| Course | NU733 Ethics, Policy, and Advocacy for Population Health |
|---|---|
| Unit | Unit 6 |
| Paper type | Policy brief |
| Length | About 550 words, 4 pages double-spaced |
| Format | APA 7 student paper |
| School | Purdue University Global |
| Program | Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) |
| Updated | September 2026 |
Free sample paper for NU733 Unit 6
A Directive She Can Sign Without a Council Vote: A One-Page Policy Brief to Composite Port Hadley's City Manager on Sequencing Camping Enforcement Before Winter
[Student Name]
Purdue University Global
NU733: Ethics, Policy, and Advocacy for Population Health
Unit 6 Policy Brief
[Instructor Name]
[Date]
Port Hadley, its officials and every figure are composite; numbers are bracketed placeholders.
Memo Header
To: [City Manager], City of Port Hadley. From: [Name], DNP, Nurse Practitioner, County Health Care for the Homeless Program. Date: [October 1]. Subject: Sequencing camping enforcement to prevent cold injuries this winter.
Bottom Line
Please sign an administrative directive requiring that no camping citation be issued before outreach and a verified offer of an available shelter bed, and that no clearance occur on nights when the forecast wind chill is below zero. This would keep the city in compliance with the state act while reducing the frostbite admissions and amputations we saw last winter.
Background
Last winter the county hospital admitted [23] people experiencing homelessness with frostbite, and [11] lost fingers or toes. The police issued [214] camping citations in the past six months, most without a documented offer of shelter. The state Public Camping Act requires the city to enforce its prohibition on camping but does not specify how, and the Supreme Court's 2024 decision in City of Grants Pass v. Johnson removed the federal constitutional limit on enforcement, leaving the method to state and local choice (City of Grants Pass v. Johnson, 2024). Research on cold exposure among people experiencing homelessness shows that the risk of hypothermic injury rises steeply as temperatures fall (Zhang et al., 2019).
Options
Status quo, citations and clearances without sequencing. Cost: no change. Legal exposure: low under the state act. Expected injuries: similar to last winter, [20 to 25] frostbite admissions.
Non-enforcement. Cost: none. Legal exposure: high, since the act's private right of action allows residents and businesses to sue. Expected injuries: fewer clearances, but the policy is not legally available.
Sequenced enforcement, the recommended option. Cost: about $[85,000] for storage and extended outreach hours. Legal exposure: low to moderate, since the city enforces actively but in a set order. Expected injuries: fewer, because no one loses shelter materials on the coldest nights and more people are offered beds first.
Designated campsite. Cost: about $[600,000] a year for sanitation, security and services, plus state approval. Legal exposure: low if approved. Expected injuries: fewer, but not available before winter.
Sequenced enforcement is the only option that complies with state law, can start this winter and reduces the injuries we are seeing.
Recommendation
Sign a directive this month that requires, in order, outreach, a verified offer of an available and suitable bed, and only then a citation if the person remains; suspends clearances when the forecast wind chill is below zero; and stores belongings for sixty days. Displacement disrupts medical care and has been projected to increase overdose deaths and serious infections among people who inject drugs (Barocas et al., 2023), so the directive should also give the Health Care for the Homeless program [48] hours' notice of any clearance.
What Success Looks Like
Fewer frostbite admissions than last winter, a documented shelter offer before every citation, and no lawsuits under the act. We will report admissions to your office monthly.
References
Barocas, J. A., Nall, S. K., Axelrath, S., Pladsen, C., Boyer, A., Kral, A. H., Meehan, A. A., Savinkina, A., Peery, D., Bien, M., Agnew-Brune, C., Goldshear, J., Chiang, J., Linas, B. P., Gonsalves, G., Bluthenthal, R. N., & Mosites, E. (2023). Population-level health effects of involuntary displacement of people experiencing unsheltered homelessness who inject drugs in US cities. JAMA, 329(17), 1478-1486. https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.2023.4800
City of Grants Pass v. Johnson, 603 U.S. 520 (2024).
Zhang, P., Wiens, K., Wang, R., Luong, L., Ansara, D., Gower, S., Bassil, K., & Hwang, S. W. (2019). Cold weather conditions and risk of hypothermia among people experiencing homelessness: Implications for prevention strategies. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 16(18), Article 3259. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph16183259
What the NU733 Unit 6 assignment asks for
For Unit 6 you write a short policy brief asking a specific decision maker for a specific action. Most sections expect a memo header, a bottom line with the request and its reason, brief background, options compared on the same criteria, a recommendation and a statement of how success will be measured. One page, sometimes two, is the standard length. Faculty reward a request the reader has authority to grant, background limited to the facts that drive the decision, options scored consistently, and a recommendation that fits legal constraints identified earlier in the course. Keep the language plain, since a decision maker's staff often reads the brief first, and make the measures something the reader's office can actually check.
