Some people think of politics as a game. But an online game lets people think of themselves doing one of the hardest jobs in American politics: cutting the federal budget. The game is called Budget Hero. Students in Los Angeles and other cities have been playing it. Budget Hero lets them decide how they want to spend federal tax dollars. The game uses information from the Congressional Budget Office. It shows what effects each cost-cutting proposal would have.
High school student Dory Bennett says she thinks spending cuts are needed to keep the economy growing and keep the American dream alive. The students consider the same issues facing lawmakers in Washington.
The game was developed in 2008. In the newest version, students make decisions about what spending is important to them. A former Democratic representative from California offered students some ideas. Jane Harmon served in Congress for almost twenty years. She now heads the Woodrow Wilson Center for International Scholars, which helped create Budget Hero. More than one million people have played it so far, she says, and she thinks they have learned at least two things. One is how hard it is, but two, that it can be done if there’s a will to do it.
Some students think the hardest thing for them to figure out was the little cuts like the gas money and stuff, increasing taxes on gas, because it would have effects everywhere from the truck drivers shipping our stuff across the country. It’s needed to look at the little things and realize that just because they’re small money doesn’t mean they’re small effects.
Some students will literally in the comments ask that Congress play this game to just get a little rational around the questions that have to be answered.
Ms. Harmon says the students are having more success than Congress at cutting the budget. Kids, and actually adults too who play this game, have open minds. They want to learn what the facts are. And sadly, a lot of Congress is a fact-free universe, and that is tragic for our country, for our country’s reputation, and for our economy and the livelihoods of millions of people who are presently out of work.
What do we know about the game Budget Hero from the first paragraph

A. It abandoned all its original service plans.
B. It damaged the benefits of some sectors.
C. It cancelled its plan to shift services to a social enterprise.
D. It is an effective guardian of public services.

All levels of professional care, from public and private facilities to prisons and the welfare system, are competing for qualified personnel. With shortages everywhere, all areas have a surplus of opportunities. Selix advises job seekers to explore marriage and family counseling, social work, psychiatry or bachelor-level work in counseling and nursing. All are related but very different in scope. Of course, shortages are the greatest in fields where more education is required.
"Mental health work is not the highest paying field, but it’s among the most satisfying," he contends. "People don’t retire; they work late because they enjoy what they are doing—helping another human being to overcome a problem. "
If candidates are willing to work in the public community stage of mental health, there are allowance programs available from colleges and universities.
"I would encourage passionate people to ’ go for it’ because of the amount of job choices available," he declares. "It’s a growing field and the demand for staff is much larger than the current supply. "
Nancy Kincald, spokeswoman for the California Department of Mental Health agrees. "We’re always recruiting qualified people," she reports. "But I don’t think that is exclusive to mental health; all trades including nursing and law enforcement are having difficulties. Seventy-six million baby boomers are marching toward retirement and that is a huge wave of the workforce to replace. "
Generations Apart
It’s been more difficult to recruit into the social services, she adds, because a generation of young people believes the push is toward college and a future that is more financially secure.
"This philosophy is so different from the 1960s," she observes. "Young people were motivated to help others because of President Kennedy and the Peace Corps and other philosophies. But that’s not in the middle of today’s radar screen.
"I think young people today want to carry a briefcase and work for Google. "
However, for those looking for a meaningful career in the mental health field, there is a fast track to a good paying job without years of schooling. The Mental Health Department has been working closely with community colleges to bring people into the system.
Cuesta College, for example, offers a psychiatric technical program where students attend classroom instruction and gain hands-on experience at the Atascadero State hospital.
"We help graduates of the program to get their state license so they can begin working in the hospital," Kincaid explains. " These technicians work as a treatment team alongside nurses and physicians to help with mentally ill patient evaluation and treatment. Students could be hired to work as a state employee in the hospital while they are in the program. "
The best place to investigate careers in the mental health field, she advises, is a career counselor’s office at your local community college. Job shadowing is one of the best ways to learn what a day in the life of a psychiatric technician is really like.
Kincaid sums it up as a very rewarding challenge. "When I speak with staff in the mental hospitals, they tell me the work is not easy because people are in crisis. However, they also tell me the most rewarding part of the job is to be part of a treatment that turns someone’s life around. \