This memorandum analyzes intellectually structures the many ways the lack of widespread accessibility to comprehensive sex education in Texas contributes to the negative health outcomes for youth and the policy developments and implementations that can be made to improve overall sexual health outcomes. The previous research reveals that sex education within Texas is influenced by religious beliefs, abstinence-only education, limited emphasis on contraception, and STD prevention. The consequences of these policies negatively affect the youth within these schools. The lack of information leads to higher rates of teen pregnancy, STDs and STIs, and general misinformation that can create dangerous consequences. 

To combat these policies and promote equitable access to proper sexual education, we propose the following policy alternatives:

Alternative 1: The "abstinence-plus" model in sex education offers a viable alternative to abstinence-only education by promoting abstinence as the safest option while providing information on contraception and safe sex practices.

Alternative 2: Educating parents about the importance of sex education is crucial for y attitudes and behaviors in youth.

Alternative 3: The "Make it opt-out" alternative aims to close the access gap in sex education by changing the default option from opting in to opting out.

Alternative 4: The "Making condoms more accessible" alternative focuses on promoting healthy sexual activity by ensuring the affordability and availability of condoms. 

The attached policy memorandum provides a detailed analysis, supporting evidence, and specific recommendations for each alternative. We urge policymakers to review the full memorandum and consider implementing these necessary changes.

Sex trafficking is one of the most violent yet hidden forms of human exploitation. Sex traffickers methodically and aggressively target vulnerable groups– particularly underserved and marginalized individuals. Indigenous women are one of the most overrepresented groups in sex trafficking because of systemic disempowerment that, due to federal policies, restricts the jurisdictional authority of tribal nations and fails to support Native communities. Public Law 280 and Oklahoma v. Castro-Huerta's rulings undermine Indigenous justice systems by privileging state intervention, thus continuing to underserve Native victims. In addition to a lack of support resources, ambiguity regarding territorial jurisdiction has led to alarmingly unreported cases of violence. This memorandum aims to inform legislators and anti-sex trafficking advocates of policy alternatives to empower and mobilize tribal and federal entities in the fight against sex trafficking. 

Following the literature review and case study analysis, our team proposes three policy alternatives:

1. Grant sovereignty and territorial jurisdiction to all tribal nations

2. Establish a Federal & Tribal joint-task force to investigate crimes and facilitate communicative cross-agency collaboration

3. Invest in education that proactively addresses sex-trafficking

Mandatory minimum sentencing requires judges to give a person convicted of a certain crime a minimum number of years for the crime. Current federal mandatory minimum sentencing perpetuates the cycle of overcriminalization and over-incarceration while not providing proper treatment for drug abuse victims. Half of the federal prison population serving a drug sentence (U.S. Government Accountability Office, 2023), but few are admitted to the limited in-prison drug-related treatment options. The federal government should reconsider its approach to drug offenses for more rehabilitative approaches. Lack of access to proper treatment burdens taxpayers and increases the likelihood of recidivism–recommitting a crime. Additionally, federal mandatory minimums are unfairly sentenced, especially for black, brown, and marginalized communities. 

To combat this issue, two alternatives were examined. The first alternative is drug diversion courts. These courts offer restorative alternatives beyond prison time, like addiction treatment programs. The other alternative looks into abolishing mandatory minimums in the federal prison system entirely. This alternative aims to remove this punitive system to lower over-incarceration while diverting incarcerated people to the proper treatment they need. We suggest using both recommended alternatives. Abolishing mandatory minimum sentencing would then proceed with implementing drug-diversion courts. Drug diversion courts will provide the immediate steps after abolishing mandatory minimums and provide a holistic approach to equitable and timely sentencing.

Industrial sites, including fracking facilities, hazardous waste sites, and steelmaking plants, present a significant human health problem to their surrounding communities. These adverse health effects include but are not limited to reduced lung function, asthma, cardiovascular disease, and premature death. Generally, the communities closest to these industrial sites that receive the most adverse health effects are low-income. This is largely due to the fact that the companies and businesses that own these facilities see low-income communities as the easiest to build in because they lack the funding, resources, and political support to reject such facilities, making it easier to place the facilities near these communities. 

California is specifically burdened with this issue, as many of its communities are overburdened with large amounts of pollution. San Joaquin Valley’s residents live with polluted air and water, with limited solutions proposed in recent years. Many residents in areas such as San Joaquin are also people of color, who experience disproportionate exposure to industrial pollution. In the entire state, people of color are nine out of 10 residents who live near oil and gas wells (Woodcraft, 2023). 

While many potential solutions to this issue exist, our group proposes two possibilities: cap and trade and buffer zones. We discuss the proven benefits of cap and trade programs and explain how the program has fallen short in its time-tested history. Further, we discuss the potential benefits of buffer zones, including their introduction in the California legislature in 2023 (Horseman, 2023). We discuss the policy alternatives’ limitations from both a scientific and political lens, and we propose potential monitoring agencies that could help implement a buffer zone program.

This policy memorandum examines how Indigenous teenagers (10-24) in the United States are considerably more susceptible than other demographics to attempt or commit suicide. 

Research shows that there is a high level of disparity in youth suicides in Native American communities compared to all other youths due to a higher rate of poverty, higher risk for substance abuse, and intergenerational trauma. Youth suicide impacts directly the mental health of friends and relatives of the victim and has far-reaching consequences that harm the entire community—the compounding issues of youth suicide result in suicide clusters that have been a consistent problem over time. We also provide evaluation criteria to ensure that the policy alternatives will be effective. The policy memorandum proposes two distinct policy solutions to address the disparity in teenage suicide rates in Native communities: 

Alternative 1: Funding for mental health and addiction treatment should be increased, and there should be more community-based programming available as a preventative and reactionary measure to the spread or clustering of suicidal thoughts.

Alternative 2: Increasing funds for programs that connect Native American adolescents to their communities and culture in order to reduce suicide ideation in general.

The students were put into five groups based on a general topic area of their choosing. The options were education, criminal justice, environmental justice, international policy, and health.

 After they chose their area, they wrote a policy problem statement that identified a policy problem within that area. Several small assignments helped them prepare for their primary assignment, policy memos. They then created the poster based on their policy memos. The memos (and the posters) were to include (1) the policy problem, (2) evidence of the significance of the problem, (3) a set of policy alternatives and criteria for assessment of them, (4) Simple projections of the likely effects and outcomes of the alternatives (5) the team’s recommendations, based on the application of your criteria to outcomes (6) Discussion of limitations and uncertainty associated with your analysis and (7) Suggestions for monitoring outcomes. They also were required to include one table, graph, or other graphic.