Inside the NU733 Unit 6 example
The brief opens with a memo header naming the city manager and the writer's role in the county's homeless health program. A two-sentence bottom line gives the request and its purpose. Background supplies three facts, the Grants Pass decision and a study of cold and hypothermia. Four options follow, each scored on cost, legal exposure and expected injuries: the status quo, non-enforcement, sequenced enforcement and a designated campsite. The highlighted sentence explains why only sequencing fits every constraint. The recommendation lists the directive's elements, adds notice to health staff with evidence on the harms of displacement, and a closing section defines success as fewer frostbite admissions, documented offers and no lawsuits.
Where the points sit in the NU733 Unit 6 rubric
Rubrics for policy briefs tend to cover the reader and the request, concision, evidence, options and feasibility. The first row rewards a brief sent to the official with power to approve it. Concision rewards a bottom line that can be read in seconds and background limited to what matters. Evidence is judged on accurate, cited facts. Options analysis is credited when alternatives are compared on the same criteria, including legal exposure. Feasibility scores well when the recommendation can be carried out soon and stays within the law. Clear formatting as a memo, with headings a busy reader can scan, and a measurable definition of success usually earn the remaining points.
NU733 Unit 6 help: mistakes that cost points
A frequent weakness is addressing the brief to someone without authority to act, such as the council when the manager can decide alone. Another is burying the request after a page of background. Some briefs recommend an option the law does not allow, such as non-enforcement under an act with a private right of action. Others list options without comparing them. Many omit cost. And some briefs end without saying how anyone will know whether the change worked. Choose the reader who can say yes, put the request first, compare options on cost, legal risk and harm, and give a measure the reader's staff can track.
Get an NU733 Unit 6 example written to your instructions
Who would receive your Unit 6 brief, and what can that person actually decide? Send the addressee, the issue and whichever earlier papers the brief condenses, with the prompt and rubric. The first custom sample is free, written to those instructions and back in 24-48h, recommendation in the opening lines. The paper above is an original model document written by our desk, not a submitted student paper and not an official Purdue University Global document.
More NU733 papers and DNP samples
- NU733 Unit 1: Issue Analysis, Homelessness Deaths
- NU733 Unit 2: Discussion Post, Costs of a Clearance
- NU733 Unit 3: Ethical Framework Paper, Kass
- NU733 Unit 4: Population Profile, Unsheltered Adults
- NU733 Unit 5: Statute Analysis, Public Camping Act
- NU733 Unit 7: Seminar Reflection
- NU733 Unit 8: Stakeholder Power Map
- NU733 Unit 9: Advocacy Letter
- NU733 Unit 10: Position Paper
- NU713 Unit 6: Disparities Analysis, Heart Failure
- NU703 Unit 6: Writing Seminar Reflection
NU733 Unit 6 questions, answered
How long should the policy brief be?
Usually one page, sometimes two, depending on the prompt. The constraint is the point: a decision maker's staff often reads a brief minutes before a meeting. Put the request and its reason in the first two sentences, limit background to what bears on the choice, and move supporting detail to an attachment rather than lengthening the page.
Must the brief recommend the most ambitious option?
No, and often it should not. A brief persuades when its request is something the reader can grant soon. Recommending a smaller step within the addressee's authority, while showing the larger options honestly in the table, usually reads as more serious than asking for everything. You can note that the smaller step leaves room for more later.
Can the brief be sent to a real official?
Anything sent to an official under your name belongs to you alone and should reflect your own judgment, sources and local facts. A sample shows how a brief is structured and how its request is framed. Use it to understand the form, then write and send your own version if your course or your advocacy calls for it.
Where can I find a free NU733 Unit 6 sample paper?
This page presents the full NU733 Unit 6 policy brief, with a memo header, bottom line, background, four scored options, a recommendation and measures of success, plus three references. A brief to a decision maker in your own community can be drafted.
Why address the NU733 Unit 6 brief to the city manager?
Because she can sign an administrative directive on how enforcement is carried out without a council vote, and the state act leaves that method to local choice. That makes the request something she can grant before winter.