Examines obstacles to research utilization in social policy development. Describes efforts of the Foundation for Child Development to link research and policy in such activities as supporting research for policy and practice, creating new services for children, child advocacy, and encouraging private and public sector collaboration in child…

Changes in the structure and needs of the American family are requiring changes in government and workplace policies. Discusses current policies related to day care, parental leave, work schedules, income support, and child support enforcement. Psychological research is needed to develop effective family policies. (Author/BJV)

Provides a brief history of Federal agency involvement in programs for children and their families, examines factors that affect the development of Federal social policy, and suggests future trends. Includes a brief summary of the existing 93 programs operated by various agencies of the Federal government. (Author/BJV)

Psychological maltreatment may be too imprecise a concept on which to base involuntary intervention in families. Before intervening on these grounds alone, the state should find an actual or reasonably foreseeable injury which, if untreated, will create protracted difficulties for the child. (Author/LHW)

Analyzes the current relationship of academic science and the federal government, from the perspective of federal science policy. Observes trends toward clarification of the roles of the various sectors and institutions involved in science, strengthening of these sectors, and strengthening of the linkages that bind them. (Author/KH)

In the context of civil rights, discusses laws to reduce discrimination and provide access for handicapped. Notes opposition from the Reagan administration to currently proposed legislation. (CMG)

A description of the rationale for responding to welfare reform is followed by an overview of orphanages and child and youth care workers. A therapeutic parent model of reform is presented, and welfare reform proposals are evaluated in the model's context. (SLD)

Findings by C. Ripple and colleagues justify a continued role for the federal Head Start program, but only if Head Start invests seriously and consistently in high-quality programs and ends the present fragmentation of services. Calls for effective technical assistance to programs and active collaboration with other agencies. (SLD)

Discusses the federal government's failure to alter substantially the problems facing the nation's youth. Since the family is best able to make decisions regarding children's well-being, the federal government's role is to strengthen rather than supplant the family's influence and authority. (Author/LHW)

Examines ways in which behavioral and social science can contribute to the stability of the modern partnership between government, academia, and science. Stresses the role researchers can play in the legislative process. Summarizes related articles in the same journal issue. (KH)

The director of the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) describes that agency's history, its focus, research and training programs undertaken in the 1970s, and current controversy over the role of NIMH and the federal government in mental health manpower development. (GC)

Reviews issues that emerged in testimony before a House Subcommittee regarding the deteriorating quality of science and mathematics education. Focuses on (1) salary differentials that serve to entice teachers into jobs in business and industry and (2) lack of public understanding as to the importance of vital scientific technology. (GC)

Although the U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child has been criticized as antifamily because of its emphasis on family function rather than form, careful reading shows that it is not only supportive of strong families but offers a creative and conceptually coherent foundation for government action to promote and protect family life. (SLD)

Describes what is involved in the Congressional policy-making process, and describes the Capitol Hill community. Discusses the human element that is inherent in understanding and representing constituencies and in attempting to translate the constituents' concerns into policy. Considers what role psychologists might play in this policy-making…

In light of social science research that indicates substantial psychological benefits for children with disabilities who can remain with their families, and in the context of the U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child, it is argued that the Federal government should maintain programs that make staying at home possible. (SLD)