubled, that this may reflect a family pattern.  You then should say that despite that risk, you think the advantages of a quick and long-term placement with kin outweighs the risk, because even with a checked and trained and known foster care household, there is a risk of the foster parent maltreating the child.

From an ideological standpoint, the policy would allow an easier way for children to be taken care of by someone they may know better and be more comfortable with. The children are scared when being taken to a new place and this would allow for the process to be a bit easier for them. It would also allow for the child to not have to move around the foster care system and allow for less stress.

You might make this more persuasive and memorable if you gave this person a narrative story about two children removed from a home, with one going to a family member, and the other going to a foster care family they have never met, to help give the reader a very direct feeling about what this would be like.

Politically, this would allow for the government system to have an easier time finding staff. With the job being so stressful, there is often overworked staff and not enough people for all of the children. Placing the children would also be easier with a better ratio of workers to children since some would be going into kinship care quicker. The policy would also provide less backlash to the government because more children would be able to be placed into safe homes. One consequence that stands out is the safety with the background check being shortened for placement. If the relatives are not ready for a child or also neglect and/or abuse the child, that can become a major setback. This is why as soon as the child is placed, a more intensive background and home check should be started to ensure the child’s safety.

I do not understand how you are making a connection between streamlining placement with kin when a child is removed from a household and reducing the caseloads of DCFS workers.  Children in foster care, even if it is kinship care, remain on a DCFS worker’s caseload until they are either adopted or returned to a family, and even after being returned to a family or adopted they may remain under scrutiny of child welfare services. Is there a backlash against the legislature or the governor, and is that backlash based on children being placed (or left in) unsafe homes?  

I would like you to co-sponsor this policy. The action needed for this policy would be to come up with a quick and effective background check first. This would allow for a speedier and less stressful process of getting the child into kinship care. This would also allow for the system to start helping another child get into foster care if needed. After a background check is done, the child can move in, and a more intensive background check can start. Social workers should also make plans for home visits to ensure that the home is safe for the child and that they are being well taken care of. 

This is pretty much what child welfare social workers already do.  I think social workers make the plans for supervised visits with parents or guardians. I think your main point is that you want a change in policy to create two types of background checks, with one being a cursory and swift background check that allows DCFS to quickly place children in kinship care, before they have done a normal thorough background check.  You also seem to want the process of doing background checks to be streamlined or made speedier. You could, for example, suggest that DCFS social workers should have access to the same technology and databases used by law enforcement.  This is a policy that would achieve what you want, and I think it would be a good change.  

This policy would allow for the government to better their social welfare system and ensure safety for more children. The positives of the policy outweigh the negatives and solutions can be thought of for the negatives. Some solutions could be doing a house check right before placing the child or providing some necessary items for the relatives that are not prepared for a child in their home. The number of children dying from neglect and abuse would decrease due to the system being able to help more children. I think this policy could greatly benefit the social welfare system and allow for them to help many more children.

When you say the benefits or positives of a course of action outweighs the disadvantages or threats, and recommend the course of action, you generally ought to briefly explore the desirable and undesirable consequences of each of at least two actions. So, in a case like this, you want to describe the undesirable consequences of not changing the existing practices.  That is, you want to describe problems we have today.  Then, you want to stress that this policy would help us diminish the problems we have with the current situation. 

You have done that in this letter, but it would be better to organize such a letter this way:

1. Ask clearly for what you want from your audience, a member of the General Assembly or the Governor or someone who is an Executive Director of the DCFS. 
2. Explain what the problem is now.  You open with the problem of high caseloads and an insufficient number of social workers in DCFS to adequately handle the cases for which the DCFS is responsible.  Normally this would be solved by increasing salaries or improving working conditions for the workers, and doing more to recruit, hire, and retain them. There might also be efforts to train more social workers in preparation for working in DCFS. You, however, are suggesting mainly a way to make the work of placing children into foster families easier by streamlining the initial safety background check so that children can be more swiftly placed in a kinship care situation, and then that placement can be confirmed after a more thorough background check and interview is completed.  This does connect to the retention of social workers in DCFS, since this will presumably make their work easier. You should show some evidence that the current situation is burdensome, lengthy, and difficult.  You make that claim, but I saw no evidence for how bad the situation is.  Your argument would be stronger if you had provided some details about this.
3. Explain the benefits of the action you are proposing.  You do this fairly well.  
4. Consider the possible arguments against the course of action you have suggested, and counter those. 
5. Repeat the request. Works Cited

“Children in Foster Care: Kids Count Data Center.” KIDS COUNT Data Center: A Project of the Annie E. Casey Foundation, The Annie E. Casey Foundation, Apr. 2022, https://datacenter.kidscount.org/data/tables/6243-children-in-foster-care?loc=1&loct=2&msclkid=3931b6c5d82e144bb390d2dc07f8a711&utm_source=bing&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=Foster+Care+-+Topics&utm_term=foster+care+questions&utm_content=What+is+Foster+Care#detailed/2/2-53/false/37,871,870,573,869,36,868,867,133,38/any/12987.