Drawing on hundreds of studies in the last 20 years, the new edition of Family Policy Matters brings a fresh perspective to family policy, underscoring why it is needed, and outlining how policymaking should be approached. Author Karen Bogenschneider proposes a theoretical framework for conceptualizing policy issues in a way that holds the potential for overcoming controversy and identifying common ground. This new edition includes updates on the most current research, including: *new issues that have changed the political landscape for families (e.g. strengthening marriage initiative, same-sex marriage); *an updated section on state statutes or Governor's orders that require family impact analysis; *a new chapter on the history of family policy in this century; *a new appendix on how to conduct a family impact analysis; and *two new case studies on writing family policy newsletters for state policymakers and teaching family impact analysis to the general public. *Instructor's Manual with sample syllabi for both undergraduate and graduate courses, suggested readings, assignments, and class activities, discussion questions, daily lesson plans, instructor insights, special presentations to enrich one's class, and PowerPoint slides. The targeted audience includes researchers interested in seeing their research and ideas acted upon in the policy world; family professionals who work to connect research and policymaking; and instructors interested in making family policy come alive for undergraduate and graduate students. This book is an ideal textbook for family policy courses.

Set in Bombay in the mid-1990s, Family Matters tells a story of familial love and obligation, of personal and political corruption, of the demands of tradition and the possibilities for compassion. Nariman Vakeel, the patriarch of a small discordant family, is beset by Parkinson’s and haunted by memories of his past. He lives with his two middle-aged stepchildren, Coomy, bitter and domineering, and her brother, Jal, mild-mannered and acquiescent. But the burden of the illness worsens the already strained family relationships. Soon, their sweet-tempered half-sister, Roxana, is forced to assume sole responsibility for her bedridden father. And Roxana’s husband, besieged by financial worries, devises a scheme of deception involving his eccentric employer at a sporting goods store, setting in motion a series of events that leads to the narrative’s moving outcome. Family Matters has all the richness, the gentle humour, and the narrative sweep that have earned Mistry the highest of accolades around the world.

Decades of research have demonstrated that the parent-child dyad and the environment of the familyâ€"which includes all primary caregiversâ€"are at the foundation of children's well- being and healthy development. From birth, children are learning and rely on parents and the other caregivers in their lives to protect and care for them. The impact of parents may never be greater than during the earliest years of life, when a child's brain is rapidly developing and when nearly all of her or his experiences are created and shaped by parents and the family environment. Parents help children build and refine their knowledge and skills, charting a trajectory for their health and well-being during childhood and beyond. The experience of parenting also impacts parents themselves. For instance, parenting can enrich and give focus to parents' lives; generate stress or calm; and create any number of emotions, including feelings of happiness, sadness, fulfillment, and anger. Parenting of young children today takes place in the context of significant ongoing developments. These include: a rapidly growing body of science on early childhood, increases in funding for programs and services for families, changing demographics of the U.S. population, and greater diversity of family structure. Additionally, parenting is increasingly being shaped by technology and increased access to information about parenting. Parenting Matters identifies parenting knowledge, attitudes, and practices associated with positive developmental outcomes in children ages 0-8; universal/preventive and targeted strategies used in a variety of settings that have been effective with parents of young children and that support the identified knowledge, attitudes, and practices; and barriers to and facilitators for parents' use of practices that lead to healthy child outcomes as well as their participation in effective programs and services. This report makes recommendations directed at an array of stakeholders, for promoting the wide-scale adoption of effective programs and services for parents and on areas that warrant further research to inform policy and practice. It is meant to serve as a roadmap for the future of parenting policy, research, and practice in the United States.

This book examines ways to enhance evidence-based policymaking, striking a balance between theory and practice. The attention to theory builds a greater understanding of why miscommunication and mistrust occur. Until we better appreciate the forces that divide researchers and policymakers, we cannot effectively construct strategies for bringing them together.

This best-selling text integrates the latest research and cutting-edge practice to make an evidence-based case for family policy. It uses examples from around the globe to explain how families support society and how policies support families. The book also moves beyond analysis to action with pragmatic processes and procedures for improving the effectiveness and efficiency of policies by viewing them through the lens of family impact. Highlights of the new edition include: Extensive revisions with many new references and policies that reflect recent changes in the economy, politics, and family forms and familes. Many new learning tools including guiding questions, more tables and figures, chapter glossaries, discussion questions, and chapter summaries. Enhanced global perspective with a new chapter (5) that features what policies nations have put in place to strengthen and support families. A new chapter (8) that views how family considerations can improve the effectiveness of policy decisions on issues such as early childhood care and education, health care, juvenile crime, long-term care, parent education, and welfare reform. A new chapter (11) on what the policy process and policymakers are really like including how a bill becomes a law. A new chapter (12) that provides a theoretical and empirical rationale for viewing issues through the family impact lens and what innovative tools and procedures exist for analyzing the family impact of organizations, policies, programs, and practices. Several chapters that review what professionals can do in the policy arena and how they can foster compromise and common ground. Updated web-based teaching materials including sample syllabi, classroom activities and assignments, daily lesson plans, test questions, instructor insights, video links, web resources, and more. Part 1 highlights what family policy is and why it’s important and how family life in the U.S. differs from other countries. Part 2 examines the contributions family considerations can bring to issues such as early childhood education, health care, juvenile crime, long-term care, and welfare reform. Part 3 explains why polarization has stymied progress in family policymaking and guidelines for fostering compromise. Insights are drawn from the history of family policy over the last century. Part 4 provides strategies for getting involved in family policymaking. It reviews: the processes policymaking institutions use to enact legislation; new techniques for assessing the family impact of policies and programs; strategies for building better public policies; and various professional roles and careers for building family policy. The book concludes with a summary of how and where we go from here. Intended for advanced undergraduate and/or graduate courses in family or social policy taught in human development and family studies, psychology, counseling, social work, sociology, public policy, home economics, consumer science, and education, researchers and practitioners alike appreciate this book’s integration of theory, research, and practice.

This new edition captures the evolving, post-pandemic landscape of family policy--the transformational changes that have occurred within contemporary families and the social, economic, and racial/ethnic disparities that have grown across families.

From one of the world's leading experts, this absorbing narrative history of the changing structure of modern families shows how children can flourish in any kind of loving home. The past few decades have seen extraordinary change in the idea of a family. The unit once understood to include two straight parents and their biological children has expanded vastly—same-sex marriage, adoption, IVF, sperm donation, and other forces have enabled new forms to take shape. This has resulted in enormous upheaval and controversy, but as Susan Golombok shows in this compelling and important book, it has also meant the health and happiness of parents and children alike. Golombok's stories, drawn from decades of research, are compelling and dramatic: family secrets kept for years and then inadvertently revealed; children reunited with their biological parents or half siblings they never knew existed; and painful legal battles to determine who is worthy of parenting their own children. Golombok explores the novel moral questions that changing families create, and ultimately makes a powerful argument that the bond between family members, rather than any biological or cultural factor, is what ensures a safe and happy future. We Are Family is unique, authoritative, and deeply humane. It makes an important case for all families—old, new, and yet unimagined.