Advocacy be not forsaken! Retrospective lessons from welfare reform

This article reviews the often uneven and sometimes peripheral role of advo cacy as a social work function and explores its current relevancy in regard to agency practices, ethical mandates and the "person-in-environment" orie ntation of social work practice. Welfare reform (in which Aid to Families w ith Dependent Children [AFDC] was abolished in 1996 and replaced with Tempo rary Assistance for Needy Families [TANF]) Is presented as a case example o f both a failed opportunity to influence the course of public debate, and t he potential benefits of advocacy when it is systematically applied and int egrated as part of an overall organizational approach to services. Generali zed principles are then drawn from the case study as they apply to advocacy practice with vulnerable populations.