Transcript Families are a Cornerstone - University of Wisconsin

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The Public Value of Families:
Evidence for the Value of Families to Society
Karen Bogenschneider, Prof. & Extension Specialist, UW-Madison/Extension
and
Lori Zierl, Chris Kniep, Mary Huser, Barbara Haynes, Fabiola Diaz, Kristen Bruder,
and Sue Allen, UW Cooperative Extension, Family Living Programs
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Today’s discussion asks:
1)
What contributions do families make to
their members and to society?
2)
Do decision makers focus more on
individuals or families?
3)
What qualities does the lens of family
impacts bring to policy and program
decisions?
4)
How can Family Living Programs focus on
families and encourage others to do so?
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Question #1:
What contributions do
families make to their
members and to society?
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What contributions do families make
to their members and to society?
1) Families are a fundamental foundation
for producing competent workers.
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Families are an Economic Engine
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Family Living Programs contribute
to a competent workforce by
teaching Raising A Thinking Child
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Parents who participate in the program learn
knowledge and skills to guide their children to
think about consequences of their actions.
o
The 4- to 7-year-old children of participating
parents are better able to think of ways to solve a
problem, anticipate consequences of their
actions, and cope with frustrations when they
don’t get their own way.
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What contributions do families make
to their members and to society?
1) Families are a fundamental foundation
for producing competent workers.
2) Families contribute to the raising of
caring, responsible members of society.
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1st
Generation
2nd
Generation
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How can policies and programs
promote positive parenting?
o
Parents in the group that focused more on
parenting issues interacted more effectively with
their children one year later.
o
Parents in the group that focused more on couple
issues had better parent-child and couple
relationships up to 10 years later.
o
Children had greater school success and fewer
behavior problems.
o
Parents had less depression, marital conflict,
and parenting stress.
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Family Living Programs on
Parent Responsiveness & Availability
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What contributions do families make
to their members and to society?
1) Families are a fundamental foundation for
producing competent workers.
2) Families contribute to the raising of caring,
responsible members of society.
3) Families are an efficient public investment
to achieve societal goals.
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The Economic Value of Long-Term Care
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The Value of Long-Term Care in 2009
Family Caregiving - $450 billion
Congress & Legislatures - $361 billion
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Family Living Programs Encourage
Efficient Investments in Families
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Extension has collaborated with 16 Wisconsin
employers in an action research project to assess
how caregiving impacts work performance.
o
To date, 1,000 employees who are family caregivers
have responded to an online survey.
o
The surveys provide data on the extent of caregiving
that is occurring and its impact on work performance.
o
The data could foster workplace policies and services
to support family caregiving and, in so doing, improve
employee performance and loyalty to the employer.
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What contributions do families make
to their members and to society?
1) Families are a fundamental foundation for
producing competent workers.
2) Families contribute to the raising of caring,
responsible citizens.
3) Families are an efficient public investment to
achieve societal goals.
4) Families are an effective means of promoting
positive child and youth development.
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Which is More Effective for Preventing Youth Substance Use:
Youth-Only or Family-Focused Approaches?
Youth-Only Programs
School-based affective
Knowledge plus affective
-0.05
0.05
Life or social skills training
─ Average size of effect
0.28
0.1
Family-Focused Programs
Parent skills training
0.31
Family skills training
0.82
In-home family support
1.62
─ Average size of effect
-0.05
0.96
0.45
0.95
1.45
Note. Data obtained from “Family-based interventions for substance abuse prevention,” by K. L. Kumpfer, R. Alvarado, & H. O. Whiteside, 2003, Substance
Use and Misuse, 38, 1759-1789. Copyright 2003 by Informa Healthcare.
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Family Living Programs provide statewide
leadership for the Strengthening Families
Program 10 to 14
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Family Living and Youth Development Educators teach
this family skill-building program for families with youth
ages 10 to 14.
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Youth participants were less likely to use alcohol and
other drugs, were less aggressive, had fewer conduct
problems, and were more able to resist peer pressure.
o
Parent participants were more affectionate and set more
appropriate limits.
o
For every $1 invested, nearly $10 is saved in future costs.
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What contributions do families make
to their members and to society?
1) Families are a fundamental foundation for
producing competent workers.
2) Families contribute to the raising of caring,
responsible citizens.
3) Families are an efficient public investment to
achieve societal goals.
4) Families are an effective means of promoting
positive child and youth development.
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Question #2:
Do decision makers
focus more on individuals
or families?
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Family rhetoric is popular with
policymakers and professionals
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In a 10-year period, except for two weeks,
family-oriented words appeared every single
week Congress was in session.
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Professionals who educate, administer, or
deliver services to families endorse the
effectiveness of family-focused approaches
for achieving program goals.
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Does family rhetoric
translate into
policy, program, & practice
decisions?
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Examples of the disconnect between
family rhetoric and reality
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Meager maternity leave policy in the
United States compared to other
industrialized nations
Of 181 countries, 4 Do Not Offer Paid Leave
USA
Papua New Guinea
Swaziland
Lesotho
Note. Data obtained from Maternity leave benefits (Table 5g), United Nations Statistics Division, 2012, Retrieved from
http://unstats.un.org/unsd/demographic/products/indwm/. Copyright 2012 by United Nations Statistics Division.
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Examples of the disconnect between
family rhetoric and reality
o
Meager maternity leave policy in the
United States compared to other
industrialized nations
o
The lack of training on how to involve
parents in the education of their children
o
Limited family involvement in early
childhood education and training
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The dilemma:
We face a feast of family rhetoric, but a famine
of attention paid to applying the lens of family
impacts.
o Few organizations,
o little leadership, and
o limited resources
are dedicated to assessing how policies,
programs, and practices affect and are
affected by families.
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Question #3:
What qualities does the
family impact lens bring to
policy and program
decisions?
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What does the family impact lens
bring to policy decisions?
o
o
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Embodies an essential quality too seldom
found in policies and programs—
commitment to others
Moves away from tunnel vision that is
individualistic, narrow, and self-serving
Moves toward a wide-angle view—a
comprehensive, long-term focus on
strengthening families from the cradle to the
grave
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Question #4:
How can Family Living
Programs focus on families
and encourage others
to do so?
Questions for Family Living
Programs to ponder
Who do we target in our programs,
individuals or families?
o What steps can we take to incorporate
or strengthen a family focus in our
programming?
o How can we encourage other
organizations to incorporate a family
focus into their programs and services?
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FLP’s success in encouraging other
organizations to incorporate a family
focus in programs and services
Incorporating a family focus into the
schooling of children in Wisconsin
middle schools
o Infusing a family focus in early child
care and education programs
o
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Families are a
Cornerstone
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Join us in one of two Breakout
Sessions—Digging Deeper
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Hear from your colleagues what worked,
what didn’t
Get a copy of the Power Point & notes
Receive resources (e.g., definitions of family
and the family impact lens, examples of
individualistic approaches, references)
Hear about the principles of “messaging”
Practice an “elevator” speech about why
the work we do in Family Living Programs
has public value.