On December 14, 2012, a mentally ill 20-year-old named Adam Lanza walked into an elementary school in Connecticut and shot and killed 20 children and six adults. This was the catalyst for a national debate on the topics of mass shootings, media violence and especially gun control. At the direction of the House leadership, Congress's only psychologist began studying comprehensive reform of the United States mental health system. A year later, Dr. Tim Murphy, Representative of Pennsylvania's 18th district, introduced H.R. 3717, The Helping Families in Mental Health Crisis Act. The intent of the bill is to address the lack of treatment options in local level, the absence of science in funding decisions and to radically restructure the governance of our national mental health treatment system. The following discussion describes the context of the bill and uses the special interest groups that spoke in support or opposition of the legislation to exemplify group theory. 3171 addresses many issues regarding the mental health system in the United States. One of the biggest changes is that it would require fundamental changes to the current Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. This new directive requires the agency to review mental health policy, conduct research, and disseminate best practices in mental health treatment according to scientific research. (United States Congress, 2013)Rep. Murphy described that one of the problems with mental health treatment is the lack of good community-based outpatient programs. His legislation would establish a pilot program to award and evaluate grants for certified ambulatory community organs...... middle of document ......ew/302223993?accountid=4485Kraft, M.E., & Furlong, SR (2013) . Public Policy: Politics, Analysis, and Alternatives (4th ed.). Washington DC, CQ Press.Murphy, T. (2013). CNN Transcripts. Retrieved June 26, 2014, from http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/1312/12/cnr.06.htmlStrassel, K. (2014). Nancy Pelosi's partisan game on mental health. Wall Street Journal. Retrieved June 26, 2014, from http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702304431104579550193862909578Susman, T. (2014) Letter to the Subcommittee on Health. American Bar Association Office of Governmental Affairs. Retrieved June 25, 2014, from http://www.americanbar.org/content/dam/aba/uncategorized/GAO/2014mar31_hr3717_l.authcheckdam.pdfU.S. Congress. (2013). HR3717. Retrieved June 26, 2014, from https://beta.congress.gov/bill/113th-congress/house-bill/3717?q=%7B%22search%22%3A%5B%22HR3717%22%5D%7D