Engaging in Community and Policy Outreach

FACT is bridging the gap between the knowledge base on campus and the critical decisions made by policymakers. Our goal is to inform policy and catalyze action on children, youth, and family issues. Some of our recent efforts include supporting a statewide child care and education effort, educational seminars for policymakers, and a briefing report for legislators on early childhood.

Family Impact Seminars
State policymakers make critical decisions that impact families but often don't have opportunities to learn about the latest research on family issues.

MSU's Institute for Children, Youth and Families, Wayne Sate University, and FACT sponsored two Family Impact Seminars to provide Michigan policymakers with objective, research-based information on current family issues. The topics, selected by a legislative advisory board, were: Child Care and Education, Children and Divorce.

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Ready to Learn Leadership Summit
a dialogue on early childhood with top Michigan leaders from the eight power sectors of business, faith, health, media, education, labor, politics, and philanthropy. Coalition leaders and staff participated in planning, coordinating, and building public awareness for this early childhood education and care initiative.

Early Childhood Report
Senator Beverly Hammerstrom requested information on early childhood issues for the Women in Government Sixth Annual Midwest Regional Conference. A FACT-produced report was distributed at the August 19 Mackinac Island event for these policymakers that summarized recent developmental and brain research, presented indicators of child well-being, and identified areas of improvement. This report was also distributed to participants in the local Ready to Succeed Initiative on early childhood involving key local leaders in government, agencies, foundations, community groups and from MSU.

Download the report

Conference on Nonprofits
FACT helped to sponsor the conference, "Spectator or Participant? Nonprofit Participation in the Political Process," held at Hope College. The conference brought together researchers, practitioners and funders to explore the public sector's engagement in public policy.

Special Olympics
FACT produced an information packet/guide for families participating in the Michigan Special Olympics. The guide included an overview of recent MSU research on children with special needs, a section on inclusive recreation and the transition from school to work, and a guide to Michigan and Internet resources for families with special needs children. This guide is no longer available.

Family Impact Seminars

State policymakers make critical decisions that impact families but often don't have opportunities to learn about the latest research on family issues.

MSU's Institute for Children, Youth and Families, Wayne Sate University, and FACT sponsored two Family Impact Seminars to provide Michigan policymakers with objective, research-based information on current family issues.

The topics, selected by a legislative advisory board, were:

• Child Care and Education

• Children and Divorce

These seminars are new to Michigan and are based on the national Family Impact model which offers nonpartisan, educational forums on family issues identified by legislators themselves.

"There is a real disconnect between campus and what's going on in policy and practice," said Marguerite Barratt, director of MSU's Institute for Children, Youth and Families (ICYF), "So, we were looking to make a connection between the research based knowledge and policymakers."

The seminars brought together legislators, legislative aides, state agency representatives, and educators to hear and interact with nationally renowned experts in each field.

"We were thrilled to get speakers who could speak knowledgeably about their work to lay audiences," said Barratt.

Speakers at the child care and education seminar focused on early childhood intervention, the NICHD Study of Early Child Care, and after-school care. They also shared their expertise with a broader audience at public lectures arranged for later that day.

The experts at the children and divorce seminar explored the consequences of divorce for children, high conflict families and useful interventions, and regulations and approaches that promote marriage.

As part of the Family Impact Seminars, all Michigan legislators, Extension county offices, and other interested individuals received two briefing reports on the seminar topics. The reports offer nonpartisan information and summarize the latest research findings in each area.