In american government we did a bureaucracy project to see the process and the procedure for a topic we had choose. My partner  (Alexis Beren) and I chose the topic EMANCIPATION. Emancipation is the process in which a child under the legal age gets independence from their parents or legal guardian. The judge is the one to verdict the discussion and to become emancipated you have to have evidences that you dont get finical support from your parents, moved out and can support yourself. 

There is no paper work that you can get from online, you actually need to go the judge or lawyer to get the paper I believed. It is  difficult to get emancipated because the judge needs to make sure the individual can care for themselves. I wouldn't change anything, I think that Alexis did a very nice job on the flowchart. It simple but also informational. I think that this is a complicated process because the judge needs to make sure that his decision is best for the child and his/her family.  

The task that we had to do was reorganizing the original flow chart for the Juvenile Justice System in Philadelphia. The process I took to do this project was first understanding what they were trying to say in the original chart, then organizing in a way that I would understand it. If I could change anything I would have started the project on time and would have been more organized. One reason I think that the systems are so complicated is it is meant to show a lot of information and sometimes wording it can be a little hard.

Ashley and I chose to work with the gay marriage process and doing the research for our topic was probably the most perplexing part because while there were several articles about the legislation that had been passed on the issue, there wasn't a lot of information that provided us with the steps needed to go through with the actual process. However once we found the information we needed we found that the process was the same as if you were to get married as man and wife. The paper work and steps were identical, the only difference is that in order for gay marriage to be legal, it can only be done in 5 states and it probably wont be recognized in any of the other ones. We also weren't able to get a lot of the documentation because you had to pay money simply to obtain quite a few of them. However most of them wanted to simple things i.e. social security numbers, name birthdate etc. and things of that nature. Overall our bureaucracy project wasn't too much hassle besides getting the information we needed. 

Emancipation was the bureaucratic task that Leeann and I selected. We researched how a minor can become emancipated in Pennsylvania through the court system. The minor must be at least 16 years of age. They must no longer live in their parent’s home, or be supported by their parents. They must provide solid evidence that they are in control of themselves, and that they are a responsible, independent individual. The paperwork isn’t exceedingly difficult, but it is tedious, and then there is the fact that you must actually go to court in order to get emancipated. One part of the process is that if you don’t have your parent’s permission to move out of their house you can be picked up as a runaway and be taken home to your parents, or be put into Child and Youth Services until your dependence or independence is determined by the courts. I feel that this should be changed because if you want to be independent from your parents for whatever reason you obviously don’t want to get their permission to leave you want to just be done with them. I feel that the systems are complicated because so many people are going to court for so many issues, some simplistic, and others complex, but there are so many issues in the system that the drawn out process gives the people in charge more time to get to your needs, and also it makes sure that all the details are sorted out before you even get in front of an authority. Before starting this project I knew the emancipation process, but after completing the project as a third party instead of a person involved in the emancipation I feel that I better understand the issues and processes involved in becoming emancipated, from both the perspective of the minor and the courts.

Please post to the SLATE blogger a reflection that encompasses these points - also post the doc and the link to your flowchart:

• Briefly summarize the bureaucratic 'task' that you selected.

The task that I selected was the process of The Juvenile Justice System in Philadelphia.

• Give an overview of your process
• Because this was a last minute thing , m partner and I made a paper rough draft and then proceeded to edit and rearrange the chart on pages.

• Reflect upon the paperwork that you needed to fill out. Was it straightforward, easy, difficult, perplexing, etc.
• Alot of it was difficult because the original artist used less than and equal to signs
• If you could change one thing about the bureaucratic process that you flow charted, what would it be and why?
• If i could change one thing , I would change the illustration with pictures.
• Why do you think the systems have become so complicated?
• Other thoughts, reflections, feedback.
• I wish I could have been more productive with my partner to accomplish a better task.

- The task that was given to me, was reworking the Flowchart of the Juvenile Justice System in Philadelphia.

- The first thing was just trying to understand the flowchart to begin with (very difficult), second was creating rough drafts of the new chart, and finally, putting everything into a flush, easier to read format

-I don't think there needs to be so many ways into the system but only so few ways out

-They've been corupted so many times that they have just gotten more and more confusing to thwart people to try to work around it

-I think this was a pretty interesting project, I wouldn't mind doing it again but maybe with a less complicated flowchart

The task I chose was adoption. I decided to do this topic because adoption to me is really interesting, jus the way it helps to get children into safe homes and families is such a good idea to me. The job you gave us to do, was to create a flow chart , get paper work, as well as write a summary about our process. The flow chart was created, we couldn't get paperwork , and this is the summary. The flow chart is based off the process that is taken to adopt a child and questions created to determine if you've taken each step in the accurately. In my personal research, on Adopting. org I found that adoption is quite the job. There’s several steps involved such as:

• Educate yourself and your family members.
• Decide what type of adoption you want pursue.
• Investigate ways to handle adoption expenses.
• Select adoption agency/facilitator and/or attorney
• Complete an agency application form.
• Begin the home study process.
• Attend pre-adoption and parenting classes.
• Be matched with or locate a child.
• Prepare for your child's arrival.
• File a petition to adopt.
• Finalize the adoption.
• Post-adoption services and education.

