1. Building Family-Focused Policy: The Family Impact Toolkit
Chapter 12
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Building Family-Focused Policy: The Family Impact Toolkit

2. © Routledge/Taylor & Francis 2014
Chapter 12 Outline
Prioritizing the Family Impact Lens in Policy and Practice
Applying the Family Impact Lens
Theoretical Rationale for the Family Impact Lens
Ecological Family Systems; Self-Efficacy; Open Policy Windows
The Five Family Impact Principles
Family Responsibility, Family Stability, Family Relationships, Family Diversity, Family Engagement
Methods for Operationalizing the Family Impact Lens
Family Impact Discussion Starters; Family Impact Checklists; Family Impact Analysis
Selected Tips for Conducting Family Impact Analysis
Resources Available in the Family Impact Toolkit
Summary

3. Prioritizing the Family Impact Lens in Policy and Practice
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Prioritizing the Family Impact Lens in Policy and Practice
It is one thing to endorse the importance of families to a strong society; it is quite another to systematically place families at the center of policy and practice.
What is needed is to shift the rhetoric from appreciating families to prioritizing them as worthy of study, investment, partnership, and political action.
When economic questions arise, economists are routinely consulted for data and research to assess economic impact.
When family questions arise, family scientists should be routinely consulted for family data and research to assess how the proposed action affects family functioning.

4. Applying the Family Impact Lens
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Applying the Family Impact Lens
When policies or programs are under consideration, the family impact lens raises the questions of:
how families are affected by the issue,
in what ways, if any, families contribute to the issue, and
whether involving families in the response would result in more effective and efficient policies and programs.
When policies or programs are being implemented, the family impact lens ensures consideration of:
practices that treat families with dignity and respect,
information sharing so families can make informed decisions,
family choice regarding available services and the extent of participation, and
family involvement in collaborations and decisionmaking.

5. Applying the Family Impact Lens
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Applying the Family Impact Lens

6. Theoretical Rationale for the Family Impact Lens
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Theoretical Rationale for the Family Impact Lens
Ecological family systems theory frames the impetus for the family impact lens.
The theory combines Bronfenbrenner’s concentric nested circles representing multiple influences on human development, and Minuchin’s structural family systems theory describing the role of families in development.
Families are the foremost influence on individual development; policies and programs shape the environment in which families operate, which can strengthen or undermine family functioning.
Organizational processes in families can promote the psychosocial development and protection of family members, and help members adapt to changing cultural, economic, and social contexts.

7. Theoretical Rationale for the Family Impact Lens
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Theoretical Rationale for the Family Impact Lens
Self-efficacy theory provides the rationale and core components for supporting autonomous family functioning.
Policies and practices that build self-efficacy, through relational and participatory practices, promote family responsibility and build capacity to prevent problems in family functioning.

8. Theoretical Rationale for the Family Impact Lens
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Theoretical Rationale for the Family Impact Lens
The open policy windows theoretical framework guides the methodology for the family impact lens.
Different policy actors (e.g., elected officials, their staff, policy analysts, agency officials, and academics) all play unique roles in policymaking, and require distinct methods for applying the family impact lens at different points in the policy process.
Policy windows open when problems are recognized, policy solutions are available, and the political climate supports change.

9. The Five Family Impact Principles
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The Five Family Impact Principles
Family Responsibility
Policy and practice should support and empower the functions of families (family formation, partner relationships, economic support, child rearing, and caregiving) and avoid supplanting the role of families.
Family Stability
Policy and practice should reinforce healthy family commitments and incorporate prevention strategies to avert crises and chronic situations that cause instability.
Family Relationships
Policy and practice should acknowledge that family ties, both positive and negative, are powerful and persistent, and should promote healthy relationship skill building.

10. The Five Family Impact Principles
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The Five Family Impact Principles
Family Diversity
Policies and programs should examine whether there are disparate impacts on families depending on varying characteristics and circumstances (e.g., culture, ethnicity, family structure, geography, life stage, race, religion, SES, special needs); consider what factors contribute to any disparities; and identify how they could be addressed.
Family Engagement
Family-centered approaches, including relational and participatory practices, should be systematically identified, verified, and incorporated into organizational philosophy, culture, and practice.

11. Methods for Operationalizing the Family Impact Lens
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Methods for Operationalizing the Family Impact Lens
The Family Impact Discussion Starters direct policymakers to ask, how will policies, programs, or practices:
support rather than substitute for family members’ responsibilities to one another?
reinforce family members’ commitment to each other and to the stability of the family unit?
recognize the power and persistence of family ties, and promote healthy couple, marital, and parental relationships?
acknowledge and respect the diversity of family life (e.g., different cultural, ethnic, racial, and religious backgrounds; various geographic locations and socioeconomic statuses; families with members who have special needs; and families at different stages of the life cycle)?
engage and work in partnership with families?

12. Methods for Operationalizing the Family Impact Lens
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Methods for Operationalizing the Family Impact Lens
The Family Impact Checklist expands on each of the five family impact principles with a set of 33 detailed questions that can be used to further guide policy, program, and practice decisions. For example:

13. Methods for Operationalizing the Family Impact Lens
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Methods for Operationalizing the Family Impact Lens
Family Impact Analysis (FIA) is a formal, in-depth methodology that uses the checklist to fully examine the extent to which rules, legislation, laws, programs, agencies, or organizations are supportive of families.
Family impact analysis is distinct from evaluation:
Evaluation focuses on whether policy/program goals are met, whereas FIA examines whether the goals or efforts to achieve them have intended or unintended consequences for families.
Conducting family impact analysis generally requires both expertise from family scientists who understand family functioning, and input from policy analysts or program staff who understand the specifics of a policy, program, agency, or organization.

14. Methods for Operationalizing the Family Impact Lens
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Methods for Operationalizing the Family Impact Lens
Family Impact Analysis has four general steps:
Select the policy, program, or organization to assess.
Determine which family types might be affected.
Select the appropriate family impact checklist, identify the relevant principles and questions, and determine the family impacts for each.
Interpret, disseminate, and apply the results.
Different protocols have been developed for:
conducting a family impact analysis of rules, legislation, laws, or programs
conducting a family impact analysis of an agency or organization using a quantitative checklist supplemented with stakeholder discussion.

15. Selected Tips for Conducting Family Impact Analysis
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Selected Tips for Conducting Family Impact Analysis
Some principles will conflict; decisions about which principles or questions to value more highly should be left to decisionmakers.
Family impact analysis is meant to be nonpartisan; the intent is not to establish support or opposition for a policy or program, but to raise several, often competing, considerations that stakeholders may want to factor into their decisions.
The analysis must be a high-quality, rigorous examination that presents both how families are and are not supported; it should provide implications for families, but not recommendations.
Family impact analysis is focused on action. Work to develop next steps for discussing and disseminating the results and for assessing the implementation and impact of any actions taken.

16. Resources Available in the Family Impact Toolkit
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Resources Available in the Family Impact Toolkit

17. © Routledge/Taylor & Francis 2014
Summary
This chapter provides a theoretical rationale and concrete procedures for applying the family impact lens to policies, programs, and practices.
Previous attempts to assess the family impact of policies and programs may have been limited by political, procedural, and philosophical factors.
The broader, more comprehensive concept of the family impact lens, with different methodologies for applying it in different situations, attempts to address some of these limitations.
More research is needed to examine the effectiveness of the family impact lens, and the reliability and validity of the family impact checklists.