This assignment asks you to participate in the first step in policy formulation, the identification of a problem. It requires you to explore how a problem is framed, its prevalence, incidence, identified range of causes, and historical responses. In other words, it requires you to learn more about a problem, who is affected by it, what is causing it, and what has been, and could be, done to address it. The problem analysis framework you need to use for this final paper has four parts with each part two or three pages:

• define a social problem (you pick a problem of interest to you and explain why it's a problem and the various parts of society affected by it);
• present current statistics on the problem you've chosen;
• present the various explanations (theories & related factors) analysts have offered as to why the problem exists; and
• identify one major social policy that has been developed at the federal level to address the problem you're focusing on.

Problem topic examples could be adolescent suicide, opiate deaths in Philadelphia, homelessness in rural areas, HIV/AIDS in Florida. Narrowing the topic down by age, race, sex, ethnicity, & location is important to do.

Include peer review journal articles in your paper and use APA format. Length is 12 pages including reference page, title page, double spaced with 1” margins. Use charts and graphs or figures to present your statistics. For the statistics section, you may also use websites like the Census Bureau, Center for Disease Control, and other government or foundation websites. Be sure to not only cite all information but also reword any quotes. Never cut and paste quotes unless they are extraordinary.