The issue brief answers the following questions:

1. Goal Statement

What is the goal of the policies or programs

2. Scope of the Problem

What was the scope of the problem in the past? How is the problem defined today? What is the future outlook for this issue?

3. Past Policy

What is the past policy? What programs have been in place? How much money was spent each year? What have been the evaluations of those programs? Past policy includes: key milestones, legislative history, funding history, and evaluation history.

4. Current Policy

What is currently being done to address the problem? Current policy analysis includes: federal programs, funding levels, regulations, evaluations, and reports.

For each policy option (past, current, and proposed) and model program, the following questions are answered to provide a consistent analysis for comparison: goal, cost, allocation, implementation, evaluation, outlook/status.

5. Policy Options or Program Models

What are the distinct policy options? These options may be in the form of legislation, demonstration projects, model state & local programs, and conceptual papers/books. They are presented in the form of a "planning tree" (see below).

6. Key Organizations/Individuals

Who are the key people or organizations in the areas of politics, government, academia, neighborhoods, corporations, unions, and nonprofit organizations?

7. Glossary

What are the key terms related to this issue and/or policy discussion?

8. Bibliography