1. Deciding What You Can Do: Careers in Family Policy
Chapter 14
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Deciding What You Can Do:
Careers in Family Policy

2. Chapter 14 Outline What You Can Do
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Chapter 14 Outline
What You Can Do
Nine Roles Professionals Can Play in the Policy Arena
Research for Family Policy Formulation
Family Policy Implementation
Family Policy Evaluation
Family Research Integration
Family Research Dissemination
Family Impact Analysis
Teaching of Family Policy
Citizen Engagement in Family Policymaking
University Involvement in Family Policy Scholarship
Summary

3. © Routledge/Taylor & Francis 2014
What You Can Do
There are many broad-ranging roles that professionals can play in a complex, multi-faceted endeavor such as building family policy.
The focus of this chapter is more than simply doing good or performing voluntary community service in off hours.
Policy is oftentimes part and parcel of the work of family professionals who want to make a difference in the world and contribute to the common good.

4. Research for Family Policy Formulation
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Research for Family Policy Formulation
Researchers can help build family policy by conducting studies that help policymakers determine whether social action is needed, either by identifying social problems, refuting contentions that a problem exists, or serving as an early warning signal that sounds an alarm when troubling trends arise.
If families are not fulfilling one of their functions, such as economic support of their members, research can provide causal or correlational evidence on factors that contribute to family poverty and identify which ones can be modified by policy.

5. Research for Family Policy Formulation: Case Studies
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Research for Family Policy Formulation: Case Studies
Case Study: Research That Has Influenced Family Policy
Case Study: Analyzing Data to Provide the Information That Policymakers Need (University of Miami Researchers)
Case Study: Collecting and Analyzing Data on Child and Family Well-Being in the Nation, States, and Municipalities (Kids Count)

6. Family Policy Implementation
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Family Policy Implementation
Passing family-friendly legislation is necessary but not sufficient.
Steps must also be taken to ensure that policies are implemented in ways consistent with the legislation’s intent.
Professionals can make existing research available; educate program administrators and staff on content, skills, and strategies needed; collect data on whether resources are effectively and efficiently reaching their intended outcomes; and so forth.

7. Family Policy Implementation: Case Studies
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Family Policy Implementation: Case Studies
Case Study: Gathering Data to Implement the Family Preservation and Family Support Act (University of Kentucky)
Case Study: Bringing Together High-Ranking State Agency Officials (Welfare Peer Assistance Network)
Case Study: Family Economic Success Project (National Conference of State Legislatures)

8. Family Policy Evaluation
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Family Policy Evaluation
Family evaluation research means assessing whether programs or policies meet their stated outcomes.
Too often evaluations measure outcomes only for individuals but not for families.
Policymakers need to know if family outcomes are achieved, which families are reached, under what conditions, and why and how the program is effective.
Good policy evaluation can help explain why the effectiveness (or ineffectiveness) occurs.

9. Family Policy Evaluation: Case Studies
Case Study: Comparing a Family Intervention to a Nonfamily Intervention (Oregon Social Learning Center’s Treatment Foster Care)
Case Study: Using Results-Based Accountability to Measure State Progress toward Child and Family Goals (State of Oregon’s Benchmarks Initiative)

10. Family Research Integration
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Family Research Integration
Integrating research findings serves two purposes— generating new insights that become apparent only when one looks across studies or disciplines, and distilling information of particular relevance to specific audiences such as policymakers.
Policymakers lack the time to seek out research evidence and the ability to screen it for quality.
It is important to provide concise, comprehensive reviews of research that capsulize the most important findings and draw implications for policy.

11. Family Research Integration: Case Studies
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Family Research Integration: Case Studies
Case Study: Providing High-Quality, Accessible Research Through the Future of Children Journal (Princeton University and the Brookings Institution)
Case Study: Writing Policy Briefs (Society for Research on Child Development)
Case Study: The World Family Map (Child Trends)

12. Family Research Dissemination
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Family Research Dissemination
All too often, so much effort goes into producing high­ quality research integration that too little energy and resources remain for disseminating the product to those who can apply it to policy and practice.
Research dissemination means distributing evidence broadly with the intent of seeing it used in the policy and public arenas.
Policymakers lament the difficulty of making decisions with incomplete, biased, or insufficient information.
Though academics often shun the media, it can be a powerful vehicle for creating widespread awareness.

