It can be very helpful to locate and read an overview (as current as you can find) of policy on your topic in order to understand how laws, regulations, court cases, and common practices may have influenced policies about your topic, before reading specific laws, legislative documents, regulations or court cases. Here are some starting points:
Here is a way to find CRS Reports from Proquest Congressional (not refereed/peer reviewed):
Go to CRS Reports from Proquest Congressional and try it! (not refereed/peer reviewed)
CQ Researcher
An encyclopedia addressing public policy issues. Covers 1923-present.
CQ Weekly
A week by week non-partisan report on activity within the United States Congress. Discusses issues about to be addressed by Congress, summaries of the previous week's legislative events, status of bills pending before the House and Senate, committee and floor activity, and outcomes of roll call votes. Searchable by date, topic, latest votes. Covers 1983- present.
Historical Evolution of Programs for Older Americans This timeline put together by the Administration on Aging provides an overview of some major federal legislation.
New York State Assembly Updates from the Committee on Aging
Online Encyclopedia of Social Work Published in 2008
Cornell University Law School - Wex
This offers overviews of relevant state and federal laws on various topics.
West's Encyclopedia of American Law 2nd ed. Detroit : Thomson/Gale, c2005 Call Number: KF154 .W47 2005 Location: Bird Library Reference, 2nd floor. [Print source, not online]
Websites that may help with identifying a topic:
National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare
Alliance for Retired Americans
New York State Wide Senior Action Council
More websites that can help with identifying current legislation or policy issues on a topic:
ProQuest Newsstand Description:1300 newspapers, news websites and blogs from leading publishers throughout the world. Major newspapers include the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Chicago Tribune, Washington Post, USA Today, Los Angeles Times, Boston Globe, The Guardian and many other national and regional titles.
New York State Newspapers Description: Full-text access to newspapers from New York State.
Other SU Library subscription databases to search for newspaper articles