Front Page / Guides / PolicyOptions Issue Brief Guide / Content & Formatting / Policy Options & Model Programs

Issue Brief Content by Section

Policy Options and Model Programs

Profile of Policy Options and Model Programs

We use a template for profiling policy options and model programs with the following questions:

• Summary — one paragraph description 

• Goal — short description of the policy or program goal  

• Cost — total policy or program cost; also include per person cost if available 

• Implementation — describe how the policy or program is implemented (esp. who, how) 

• Evaluation — summarize any evaluation findings that policy or program effectiveness

• Status — indicate whether this policy or program has been adopted in more locations or remains a proposal 

• Point of View — quotations from those in support or opposition to this policy or program 

• Contact — contact information for sponsor of this policy or program 

• Bibliography    link to any additional readings or websites related to this policy or program 

Example model program profile:  Model Program - College Summit

These questions are designed to allow a practitioner to understand how the program or policy is implemented, how effective it is at achieving its goals, how widespread it is, and who to contact to learn more. 

Example Policy Option / Model Programs Entry on Issue Overview Page 

This section of the issue brief's Overview page lists model programs and policy options.  These should be grouped by categories which are determined by the key features that distinguish them from one another. Each entry should have a brief description with a link in the title to the profile page for the policy option or model program. See example below:

Example 1 — Chronic Homelessness

• Emergency Shelter & Assistance

• Critical Time Intervention (CTI): Designed to prevent recurrent homelessness among persons with severe mental illness by enhancing continuity of care during the transition from institutional to community living. Full paper available here.

• Shelter Plus Care (HUD): The Shelter Plus Care Program provides rental assistance for hard-to-serve homeless persons with disabilities in connection with supportive services funded from sources outside the program.

• New York-New York Agreement: "... the 1990 New York/New York Agreement to House Homeless Mentally Ill Individuals, a historic joint effort by New York State and New York City that created 3,615 units of supportive and licensed, permanent and transitional housing for homeless mentally ill people in New York City. The New York/New York (NY/NY) Agreement remains the largest housing initiative for homeless mentally ill people to date..."

• Rapid Transition to Housing

• Housing First:  Housing First is an approach that guides a set of interventions designed to help homeless people transition more rapidly out of the shelter system; it includes crisis intervention, re-housing as quickly as possible, follow-up case management, and housing support services to prevent the reoccurrence of homelessness. What differentiates a Housing First approach from traditional emergency shelter or housing transitional models is the immediate and primary focus on helping homeless people quickly access and then sustain housing—put simply, housing comes first, then services.

The name of each model program or policy option should be linked to a detailed profile page on the wiki.  The profile pages use a template entitled "Issue Brief Template - Policy Option or Model Program."

Determining the categories which distinguish policy options or model programs from one another is a challenging but critically important feature of the issue brief because they allow the reader to understand the distinctly different approaches for solving problems.  We encourage researchers to interview program directors and policy experts to solicit their suggestions for what the most successful programs or policies are and then insights into how they differ from one another.

Template for the profile of a policy option or model program

Where to search for policy options and model programs

First, you should search through the websites of the key organizations you have been adding to your issue brief.

Second, you should search through some databases of that collect articles, reports, and other profiles of evidence-based practices and policies.  Here are a few to begin your search:

• SolutionsU Database
• Bold Solutions Network
• What Works Clearinghouse
• Clearinghouse for Labor Evaluation and Research 
• Social Programs that Work
• Evidence-Based Program Directories (youth.gov) 

Third, reach out to individuals at the key organizations you have identified to ask for their assistance in identifying proposed policy options and model programs.

Content Guide

• Section 1 — Goal Statement 
• Section 2 — Scope of the Problem
• Section 3 — Past Policy & Program Milestones 
• Section 4 — Current Policy & Programs
• Section 5 — Policy Options or Model Programs
• Section 6 — Key Organizations
• Section 7 — Glossary of Terms