Deinstitutionalization, community-based services. Special mental health issues related to poverty, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation. SWK 611 or consent of instructor. Course Overview This course builds upon the student s foundation in social welfare policy.
Content focuses on the analysis of policies and programs in the mental health arena.
The historical development of mental health services, including the use of institutions, deinstitutionalization, and community-based services will be presented. Differential rates of service utilization and of service impact on the basis of race, ethnicity, gender, and sexual orientation will be examined. Policies with special impact for children and the elderly will be examined, as well as the interaction between policies for mental health and those for public schools, employment, health care, managed care, and housing. Policies of special importance to social work practice, including managed care and confidentiality, will also be covered. Familiarity with the history of treatment, services, and policy for mental health and mental illness, and how and why persons with developmental disabilities have been included within the mental health service system.