As a developmental psychologist, parent, and citizen I am frustrated by the number of legal and policy decisions with tremendous impact on children and families that fail to reflect scientific evidence. Because of this, my presidency has been focused on a call to action in an effort to increase our collective ability to use psychological evidence for the public good. Our division continues hosting virtual “Coffee & A Call to Action” talks. Save the Date for September 8, 2023, when Paula Fite, PhD and Yo Jackson, PhD, ABPP, will speak about how to apply research to advocacy. Marilyn Sampilo, PhD, MPH, will give a talk in November on advocacy to address health disparities. Stay tuned for announcements on the listserv and social media for our future coffee talks!
As part of our campaign to encourage our members to share the ways in which you are engaged in advocacy, we have also launched a kudoboard. Please continue to use the kudoboardopens in new window to post examples of ways that you have engaged in advocacy in recent years. It can be at the federal, state, or local level, within government or with other agencies or community partners. We look forward to engaging with our members and hearing what you all have been up to! We hope to inspire each other through these posts, and we will organize this information into tip sheets to share on our website.
The call to action culminates in advocacy training that will take place the Wednesday before the APA Convention on August 2. This workshop will especially focus on skills to use with local lawmakers and on social media. I will update the membership on this workshop in my post-convention article.
A special thanks to our APA Program Chair, Evan McCracken, PhD, who has done a tremendous job with programming. My Presidential Symposium will feature Bruce Lesley, President of First Focus on Children Thursday, August 3, 1:00pm-1:50pm at the Washington Convention Center, Level 2, Room 204C. Mr. Lesley has over 30 years of public policy experience at all levels of government and a demonstrated commitment to improving the lives and well-being of children. This session will discuss current policy and legislation related to children and families and will address how to add advocacy to the work we do so that we can lift up the voices of the children and families we serve and study.
I hope many of you can join us for updates at our Division Business Meeting on Saturday, August 5 from 11-11:50 a.m. at Convention Level 1, East Salon F, immediately followed in the same room by our esteemed award winners speaking about how their work has made a difference to children and families on Saturday, August 5 from 12-12:50 p.m. We are honored to have Nicholas Hobbs Award winner, Mary Ann McCabe, PhD, ABPP, and Distinguished Contribution to Child Advocacy Award winner, Stacey Patton, PhD, present about their phenomenal work advocating for children.
Please review our other outstanding programming (see the brochure in this issue for details and additional CE opportunities), like our highly regarded, CE-eligible Walk-A-Mile program (this year focused on how youth and families seek trauma informed care) on Thursday from 3-3:50 p.m. in Convention Level 1, Room 144A. Please also visit our division poster session in the convention center on Friday, August 4 from 11-11:50 a.m., from which we will select three poster-award winners for the division. Section President Maggie Stevenson, PhD, invited APA President Thema Bryant, PhD, to speak Saturday, 9:00am-9:50am at Washington Convention Center Level 2, Room 207A.
We hope to catch up with you all at our various social events! Division 37 is once again partnering with APA’s Committee on Children, Youth, and Families to host a catered Mega-Social Hour for professionals committed to the welfare of children, youth, and families, including: Division 7 (Developmental Psychology), Division 16 (School Psychology), Division 43 (Society for Couple and Family Psychology), and Division 54 (Society of Pediatric Psychology). This will be a great opportunity to network and recognize our annual awardees. Please join us starting from 6 p.m. on Thursday, August 3 in the Marriott Marquis, Level 2, Marquis Salon 3. Please see the detailed convention programming and be sure to remind students to attend our annual student breakfast. We will also be hosting our annual ECP social hour to network and socialize.
In other division news, in my last article, I reported that we were focused on expanding our membership and creating more opportunities to connect. I challenged each of you to invite two colleagues to join our division’s efforts. I am happy to report that since our last report we have over 200 new members!! Thank you to graduate student representative Rayna Enriquez for helping the membership committee organize this effort. Thank you all for your continued support of Division 37 and please continue to invite your students and colleagues to join our efforts.
Division 37 member Jason Cantone, JD, PhD, submitted legislation to APA (in his position as Council rep for Division 41) against the use of solitary confinement/involuntary isolation for juveniles. The legislation was based on the report of an earlier APA task force that included Division 37 members. Our Executive Committee unanimously voted to support this legislation. We continue to support these efforts and will keep membership posted on this important legislation.
This year Division 37 continues its sponsorship of the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine’s Forum for Children’s Well-being. Division member Christy Olezeski, PhD, served as an invited speaker at the Forum’s Spring Workshop entitled Supporting the Health and Well-being of Gender Diverse Youth: A Workshop. For those who missed the workshop, the proceedings in brief and a video recording of the workshop can be accessed here. In addition, division member, Christin Ogle, PhD, currently serves as the division representative on the Forum. The Forum is in the process of planning the Fall workshop which will focus on the science of engaging with lived experience in child well-being research, practice, and policy. If you have expertise in this area and would like to be considered as a guest speaker, please feel free to email me.
Also, as part of the Children’s Forum, Division 37 Past-President Jennifer Kaminski and 2017 Distinguished Contribution to Child Advocacy Awardee Kelly Kelleher co-authored a series of NAM Perspectives papers proposing a standardized set of core metrics that can support health systems in promoting the well-being of children throughout their developmental journey. The four metrics assess the physical, cognitive, and socio-emotional health of children across different developmental stages: Infant Mortality, School Readiness, Chronic Absenteeism, and High School Graduation.
Finally, I am excited to report that our division has been approved by APA to offer Continuing Education credits by APA! A special thanks to Joaquin Borrego, PhD for spear-heading that effort alongside Christina Rodriguez, PhD. We look forward to offering division members more CE opportunities.
Please email me anytime to get more involved in our efforts or just to introduce yourself. It is crucial that we collaborate in our efforts in this call to action to serve children and their families. Get in touch so we can start the conversation.
Stephanie D. Block, PhD
2023 President of the Society for Child and Family Policy and Practice, Division 37
Social Media
Twitter: @Division37ofAPA
Facebook: Division 37 of the American Psychological Association
Instagram: Division37ofAPA
Linked In: APA Division 37 Society for Child and Family Policy and Practice