In this book, the authors argue that a public health framework rooted in ecological theory and based on principles of risk, protection, and resilience is a useful conceptual model for the design of social policy across the substantive areas of child welfare, education, mental health, health, developmental disabilities, substance use, and juvenile justice. Recommendations for ways to advance a public health framework in policy design, implementation, and evaluation are offered.

Explores the latest research on the impact of government policy - or lack of policy - on family life in various developed and developing nations around the world.

Since the 1970s policy-makers and advocates for mothers, fathers, and children have attempted to remedy some of the inherent problems of divorce through public policy. This legislation has taken the form of mandated mediation, legal presumptions for particular custodial arrangements, child support orders, divorce education programs for parents, and parenting plans. Despite this movement, however, there has never been a comprehensive assessment of such policies or their effectiveness. This book provides that evaluation.

Social Policy for Child and Family Development: A Systems/Dialectical Perspective is designed to help students think critically and dialectically about social policies that affect children and families. Based on the belief that no single policymaking position has all the answers, the book offers a model that reduces the tendency to present only one viewpoint. As they move through the text, readers use this model to evaluate the effectiveness of specific policies. The book addresses issues such as alcohol, nicotine, and drug use during pregnancy, social policy and poverty, education, family development, and technology. The material also discusses child abuse and neglect, social media and ethnicity, and the future of social policy on child and family development. Each chapter includes learning objectives, key terms, study questions, a debate activity, additional reading resources, and a list of references. Social Policy for Child and Family Development is well suited to courses in child and family studies or consumer sciences. Thomas W. Roberts is a professor in the Department of Child and Family Development at San Diego State University. He teaches courses in family studies and public policy. His research interests include attachment in long-term marriages, parenting, applying neuroscience to marital therapy, and the role of religion and ethical values on family development. He has numerous publications and is the author of the book A Systems Perspective of Parenting: the Child, the Family and the Social Network. He is the founder and President of Improving Developmental Experiences Across the Lifespan (IDEALS), a 501(c)3 non-profit. Dr. Roberts received his Ph.D. from the University of Georgia in 1984.

Family Policy and the American Safety Net shows how families adapt to economic and demographic change. Government programs provide a safety net against the new risks of modern life. Family policy includes any public program that helps families perform their four universal obligations of caregiving, income provision, shelter, and transmission of citizenship. In America, this means that child care, health care, Social Security, unemployment insurance, housing, the quality of neighborhood schools, and anti-discrimination and immigration measures are all key elements of a de facto family policy. Yet many students and citizens are unaware of the history and importance of these programs. This book argues that family policy is as important as economic and defense policy to the future of the nation, a message that is relevant to students in the social sciences, social policy, and social work as well as to the public at large. .

Conversational and applied, Social Policy for Children and Families is an award-winning collection of cutting-edge research from from across policy sectors in the human services.

The Handbook of Family Policy examines how state and workplace policies support parents and their children in developing, earning and caring. With original contributions from 44 leading scholars, this Handbook provides readers with up-to-date knowledge on family policies and family policy research, taking stock of current literature as well as providing analyses of present-day policies, and where they should head in the future.