POLICY APPROACH
Final Policy Analysis Paper
In most instances, you will not have the final say on which policy approach will be adopted by an organization. That choice usually falls to elected officials or to department heads. In this final policy analysis paper, you assume the position of a mid-level or senior-level public administrator who is tasked with identifying a specific problem tied to an organization’s mission, developing and weighing alternative approaches for addressing the problem, then providing insights into how to determine if a proposed alternative is successful at some later date.
Review the following attachments to understand the topic of the paper and information for this paper for the Indiana Department Child Services: Cost Benefit Analysis Assignment Paper; Identifying the Problems Assignment; Annotated Outline; and Information from Discussion 1 and 2.
In this course, you have examined a problem in detail, from differing perspectives, during varied discussions and assignments. In this final policy analysis paper, you are tying all those threads together into a single, cohesive paper.
In your final paper:
· Identify a specific problem that a public organization must address and analyze it, providing examples of the potential consequences to the community if the problem is left unaddressed.
· Discuss how that problem is tied to the organizational mission.
· Identify various factors that might influence the development and continuation of this problem in the community.
· Identify and evaluate at least three alternatives that might be used to eliminate or minimize this problem in this community, using a cost-benefit analysis. One of the alternatives must be the status quo.
· Evaluate the identified alternatives in terms of the potential staffing, funding, logistical support, and authority the public agency will need to implement each of the identified alternatives.
· Analyze how each of the proposed alternatives will meet the needs of the community, including diverse groups within the community.
· Analyze the importance of conducting the policy analysis in an ethical manner, ensuring that all efforts of the organization are directed at mission attainment.
· Analyze metrics that might be used to determine success for each of the alternatives if it is implemented in the future.
Assignment Requirements
· Resources: Your ideas must be supported with recent, scholarly sources that are properly cited and referenced in APA style.
· Number of pages: Your assignment should be at least 18 pages, double-spaced, excluding the cover page, abstract (if included), and references.
· APA style and format: All materials must be submitted in APA style and format (see Faculty Expectations for further information on APA).
o Remember, adherence to APA requires that all statements of objective fact that are not considered common knowledge must be supported by a credible source (using both a citation and a reference).
· Font: Times New Roman 12-point.
· Introduction and Conclusion: Remember to include both an introductory paragraph and a paragraph of conclusions. This is a fundamental requirement of proper, standard American English.
· SafeAssign: Be sure you have reviewed the SafeAssign report of your draft and corrected any academic honesty issues before submitting your assignment.
· Important: Earlier courseroom activities, including discussions and assignments, were designed to help in the development of this final policy analysis paper. You are free to integrate materials from those earlier discussions and assignments into this final paper. However, do not simply cut and paste materials in their entirety. The final paper must be a standalone project on its own, which means you can integrate the materials as needed, but the organization and flow must represent that of a single research paper.
o The Capella policy on academic honesty does not recognize self-plagiarism. You are free to integrate materials from previous courses at Capella into this final paper without citing them as if they were the works of others. However, if materials have been published elsewhere, including other schools, professional journals, et cetera, the materials must be cited as published works in a manner consistent with APA formatting.
