Practical guidelines for educating policymakers: The Family Impact Seminar as an approach to advancing the interests of children and families in the policy arena

Brian L. Wilcox, P. Victoria Weisz, Monica K. Miller

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

19 Scopus citations

Abstract

Psychologists are well positioned to contribute to policymaking on issues affecting the well-being of children, youth, and families. A good deal of psychological research is relevant to policy issues such as child mental health services, child care, adoption and foster care, and children 's media. In this article we offer an alternative to direct policy advocacy as a means for psychologists' involvement in the policy arena. Policy education, a nonpartisan and nonadversarial approach to working with policymakers, is described and differentiated from child advocacy. We then present an example of 1 approach to policy education, the Family Impact Seminar. The article closes with a discussion of lessons we have learned regarding effectively communicating research to policymakers.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)638-645
Number of pages8
JournalJournal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology
Volume34
Issue number4
DOIs
StatePublished - 2005

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Developmental and Educational Psychology
  • Clinical Psychology

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