Mental Health

Jeffrey Miller,

George Westinghouse High School

Introduction:

You are a mental health expert that has total knowledge on how our current society deals with treatable mental illness. You will decide if the current policies, which are now in place, are sufficient in regards to the current ways that our government has decided to support the person that is affected with mental illness. Your group input (using the public policy analysis-PPA) will show how our society could more effectively deal with this problem. You will pick a definitive mental illness problem, discuss how the current policies that are in place do handle this problem and you will explain how this condition does impact upon those around them (including their families and those around them on a daily basis) You will decide what could be done to improve on the way that people who are currently dealing with this issue have to face their daily reality. Before you can give certain recommendations you need to sufficiently inform as to what the current policies are and what the shortcomings are that current governmental policies do not handle well enough. An example that could be used is the way that the recent school shootings in Newtown could have been prevented if there was a stronger identification of the mental illness that was obviously there.

Task:

This is an issue that does affect each of us every day. This is a crucial societal problem that must be governed in an effective way in order for this to be improved in a significant way. You need to use the TIPS Public Policy Analyst steps in order to establish that you have effective recommendations. Your work needs to be strong enough so that you can fully expect these policies that you have formulated to be adopted and put into place. By the end of this unit you will be able to write a paper about this issue, make a group presentation and create a poster.

Process/Resources:

Your group will consist of 4 students that will be predetermined by the teacher to prepare a public policy analysis (PPA) by:

1. Defining the Problem

2. Gathering Evidence of the extent of the problem

3. Identifying The Causes of the problem

4. Evaluating the Existing Policies to deal with the problem

5. Developing New Policies

6. Selecting the Best Policy

You will decide upon a mental illness that you have determined does effect the community that you live in and you will become knowledgeable as to what created this condition, what are the commonly seen results of this illness, how do you think the long term effects of this will be and what the current government policies are that are in place to help those that are affected by this.

You will each write up a report (2 pages typed, double spaced, 12 pt. font, New Times Roman) that shows that you have sufficient knowledge of this reality to show how it does impact upon your current neighborhood. Your report will include policy that includes how your new way of dealing with this illness will significantly improve. Your group will formulate a poster that can be used by government agencies to better educate the public. This poster will educate those that look at it as to how they can better identify and understand this problem. Your group will present to the class with an oral presentation what you believe this new policy should consist of. All members in your group must participate in this presentation to insure that full credit is received by every group member. Your entire group will receive a group grade that insures that every member is fully involved.

Review all of the steps that the PPA uses to insure that you do all of the research work that is needed. All of these steps can be viewed here:

TIPS

Resources:

You can use the following links to help you get started on your research. You can always use the different links that are within these websites to help understand a topic further. You will be expected to also use other sources that you will find on your own that will help your research.

Current Government Local Policy: Brooklyn Mental Health Court

What is Considered Mental Illness: Definition of Mental Illness

What is Normal Behavior: Listings of Normal/Ill Mental Behavior

Evaluation:

Written Report

	1	2	3	4
PPA analysis	3 or less PPA steps present	5 or less steps present	All steps present, but one or more weak	All steps accounted for and done well
Research and Content	Minimal research, poor information, minimal or no policy	Some research but very weak information presented to back up policy	Research minimally sufficient to address the problem and the information supports the policy	Solid research which is evidenced by comprehensive information which strongly supports the policy
Grammar and Spelling	More than 10 errors	More than 5 errors	More than 1 error	No errors
Logical Thought and Policy Development	No originality and no or poor logical thought	Minimal originality and some logical thought	Some originality and evidence of logical thought	Originality and logical thought processes are clearly evident

Presentation

	1	2	3	4
Group dynamics	Obvious lack of participation by all group members except one	Two or more group members unable to participate in a meaningful way	One group member fails to contribute meaningfully	All group members participate fully in the presentation
Organization	Weak to none	Fair but lacking in coordination between group members	Good, showing evidence of good prior planning	Superior, shows strong evidence for prior planning and thought
Content	Weak content fails to support policy	Content sufficient to weakly support policy	Content sufficient to support policy but fails to engage other students' interest	Strong content supports policy, engages other students' interest

Poster

Artwork

2 or less colors used, poor originality

3 colors used, fair originality

4 colors used, good originality

5 or more colors used, shows obvious originality

Content and Message

Was not clear

Message understood, but only after explanation by group member

Message and content good

Message and content clear and compelling

Conclusion:

Mental illness is a condition that is not understood well enough by the people that live in our communities. Our society has stereotypes and treatments that are truly not acceptable, these are rampant today. How our own communities deal with this situation is not a reality that is fully understood by enough of us that live here in Brooklyn. The way that people are diagnosed, treated and followed up on is not acceptable. By understanding the way that people within our community are faced every day with this challenge the class will be stronger equipped to understand those around them.

NY State Common Core Standards :

Writing Standards 6–12

2. Write informative/explanatory texts to examine and convey complex ideas, concepts, and information clearly and accurately through the effective selection, organization, and analysis of content.

4. Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience. (Grade-specific expectations for writing types are defined in standards 1–3 above.)

Reading Standards 11-12

1. Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text, including determining where the text leaves matters uncertain.

7. Integrate and evaluate multiple sources of information presented in different media or formats (e.g., visually, quantitatively) as well as in words in order to address a question or solve a problem.