Legislative Analysis of Family Engagement in California Organizations

Purpose

State policy decisions about children’s health and well-being are made far too often without drawing on the experience and expertise of parents, caregivers, and youth themselves. This project is a continuation of a past Foundation grant to Children Now under which the California Research Bureau collected data on family engagement policies within state agencies serving children. The goal of this grant is to produce an official, government-sanctioned baseline report on all opportunities for families to engage in state policymaking conversations. Advocacy organizations will be encouraged to use the report to urge policymakers to create additional family engagement roles, and to recruit partners to press for these opportunities.