Alison S. Burke Show The stages of policy development can generally be categorized into 5 general stages. U.S. policy development encompasses several stages. Most policy models generally include the following stages: (1) identifying the issue to be addressed by the proposed policy, (2) placement on the agenda, (3) formulation of the policy, (4) implementation of the policy, and (5) evaluation of the policy. This is similar to the community police response acronym SARA (scanning, analysis, response, and assessment) and uses some of the same techniques, but on a much bigger, national level. Identifying the Problem and Agenda Setting Identifying the problem involves addressing what is happening and why it is an issue. In criminal justice, this might look at the increase of opioid use and overdoses or acts of youth violence. Once the issue is identified, there can be a serious debate about the plans of the policy. Once it is decided what the policy will look like, it is placed on the agenda. This is perhaps the most politicized part of the process as it involves many different stakeholders. It involves identifying the legislative, regulatory, judicial, or other institutions responsible for policy adoption and formulation. Formulation and Adoption The next stage involved adopting the policy. Depending on the nature of the policy, this could involve a new law or an executive order. Implementation of the Policy Implementation is about moving forward, taking action, and spending money. It involves hiring new staff or additional police officers. This is where policies often stall because of the lack of funding. For example, a popular program in 1990, Weed and Seed, involved “weeding” out criminals (targeting arrest efforts) and “seeding” new programs (instituting after-school programs, drug treatment facilities, etc.). The weeding portion of the program was a great success, but the program ultimately failed because of a lack of funding to adequately seed new community programming. Funding is a major roadblock for proper implementation. Evaluation Finally, the evaluation examines the efficacy of the policy. There are three different types of evaluation: Impact, Process, and Cost-benefit analysis. Impact (outcome) evaluations focus on what changes after the introduction of the crime policy. Changes in police patrol practices aimed at reducing the level of residential burglaries in an area are evaluated in terms of subsequent burglaries. The difficulty with impact evaluations is that changes in the crime rate are rarely, if ever, due to a single intervening variable. For example, after the implementation of curfew laws for juvenile offenders, juvenile crime decreased. Can we say that was because of curfew laws? The entire crime rate for America decreased at the same time. Attributing a single outcome based on a solitary intervention is problematic. Process evaluations consider the implementation of a policy or program and involve determining the procedure used to implement the policy. These are detailed, descriptive accounts of the implementation of the policy including the goals of the program, who is involved, the level of training, the number of clients served, and changes to the program over time. Unfortunately, process evaluations do not address the actual impact policy has on the crime problem, just what was done about a specific issue or who was involved. While this is indeed a limitation, it is essential to know the inner workings of a program or policy if it is to be replicated. Cost-benefit evaluations, or analysis, seeks to determine if the costs of a policy are justified by the benefits accrued. A ubiquitous example of this would be an evaluation of the popular anti-drug D.A.R.E. program of the 1980s and 1990s. The D.A.R.E. program was a school-based prevention program aimed at preventing drug use among elementary school-aged children. Rigorous evaluations of the program show that it was ineffective and sometimes actually increased drug use in some youth. The cost of this program was roughly $1.3 billion dollars a year (about $173 to $268 per student per year) to implement nationwide (once all related expenses, such as police officer training and services, materials and supplies, school resources, etc., were factored in). Using a cost-benefit analysis, is that a good use of money to support an ineffective program? Policy formation is often a knee-jerk reaction to the current problem. Many policies are the result of grassroots efforts to change something in their communities. For example, let us pretend the issue is youth crime in our city. Kids are roaming the streets like packs of wild dogs, jeering at the elderly, and generally making us feel unsafe. A proposed policy might be to hold parents accountable for their child’s misbehavior. If parents are responsible, then they will take better care of their kids, right? Take, for example, Little Skippy. He’s kind of a jerk. He smokes, curses, and recently stole his neighbor’s car. Arrested after crashing into the drive-thru sign at the local Taco Bell, based on parental responsibility law, his mom and dad are to blame for his reckless driving fiasco. Let’s look at the policy process.
Oregon has ORS 30.761 (2017), which states: (1)In addition to any other remedy provided by law, the parent or parents of an unemancipated minor child shall be liable for actual damages to person or property caused by any tort intentionally or recklessly committed by such child. However, a parent who is not entitled to legal custody of the minor child at the time of the intentional or reckless tort shall not be liable for such damages. (2) The legal obligation of the parent or parents of an unemancipated minor child to pay damages under this section shall be limited to not more than $7,500, payable to the same claimant, for one or more acts.
4. It is law, but is it effective? The evaluation stage of policy is critical. The goal is to curb youth crime and we might expect to see a decrease in the juvenile crime rate. However, charging parents fines for the misdeeds of their children actually increases recidivism! It’s true! A study of 1,167 youth in Pennsylvania found that the total amount of fines, fees and/or restitution significantly increased the likelihood of recidivism . Justice system–imposed financial penalties increase the likelihood of recidivism in a sample of adolescent offenders In particular, males, non-whites, and youth with prior dispositions and adjudicated with a drug or property offense were at an increased likelihood of recidivism associated with owing fines and fees (Piquero and Jennings, 2016). This is problematic as fees not only increase recidivism but also increase the likelihood of a “revolving door” juvenile justice system for minority youth. In the end, what is law is not always effective and what is effective is not always law. This is where evidence-based practices come in.
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Policy is an essential part of every human being existing on this planet. Day-in-day-out policies are formulated, relinquished, replaced, revised among other things. Under the stewardship of governments in control of our respective geographical settlement, we operate under numerous sets of values modelled on the forms of governments that be. What are the 5 stages of the policy making process? These are agenda building, formulation, adoption, implementation, evaluation, and termination. This is also reffered to as the policy making cycle or 5 stages of policy making process PDF. These values are means by which policies are formulated. The policy making cycle is generally a repetition of the conceptualized five stages of policy making. The word process is replaced by cycle when the activity is always used each time a similar outcome is desired. In the case of the policy making process, the outcome is a preferred policy that addresses the problem. Despite problems varying from time to time, the process is still the same hence the cycle. While there are countless definitions of public policy, one thing remains the same, it is public officials and trying to tackle issues affecting day to day lives in their jurisdiction. These differ according to factors around; political affiliation of officials, nature of the problem at hand. A good non-politically determined situation is the current Covid-19 pandemic which has birthed various government health policies modelled against the virus.
5 Stages of policy making process1. Agenda Setting
Agenda setting itself also has sub-stages to be followed i.e: Systemic Agenda. Public officials brainstorm (based of interactions with the constituencies they represent) all the issues they deem fit to address.
2. Policy Formation
3. Decision Making
4. Policy Implementation
5. Policy Evaluation
Policies have a tendency to rub on to each other such that this may result in changes in existing policies or even an alteration of the new one to minimize negative impact on existing policy. Present day governments, the world over, have been accused of abusing the responsibility vested in 5 stages of policy making process PDF. Matters of public interest in some instances have become nonentities such that policies are even formulated to legalize personal growth activities to the detriment of the public who are the rightful beneficiaries of this process. As mentioned earlier, while these are the fundamental stages of the policy formulation process, there are variations to the policy making process. These are just but a framework of the policy making system which has its weaknesses and strengths.
Not only public policy was affected, private entities have also found themselves changing their policies to suit the new business atmosphere. Heavy decrease of movement and physical contact activity has been the order of the day.
Recently in Zimbabwe, churches where not allowing citizens who have not received their full vaccination evidenced by vaccination cards, access to their services. This is how effective policy is, despite one wanting to choose what they can or cannot do.
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