*** Topic: Social Welfare Policies And Poverty

  ***Bill: People CARE Act

Selecting your bill: The first step is to think about one of the general topics to find an area of interest. Next, you will need to find a specific **bill** that addresses the chosen issue (topic listed below). For bills introduced in the U.S. Congress, please visit: www.thomas.gov. For bills introduced in the state Mississippi, visit: www.ms.gov .

4 pages (6 pages including title page and reference page)

times new roman

double space

12 font 

**The title and reference page are not included in the four pages and half pages does not count as whole pages**

Make sure to address the following in your research paper and be sure to include each question to be sure that everything is answered:

· Choose a bill 

· With the chosen bill, include the bill number and the website

· In your own words, describe the bill (overview) and introduce your audience to the bill stating its importance for social welfare policy in Mississippi or the nation.

• Who is the sponsor(s) (meaning who wrote the bill) and what political party are they from (democratic/republican)?
• What is the current status of this bill?
• What does the policy do exactly? Is this a controversial piece of legislation? Why?
• What are the short term and long-term goals of the policy?
• Does this bill have any funding or appropriations attached to it?
• What evidence are the advocates of this policy using in their claims that it will solve this problem? (Based on      research findings? If not, what is it based on?)
• The winners and the losers affected by this bill/policy?
• Who will be charged with implementing and/or evaluating the policy? 
• What is the social problem being addressed by this legislation, according to the sponsors of this legislation? 
• Who is the target population?
• How widespread is the problem?
• Who is affected by this problem, and how? How many people are affected by it?
• How does this problem affect vulnerable populations?
• What are the causes of the social problem? (People may have different opinions on this, so explain these various opinions. For example, conservatives and liberals often disagree on the causes of poverty)
• What does the research say about the causes of this social problem? Make sure to cite a few important studies.
• How do we compare with other countries on this policy issue? Have they approached this issue in a different way?
• Provide some good data and statistics!