Institutional Approaches via Education: An Interview with NJ State Senator Nellie Pou

by Brad Forenza, MSW, PhD

Senator Nellie Pou

Senator Nellie Pou

     Institutional approaches to social welfare policy refer to the simple notion that human need is best addressed through the broadest means possible (e.g., the federal government). Ideally, programs and services will be available to everyone in a target population experiencing true need. What qualifies as true need, however,  is often subjective. So, too, is intervention through the broadest means possible. We’re left with a piecemeal response to human need, wherein some of our long-standing programs and services (like Old Age Insurance and public education) are available to everyone in a population, while other programs and services (like housing and nutritional assistance) are available, but in a selective, means-tested fashion.

     Yet even the most institutionalized and universal of services (like public education) are wrought with inequity. In this interview with NJ State Senator Nellie Pou, take a listen to the ways in which educational funding in New Jersey has historically attempted to level the playing field for all school-age children in that state. Also, take a listen to Senator Pou’s perspective on a universal service like public education and how its “process” of universalizing might relate to housing, healthcare, and other aspects of social welfare policy.

Brad Forenza, MSW, PhD, is an associate professor at Montclair State University and a recognized scholar of social policy. His research foci pertain to youth development, primary prevention, and civic engagement. His academic career is accentuated by direct social work practice at youth and family development agencies, program evaluation for clients in the human services, and public policy analysis at the state and federal levels. He regularly publishes and presents his work in national and international forums. His original, public scholarship also extends to the organization of practice-oriented events and panels, the production of documentary film and a social welfare podcast, and the authorship of practitioner interviews and many policy speeches.