consider policy related to mental health, since it is a significant part of practice for many social workers. We will use as our resource the National Alliance on Mental Illness (Link will open in new tab.) (Links to an external site.), which is a grassroots mental health organization dedicated to building better lives for the millions of Americans affected by mental illness. (As a side note: If mental health is of interest to you, consider joining the NAMI email list (Link will open in new tab.) (Links to an external site.) to get up-to-date information on relevant events and policies.)
Review the policy priorities that relate to mental health policy in the Advocacy section of the National Alliance on Mental Illness website (Link will open in new tab.) (Links to an external site.). Choose one of the policy priorities listed on the left-hand side (as of this writing, there are 18). If some of your classmates have already responded, I encourage you to pick one that hasn’t been covered yet.
For the policy priority that you chose, answer the following questions:
- In one paragraph or less, what is the policy priority and why is it important to NAMI?
- What action is NAMI currently taking or asking people to take on this issue?
- Create your own advocacy plan for this issue. The plan should include at least three advocacy actions (use the chart in Chapter 6 of Political Social Work for ideas), and describe how you will use them. Review the Sample Advocacy Plan document Download Sample Advocacy Plan document before beginning your own advocacy plan.
