This thesis aimed to create a curriculum for college students to increase their health insurance literacy and to evaluate the impact of the curriculum on participants' confidence. The curriculum for college students consisted of pre-recorded presentation slides covering six health insurance topics, pre- and post-tests, and evaluation questions. Canvas was used to house the curriculum. At the time of evaluation, a total of 12 participants had completed all aspects of the curriculum. The curriculum was evaluated through questions provided at the end of each module. It was found that participants felt the curriculum to be clear and helpful. Moreover, participants reported an increase in confidence, decreased confusion, and were interested in learning more about health insurance such as enrollment. Both the creation of a curriculum and the impact on participants' confidence was successful. At a later point in time, an analysis of the pre- and post-tests will be assessed to determine if the curriculum was effective at increasing health insurance literacy.

Mental health in the profession of policing is a topic that needs more attention. Many departments have readily available mental health resources however, they are only mandated for officers to use after an incident such as a shooting or suicide has occurred. Shift work, and police culture coupled with the traumatic events that take place on the job negatively impact the mental health of officers and more support is needed for officers to overcome their mental struggles. Through snowball sample interviews of officers and those who work with officers in a mental health capacity, this thesis found that it is evident that most police departments should be more proactive instead of reactive with their mental health support. Police officials should take mental health as seriously as physical health.

The Latinx community is growing at an alarming rate in the country. First-generation Latinx Students are uninformed about navigating the educational system, which can place them at a higher risk of dropping out of college. The present work explores the relationship between high school guidance counselors and Latinx first-generation students by producing a podcast that features seven interviews with Barrett The Honors College's first-generation Latinx students. Student participants answered questions about their families, high school experience, and college transition. The student responses were shared with two high school counselors, who reflected on the student participants' answers and shared their perspectives on working with Latinx first-generation students. The findings suggest that the student-to-counselor ratio affects the role of counselors in assisting students, along with the determination of Barrett Honors Latinx First Generation students to push through obstacles to receive higher education.

This thesis first examines the history and contemporary landscape of school mental health, offering evidence for schools as an essential component of the child and adolescent system of care. It then provides contemporary discussion around the importance of design in public administration, as well as analyzes the current design model of school-based mental health services, including key actors, normative assumptions, and underlying conceptual models to demonstrate the outdated presumptions that have led to a model that is not designed to adapt to the unique needs of students, especially after the COVID-19 pandemic. Building on contemporary theory of design in public administration, I argue that the largely fragmented, decentralized, bureaucratic, complex, and underdeveloped design of school-based mental health services mainly developed in the 1970s and 1980s has reached its limits and cannot adapt to new societal variables. Lastly, I discuss said limitations of this model to argue for a conceptual and practical re-design of the current system of school-based mental health systems in the United States.