During this process of adoption, you have to fill out a lot of paperwork, mainly in each step you take, but the most important sets of paperwork you have to complete are the actual petition to adopt, post-adoption contact agreements and the agency application which can be either domestic or international. It is very difficult to find examples of adoption papers and agreements because that stuff is all given by actual agencies and are private documents, I think that its been made this diffucult because of the simple fact that America wants to protect its children in the system, yes they want to provide homes for foster children and orphans, but they want to make sure that they are quality, safe environments for them to be in. I think the majority of the project was okay. Below is an example of a certificate of adoption that must be signed by the court judge when the adoption is final :

There is nothing quite like bureaucracy.  Every system contains it, we all have to work through it, but most agree that it can often be a pain in the rear.  With a partner, we (American Government class) were all assigned to investigate the processes behind a bureaucratic system with a partner.   My partner, Aimee, and I chose to look into Food-Stamps (also known as SNAPS)

            SNAPS is a national food-assistance program for families who are struggling to provide for themselves.  Families receive a certain amount of benefits each month, based on their calculated need.  In PA, these families then receive an ACCESS card, which can be used to purchase food (excluding certain items like alcohol.)

            The Food-Stamps system doesn’t seem necessarily difficult, but is very complex.  Although it is a nationally based system, a person must apply within a specific State, and complete the required paperwork.  You can do part of the process online, depending on your State.  However, Aimee and I did it by hand because we would have had to actually create an account, and this is strictly academic. 

Instead, we printed out a 24-page application and tried to fill it out.  They consider a lot, and much of the information gets repetitive.  Since SNAPS is often closely tied to other systems like Welfare Benefits, WIC, or unemployment, there are many factors taken into consideration.  You have to provide social security, who you’re applying for, people in your household, income (if any, including job and other resources), expenses per person in house, whether you own a vehicle…etc.  To receive benefits, you have to meet specific income eligibility requirements, which vary depending on who lives with you.  It’s quite tedious.

            The 24-page application was for other benefits, including healthcare.  We soon found a much shorter form for just SNAP benefits, and filled that one out for a (non racially stereotyped) single mother of two. 

            In some way I see why there is so much to consider in application.  They have to consider just about any possible scenario a person can have.  When it comes government money, they don’t want to leave any loopholes.  It’s very specific, but probably needs to be. 

            It was very frustrating trying to figure out how to put all the steps and things to consider into one cohesive “flow” that made sense and didn’t exceed our 60-object free trial on Lucid Chart.  There are probably more specific details that could have been included, but we tried to pick out the most important bits.  I would like to see this professionally done, with every detail, just to grasp the complexity. 

My partner, Sophia Moreno and I did our bureaucratic project on food stamps. The Food Stamp Program or Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) is a system made by the federal government in 1939, to provide food benefits to people with little or no income. Individuals such as the elderly, children, or disabled are given an ACCESS card, which are used at most grocery stores.

We started our project by researching the background information on our topic and how the system works. We printed out all the necessary forms that we would have to ‘fictionally’ fill out to apply for food stamps. After going through the research, we had to pull out all the requirements that a person would have to meet to be able to receive food stamps. Knowing that information is what really helped us with the putting together the flow chart.

I must say, the paperwork was bit perplexing. Trying to correctly fill out the forms in the correct boxes and such was sort of confusing, especially working with a fictional character that we were making up along the way. There were a lot of steps and outside of influences that would affect the process of filling the forms out. The flow chart was a bit even more complicated. We didn’t exactly know how to start or go about it but I think we pulled it off pretty well.

If I were to do this project again, I would try and do deeper research on trying to figure out the loopholes around it. I would try to see why there are so many people are on welfare. I really enjoyed this project and going through the process with my partner.

Devon and I chose to do our Bureaucracy Project on Registering a Car and Getting Your License. We separated our task by splitting these two processes up and created two different flow charts. Devon focused more on Getting Your License while I did the Registering A Car portion. 

Registering A Car: http://www.lucidchart.com/documents/view/4d08d061-7af4-41b2-ae47-04ce0afcbe04

Getting Your License: http://www.lucidchart.com/documents/view/4d08ca51-c1b4-4d42-9ac7-02fb0afcbe04

The process of this task was I believe pretty easy. We went to the PennDot site which had all the information we needed and a step-by-step setup of how it was supposed to be completed. The hardest part was ironically making the flowchart look appealing to the eye. For example, the first time we did it, the chart had 40+ boxes on it and was just black and white. We both realized that this wouldn't work and therefore started over. During the second time Devon came up with the idea that we should make it look like a street and have the lines look like the yellow broken lines in the middle of the street and vehicle like shapes as cars. We tried our best to mimic the curves and turns of the road with the chart.

• Form MV-1 (could not be found online)

"Form MV-1 is not available online. This form must be completed by an authorized agent of the Department." I found forms from different states like Georgia and Maryland however, none from PA.

After doing this project, I believe that registering a car in PA is so complex. I realized that you have to have so many forms and documents and go to different people to actually do all of this. It's really, just overwhelming with all of the things that you have to complete. I don't know why this process is so complicated when getting your license is not even close to how difficult it is to complete.