What do we mean by social planning and policy change? ___Social planning is the process by which policymakers try to solve community problems or improve conditions in the community by devising and implementing policies intended to have certain results. ___Current thinking and experience points to good social planning and policy change being connected to community participation in the process. Why should policymakers engage in a participatory social planning process? ___Community participation makes it more likely that you'll come up with policy that's effective. ___Community participation leads to community ownership and support of whatever initiatives come out of a social planning effort. ___Policymakers, particularly elected officials, can gain politically from involving the community. ___Community members can inform policymakers about changes in circumstances that demand changes in policy over time. ___Community participation can create community relationships and partnerships among diverse groups, who can then work together. ___Community participation helps keep community building going over the long run. __Community participation contributes to institutionalizing the changes brought about by changes in policy. ___Community participation energizes the community to continue to change in positive directions. Why should the community engage in a participatory social planning process? ___Participation provides the opportunity to educate policymakers to the community's real needs and concerns. ___Participation allows community members to help create policy that really works to meet their needs. ___Participation affords community members the respect they deserve. ___Participation puts community members in control of their own fate. ___Participation builds community leadership from within. ___Participation energizes the community to take on other issues or policy decisions in the future, and to see itself as in control of its future. ___Participation leads to long-term social change. When is social planning and policy change appropriate? ___When the community asks for it. ___When an issue or problem has reached crisis proportions, and it's obvious to everyone that something must be done. ___When there is a long-standing major issue - poverty, violence, housing, hunger, etc. - that has attracted policymakers attention. ___When there are resources made available to address the issue. ___When a powerful figure - a president or prime minister, a leader in Congress or Parliament, a governor, a mayor - is concerned about a particular problem, issue, or population, and determines to do something about it. ___When a strategic or economic planning process that policymakers engage in determines that a particular issue must be addressed, or that particular communities or populations need some kind of assistance. ___When it becomes apparent - on the municipal, state or provincial, or federal level - that there is a general economic, social, and/or environmental downhill slide that needs to be stopped. Who should be involved in social planning and policy change? ___Those whom a policy is meant to benefit. ___Those whom a policy is meant to control in some way. ___Those who will have to administer or enforce the policy. ___Those who work with or serve a population that is directed affected by a policy. ___Organizations or businesses that stand to gain or lose revenue or other resources, or will have to alter their mode of operation because of a potential change in policy. ___Policymakers and public officials. How can policymakers engage effectively in social planning and policy change? ___Make contact with agencies, organizations, and individuals that know the community well, and use their knowledge and credibility to ease your way in. ___Make your goals and process clear in small meetings that lead up to a larger one. ___Hold a community meeting to explain your purpose and start recruiting community members to participate in assessment and planning. ___Schedule the next community meeting, and start the planning process. ___Provide whatever training or support is necessary. How can communities engage effectively in social planning and policy change? ___Get to know and maintain contact with policymakers from the beginning, so that when issues of policy arise, you'll have an open communication line. ___Try to anticipate the community's policy needs, and approach policymakers before they have decided to act. ___Equip yourself with as much information as possible, both about the benefits of a participatory process and about the issue itself. Contributor Phil Rabinowitz
