Partnership links child/family research and policy

BOWLING GREEN, O. -- A Bowling Green State University faculty member in the School of Family and Consumer Sciences is co-directing a new Ohio initiative that makes scholarly research on children and families more readily accessible to policy-makers whose actions impact families.

Dr. Randall Leite, an assistant professor of human development and family studies, is director of the new Family Impact Seminar Series project.

The project, currently active in 12 other states and the District of Columbia, is an initiative of the Policy Institute for Family Impact Seminars, a University of Wisconsin-based organization that aims to reinforce connections between research and state policy-making. Leite said one purpose of the seminars is to strengthen the partnership between policy-makers and the academic community.

The goal is for the policy-makers to identify topics of primary interest to them, and then for our academicians to provide quality, non-partisan data that will assist the lawmakers in formulating the most effective policies, Leite said. He noted that among topics he expects to be targeted are welfare reform, education (especially standardized testing), divorce custody and child support issues, children's health and nutrition, and the impact of poverty on children's well-being.

According to Leite, initial plans are to sponsor two seminars annually in the Columbus area for legislators and their staff, state agency directors and staff in the governor's office. A Web site and brief written reports will also be offered as part of the project. Eventually, depending on available funding, some local seminars may also be available.

Leite said the seminars will be designed to encourage policy-makers to consider the impact of policies on families, just as they routinely consider economic or environmental impact.

BGSU's School of Family and Consumer Sciences recently redesigned its graduate program in human development and family studies to offer a specialization with a focus on the creation of collaborative partnerships to serve the needs of children and families. The specialization includes coursework in areas ranging from family studies and child/family policy to a course appropriately labeled “Collaborative Partnerships” and classes in research and assessment.

Leite, who co-authored the proposal to include Ohio in the Family Impact Seminars project, joined the BGSU faculty in 2001. He received both master's and doctoral degrees from Ohio State University and has concentrated his research on the role of fathers in the family, divorced family systems and family demography.

(Posted January 7, 2003)