Types of Information Providers

We distinguish three major kinds of settings:

Academic: public policy, public management and public affairs; social work; applied sociology; and applied developmental science/family studies programs.

Private sector: management consulting and survey/evaluation research firms.

Nonprofit and government organizations: research institutes/centers, professional associations, advocacy organizations, policy monitoring/analysis organizations, information dissemination organizations, foundations, local, state and federal government.

Once you establish an account, you can list internships/fellowships, job openings, or volunteer positions. Academic programs can also list policy-relevant degree programs.

Types of Academic Settings

Training for careers in child and family policy occurs in many kinds of academic departments. We aim to comprehensively cover four major kinds of settings:

Schools of public policy, public affairs, and public management: Teach students the substance of domestic and international policy and especially policy analytic, managerial, and planning skills, including microeconomic approaches to problems, methods of evaluation, cost-benefit analysis, and management strategies.

Social work schools:
Combine training in clinical practice and in social policy/administration, focusing particularly on child and social welfare.

Applied developmental science programs
Build upon a solid foundation of developmental science with instruction in applications for families, communities, and policy.
Human development and family studies programs take interdisciplinary approaches to individual development across the lifespan, relationships within family systems, and the interplay between development and family relationships. The two kinds of programs differ historically, with many applied developmental science programs emerging recently from a psychological base while human development and family studies programs extend back to traditional departments of home economics.

Applied sociology
Builds upon a solid foundation of sociological science with instruction in how to address concrete, real-life problems, such as improving the quality of social life, evaluating social programs and analyzing social data.

Posting Academic Units Academic units that don’t fit within any one of these categories but want to post information are encouraged to email the site administrator for assistance. Research centers or institutes that do not offer degree programs will find it easier to list in the nonprofit section.

Once a record is established for your academic program or unit, you may list in three categories— degree programs, internships/fellowships, and job openings.

Examples of degree programs:

• BA in public policy, MPP, MPA, PhD in public policy
• BSW, MSW, DSW, PhD in social work
• Bachelors, Masters or PhD in applied developmental psychology
• Bachelors, Masters or PhD in human development and family studies
• Bachelors, Masters of PhD in applied sociology
• Joint degree programs
  

Examples of internships, fellowships, postdocs:

• The Bridge to Professional Leadership program at the Erikson Institute is designed for human service professionals with excellent interactional skills who may need additional academic preparation to excel in a graduate program.
• Putting Children First: A Summer Fellowship Program in Child and Family Policy is offered by the Center for Children and Families at Teachers College, Columbia University.
• A postdoctoral program at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Law/Psychology Program allows participants to take courses in law and to learn about policy related to mental health and child and family policy.
  

Examples of job openings :

• Faculty positions
• Center directors and staff
• Professional staff openings for research, programmatic, or outreach projects
  
  

Types of Private Settings

Many private sector companies offer valuable experience and exciting careers related to child and family policy. We focus on the following two kinds of settings:

Management Consulting:
Consulting firms are hired by companies, nonprofits, or government entities to help with tasks such as problem assessment, strategic planning, or operational improvements. Examples include:

• DMG-Maximus, providing consulting in areas including health and human services.
• Deloitte Consulting, covering areas including health and human services, K-12 education, and state and local government.
  

Survey and/or Evaluation Research.
The techniques of the social, health, and demographic sciences have been applied in the for-profit sector to market research, applied and proprietary surveys, and evaluations of government programs, among others. Examples include:

• Lou Harris and Associates, Inc, providing research-based services for healthcare, foundations, and public policy.
• Abt Associates, using research-based approaches to help solve social and business problems and guide government policy decisions.
  

Posting Private Companies Private companies that don’t fit within either of these categories but want to post information are encouraged to email the site administrator for assistance.

Once a company record is established, you can list job openings and internship, fellowship, or postdoctoral positions. Site users can also browse through company listings to become aware of potential settings to pursue their careers and may inquire with an appropriate company contact person to gather more information about career trajectories at the company.

Nonprofit and Government Settings

Numerous opportunities to pursue child and family policy careers exist in the nonprofit and government sectors, including the following kinds of settings:

Research institutes and centers
Conduct social science, health, and demographic research, typically through grants and contracts. They may or may not be housed at or affiliated with an academic unit.

Professional associations:
Provide services and benefits to their members (e.g., social scientists, practitioners, government staff or entities).

Advocacy organizations, policy monitoring/analysis organizations, information dissemination organizations:
Numerous nonprofit organizations engage in a variety of activities relevant to child and family policy, ranging from collecting and disseminating information to policy monitoring and analysis to advocacy.

Foundations:
Fund programs and research, often in pursuit of foundation goals related to the welfare of children and families.

Government agencies
Exist at the local, state and federal levels in the three branches of government (legislative, judicial and executive).

Examples of recurring programs include:

• The Scholars in Health Policy Research Program sponsored by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, providing young scholars in economics, political science, and sociology with opportunities to turn their research attentions toward health policy topics.
• The SRCD Congressional and Executive Branch Fellowship programs, designed to provide greater interaction between the developmental research community and the federal government by placing developmental scholars in Congress or federal agency settings.
• The James H. Dunn Memorial Fellowship Program in the Office of the Governor of the State of Illinois, offering college graduates with experiences in the Governor’s executive staff, the Bureau of Budget, the Governor’s Legislative Liaison Office and other agencies under the governor’s jurisdiction.
  

Examples of one time opportunities include:

• An organization seeking an executive officer.
• A research center that needs a research assistant for policy-related work.
• An information dissemination group seeking a volunteer for a large-scale communications campaign.
  

Site users can also browse through organizational records to learn of potential settings in pursuit of their careers and may inquire with an appropriate contact person to gather more information.

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