TEST 3 STUDY GUIDE (DIE4310), Spring 2013Chapter 6 Policy Making Define policymaking. • Identify and describe the steps in the policy making process o Step 1: Define problem and set agenda Goal: convince other people that a public problem exists.• Get the issue placed on the policy agenda defined by each legislative body of the government, by obtaining broad-based public support for the problem. • Effective description of the problem is important, include information on:o The Etiologyo Occurrenceo Determinants of the problemo Step 2: Formulate alternatives Once on the agenda, possible Solutions to the problem are devised and discussed by various groups.  In the U.S., policy is formulated by the legislative, executive, and judicial branches of government at the National, State and Local Levels.  People involved in policy making are vary diverse and vary from executives to elected officials to street-level bureaucrats.o Step 3: Adopt Policy This step provides the tools and instruments for dealing with the problem chosen.  Tools that are commonly used to combat public health nutrition problems:• Government sponsored programs• Regulations• Public promotions• Cash grantso Step 4: Implement Policy Implementation is the process of putting a policy into action. Involves employees of federal, state, and local governments who work with private organizations, interest groups, and other parties to implement the policy.o Step 5: Evaluate Policy Determine if a program is achieving its stated goals and reaching its intended audience.o Step 6: Terminate Policy Valid reasons for policy termination include:• Resolution of the program• Program is not working• More cost-efficient options available.o Cyclical Process which will generally proceed through these 6 steps, they may overlap and may even occur out of sequence.• Outline the steps in how an idea becomes a law o Step 1: Introduction of a bill The bill needs a sponsor from among the legislators to introduce the bill, often there will also be co-sponsors (the more the better) After the bill is introduced, it is sent to the clerks desk where it is • Numbered• Printed• Given a title.o Step 2: The bill proceeds to the House and Senate where it will be assigned to a sub-committee for advancement.o Step 3: The bill in the House and Senate is assigned to committee Public hearings and testimonials may be held at this point to inform committee decision on whether to move the bill forward or kill the bill. o Step 4: Floor Vote If bill approved by Senate and House are identical, it is sent to the president to be signed.  If the two versions differ there is a conference committee for a compromise bill followed by floor votes in the House and Senate. Grass roots efforts at this stage focus on lobbying legislators to vote for or against the bill.o Step 5: Presidential Action The President has three options:• Sign a bill into law • Allow it to become law without his signature or action• Veto the billo Once a bill becomes law, it is given the designation “Public Law” and a number.• Know that the Federal Register is a weekly publication that contains all regulations and proposed regulations and that the Code of Federal Regulations is the compendium of all regulations currently in force. • Define and discuss Medical Nutrition Therapy (MNT) in relation to the political process of policymaking (See page 170 of text). o Medicare MNT Legislation This bill seeks to amend title XVII of the Social Security Act• Will authorize expansion of Medicare coverage of medical nutrition therapy services.• Will allow the secretary of DHHS to determine future expansions of MNT coverage when scientific evidence shows it would be cost-effective.• Describe emerging policy issues: tracking overweight and obesity with a comprehensive approach; Dietary Reference Intakes; labeling of dietary fat; biotechnology; complementary and alternative medicine; medical foods, functional foods, and nutraceuticals; Human genome and the potential of genetic screening. (probably going to be an “all of the above” question).Food Insecurity and Domestic Food Assistance Programs • Know the target population, income eligibility, benefits, administering agency for the national domestic food assistance programs; and ballpark funding levels. In 2005, what was the total funding level for U.S. food assistance programs?o Target Children mostly, or may be in combination with another target group: Child and adult care food program (CACFP)• Meals and snacks to child and adult day care center clients, children residing in emergency shelters; snacks and suppers in “At-Risk” after school programs (ARASP)• Who can Participate:o Children and adults over the age of 60 who are in approved centers or homes.• Eligibility:o Same as the SLP and SBP Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program (FFVP)• Operates in selected Low-income elementary schools in the 50 states, the District of Columbia, Guam, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands.• Funding: $158 million in assistance to state agencies to make available increased fresh fruits and vegetables from local producers.o Law requires that students in participating schools receive between $50-$75 worth of fresh produce over the school year.o Schools reimbursed according to the servings given free to students outside of the breakfast or lunch period. National School Lunch Program (NSLP)• Created by the National School Lunch Act of 1946• Federally assisted meal program operating in over 101,000 public and non-profit private schools and residential care institutions.• Federal Level: administered by Food and Nutrition Service• State Level: administered by State Education agencies, which operate through agreements with school food authorities.• Funding: $9.8 billion with a total of 31.3 million children receiving food each day.• School Lunches must meet Dietary Guidelineso No more than 30% of cals from fato Less than 10% of cals from Saturated Fato Establish a standard for school lunches to provide one third of the RDA for Protein, Vit A, Vit C, iron, calcium, and calories• Support provided to the schools comes in the form of a cash reimbursement for each meal served. o Higher reimbursement rates are in effect for Alaska and Hawaii and for schools with high percentages of low-income students.• Who can participate:o Any child in school may participate