13. Family Research Dissemination: Case Studies
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Family Research Dissemination: Case Studies
Case Study: Disseminating Research through Press Releases (Society for Research on Child Development)
Case Study: Advocating for Social and Behavioral Science Research (Consortium of Social Science Associations)

14. Family Impact Analysis
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Family Impact Analysis
Family impact analysis is an evidence-based method for critically examining the past, present, or probable future effects of a policy, program, agency, or organization on family stability, family relationships, and family members’ ability to carry out their responsibilities.
Family impact analysis goes beyond evaluation research by examining how the program goals may be counter­ productive by producing negative consequences for families, sometimes in unintended ways.
Because family impact analysis is a technical exercise, it may be most useful and insightful if conducted by professionals who have expertise in family science and training in how to conduct an analysis.

15. Family Impact Analysis: Case Studies
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Family Impact Analysis: Case Studies
Case Study: Conducting Family Impact Analysis of Policies (Coalition of Family Organizations)
Case Study: Family Impact Analysis of Executive Orders or Laws (Federal and State Governments)
Case Study: Using Family Impact Analysis to Foster Family-Friendly Communities (Premier’s Council in Support of Alberta Families)
Case Study: Teaching Family Impact Analysis to the Public (University of Minnesota Children’s Summit)

16. Teaching Family Policy
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Teaching Family Policy
Family policy teaching refers to the instruction of undergraduate and graduate students in colleges and universities.
Family policy, because of its political and value-laden nature, may pose some unique challenges to those who teach it.
It is helpful for students to learn theoretical and conceptual frameworks to think about policymaking in ways that transcend particular issues, advances in scientific knowledge, and shifts in the political climate.

17. Teaching Family Policy: Case Studies
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Teaching Family Policy: Case Studies
Case Study: Teaching College Courses That Provide Hands-On Policy Experience (University of Wyoming’s Child Care Think Tank Course)
Case Study: Web Resources for Teaching College Classes on Family Policy (Family Impact Institute)

18. Citizen Engagement in Policymaking
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Citizen Engagement in Policymaking
Professional efforts to build public policies for families are incomplete without parallel attempts to engage families in public problem solving.
Momentum must not only trickle down from federal or state initiatives, but also bubble up from grass-roots groups.
Expanding the definition of politics to include public problem solving carves out a dramatically different set of professional skills, such as teaching citizens how to develop problem-solving relationships with others (e.g., listen and speak well, engage in public give and take, negotiate, bargain, understand others’ self-interest, etc.).

19. Citizen Engagement in Policymaking: Case Studies
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Citizen Engagement in Policymaking: Case Studies
Case Study: Engaging Citizens on Family Issues (Family Life First in Wayzata, Minnesota)
Case Study: Engaging Citizens in Public Deliberation (National Issues Forums)
Case Study: Developing a National Movement for Families (Belgium’s League of Families―The Bond)

20. University Involvement in Family Policy Scholarship
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University Involvement in Family Policy Scholarship
Universities are uniquely positioned to contribute to the formulation, implementation, and evaluation of family policy.
Universities produce the lion’s share of research, which positions them as the primary repository of new knowledge.
Creating a university infrastructure and providing resources to support outreach could serve to intensify faculty involvement and commitment to addressing the problems of contemporary society.

21. University Involvement in Family Policy Scholarship: Case Studies
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University Involvement in Family Policy Scholarship: Case Studies
Case Study: Building Intra-University and University- Community Collaboration (Office of Child Development, University of Pittsburgh)
Case Study: Building Cross-State Policy Collaborations (Family Impact Institute, University of Wisconsin–Madison/Extension)

22. © Routledge/Taylor & Francis 2014
Summary
These nine roles that professionals can play in the policy arena are designed to illustrate the possibilities for getting involved in building family policy and the value this involvement holds forth for families.
They also illustrate that building family-friendly policies is a complex task that demands professionals with diverse training, skills, and expertise; each of these different approaches and skills should be valued and respected because they are all an important part of the equation.
Whether or not your chosen family science career deliberately intends to shape policy, your career is likely to be shaped by policy.