Mapping

NO QUOTATIONS!!!

NO QUOTATIONS!!!

SEE ATTACHMENTS!!!

SEE ATTACHMENTS!!!

Defining area: this should be at least 5 square miles and should be definable, such as “Boyle Heights” or “Chinle.”  Some of you may identify with a city or county, like “Phoenix, Arizona” and this can be your area. This is going to notably larger than 5 square miles. It just shouldn’t be less than that. 

For those of you in more rural areas, your search may span several towns, cities, or counties. Do what makes sense for your area. It can include multiple jurisdictions. You can also choose a smaller radius that your town or city (as mentioned above, it should be at least 5 square miles).

You can look at your area on Google Earth and define these parameters yourself if you do not wish to do a larger municipality.  Your radius should be within 5 miles of your home; do not identify where you live but it should be in the general 5-mile vicinity. If you are not comfortable doing this, make your area larger. Some people find that they live in a service “cluster” and this infers demand in this area. Do not choose a random area that you are not familiar with.

You will then research population statistics for the area you have identified to determine population density. Find the most current statistics. If you cannot find specific data on this, approximate by researching comparable municipalities.

To calculate the population density, you will divide the population by the size of the area. Thus, Population Density = Number of People/Land Area.

Search for three categories of mental health centers that treat the following. Use these domains as the questions you will ask when you look on the internet, call, and/or visit:

1. Addiction
   • Counseling
     • In-patient
     • Out-patient
   • Detox centers – this is important to find
2. Seriously Mentally Ill (SMI)
   • Counseling
     • In-patient
     • Out-patient
   • Emergency commitment
3. Children and families 
   • Counseling
   • Assessment services (ADHD, ASD, etc.)

Some of your community resources will do all of these things. There is usually overlap with service providers. If you find one that does all of these things, great! But you should look for at least FIVE community-based organizations.

How do I gather this information? You can do an internet search FOLLOWED UP by a call to the organization. Talk to someone. If you have ANY interest in working for one of these organizations one day, I would go to the location and do an informational interview. This can be semi-structured but should include the various domains above and will glean the information listed below.

COVID-19 Adaptations: if you cannot speak to anyone or if there are long, back-logged call back waits, just mention this in the “additional information” section as noted below.  Note your effort. This is what you’re graded on. 

What do I do if no one would talk to me, people were rude or would not disclose basic information, and/or the overall experience of information-gathering was negative? You should definitely indicate this. Make an additional section in your report that’s titled “additional information” and share your experience there. 

How to report your asset map: you must list the following information for your FIVE organizations.

A list and an actual map are different. The “community asset map project” is to research five organizations and list out their services. You are still asset mapping by sharing what they are. The actual map is different and is optional for extra credit. 

You can also include, as the article indicates, a map that has each of your organizations indicated; make the dots the corresponding color to each domain. This is a nice visual tool but it is not mandatory. If you include a visual map, this will be counted as +2-extra credit points.

How to make a Community Asset MAP – Tutorial.pdf

Actions

Information to include

Tips on presenting information about these organizations: this should read like a resource guide you would give a client, a co-worker, or a person in need. It should be well organized, formatted appropriately (you can use creative liberties with this), and professionally written.

• Name of organization
• Exact address
• Website
• Services they provide in as much detail as you can provide (summarize; do not take information directly off the internet verbatim; be sure to cite appropriately – IF you get information from additional sources outside the organizational website or staff. If the information you include is from their website or people who work there, you do not need to cite it). Indicate they area(s) they serve by highlighting them (Addiction – bright orange; SMI – bright green; Children and family services – bright blue). If your computer doesn’t have these colors, just make a key and use colors that are close enough to our “common key” as to not be confusing to your peers. 
• Examples:
  • i.e., Children and family services – they offer counseling for children 5 years of age and older, family therapy, couples therapy, and generalist individual therapy throughout the lifespan. They do not take children under the age of 5. They do not do any assessments on site but they do refer out to select providers.
  • i.e., Addiction – they offer 5 Intensive Outpatient Groups a week (at night) which are segregated by gender. They have two halfway houses for adult males (18+) as a step-down program for incarcerated men mandated into treatment after their release. They also do individual counseling for both adult men and women. 
• Specific therapeutic modalities  – the treatment center may focus on CBT or short-term solution-focused therapy. If they do not specialize, note this.
• Process for clients for admission/enrolling in services, including wait time (some organizations may have no immediate beds or a wait list for individual clients)
• Additional information (if necessary, as noted in the above instructions)
• COVID-19 Adaptations: if you can get information if they are offering telemedicine/remote counseling during this time and information on how this is being administered, this will be +2 extra credit points. Please label it as “telemedicine options.”