I am thrilled and honored to serve as the division president this year. Div. 37 has always been my home within APA. Our division fills an incredibly important role within APA: We are the only child-focused division that focuses explicitly on advocacy for children and families, and our mission fits nicely with APA’s expanding focus on advocacy more generally. As you probably already know, children and families are affected in multiple ways by local, state, and federal policy that impact not only children’s mental health, but their very ability to survive, grow and thrive. Research on the social determinants of health tells us that systemic factors that operate on a broad level have huge effects on the well-being of children and families. Such systems are directly affected by policies, including policies about how resources (paid by our tax dollars) are directed.
My presidential theme this year is “Promoting Resiliency in Low-Income and At-Risk Families.” This theme aligns with our current APA president’s (Rosie Phillips Davis, PhD) theme of addressing deep poverty. Unfortunately, the U.S. population has long consisted of a large portion of families that suffer from poverty and other stressors, related to racism, lack of affordable housing, low wages, poor healthcare access, immigration policy, and the list goes on. As wages have stopped keeping pace with inflation, families have experienced increased difficulty in “making ends meet.” Stressors associated with poverty are many and take a huge toll on the mental and physical health of children and families.
I believe that we should recognize our limited ability to impact children’s mental health without addressing the larger policies and structures that cause such children and their families to face an uphill battle to live and flourish. That’s why our work in the division is so critical. Many of us have felt helpless to assist our clients in the face of stressors such as homelessness, neighborhood violence and lack of transportation. Often, we may lament the fact that there’s nothing we can do. I challenge you to accept the fact that there are things that we can do! We can speak up about policies that harm children and families, and we can get involved in organizations that work to change such policies. I challenge you to become a true advocate for children and families by thinking outside of the traditional role of psychologist. This challenge also corresponds with our former APA president’s (Jessica Henderson Daniel, PhD) focus on citizen psychologists. Children and families need all the advocates that they can get, and psychologists are in a good position to be their voice. Consider this a call to action!
I also challenge you to become more involved in the division. This is one good way to stay in touch with other psychologists who understand the critical need to advocate for children and families. Each year there are opportunities to run for office. For students and Early Career Psychologists (ECP), there are opportunities to apply for awards and to be active on our Student Board or ECP Committee. We are a wonderful community of passionate and accomplished individuals, and we welcome the input and involvement of our members.
Some of the important activities that the division has spearheaded recently include the development of InfoAboutKids.orgopens in new window, a website clearinghouse that contains links to evidence-based information about children and adolescents, and development of a task force report on corporal punishment of children. Please keep an eye out for announcements on our listerv to get involved. (Please see the Div. 37’s website for instructions on how to join the listserv.) We will be sending out more posts on our listserv about happenings within the division. We also have made a commitment to be more active on social media, so please keep an eye out for posts on our Facebook pageopens in new window. In conclusion, as your Div. 37 president, I hope to do my best to serve the interests of Div. 37 and children and families. I hope you will join me in this endeavor!