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Psychology has so much knowledge to offer to society, via a multitude of service and practice efforts. But it takes carefully orchestrated advocacy to ensure that our knowledge and services reach those who need it, especially children and families in distressed circumstances. Few understand this so well as members of the American Psychological Association’s Division 37: The Society for Child and Family Policy and Practice, and its Section on Child Maltreatment. Division 37 was conceptualized 30 years ago, amid escalating national and international concern about the considerable mental health needs of children and families. Today the Division translates research into policy and action, developing and improving programs and services, and advocating for children and families at the local, state, and federal levels to prod those in power to allocate funds for research and services. The Division promotes the research, practice, and training relevant to child maltreatment and the mental health issues faced by victims. It has addressed various other stressors that impact children and families such as divorce and custody, foster care, drug- and HIV-exposure, homelessness, systemic racism, and other emerging agendas through the work of dedicated members who work tirelessly on task forces and committees. Since its inception, Division 37 members have diligently pursued the mission “to apply psychological knowledge to advocacy, service delivery, and public policies affecting children, youth, and families.”

Early Division History

Division 37 was initiated in the 1970s under the tenacious leadership of Gertrude “Trudie” Williams and Milton Shore, who united various APA members interested in encouraging advocacy and influencing policy related to child and youth development. Although other APA divisions had previously engaged in child and family-relevant activities through their research- or practice-focused endeavors, thus addressing the first two aims of APA’s general mission (“to advance psychology as a science and profession”), Division 37 was among the first to endorse a primary focus on APA’s third and final aim: to promote “health, education, and human welfare” (APA, 2013, Article I—Objects; Routh & Culbertson, 1996).

The Divisions’ founding sparked controversy about redundancy with other child-oriented divisions as well as its proposed child advocacy interests, which were seen as inconsistent with APA’s scientific mission. The Division’s founding was approved only after modifying the name from Division of Children and Youth to Division of Children and Youth Services, promoting confusion about whether its concerns lie primarily in the child clinical domain. Unrest about the goals and strategies was also evident within the budding Division.

However, clarity began to emerge through efforts of individuals such as Gary Melton, whose vision and energy helped set the Division on course for promoting child advocacy. As the first editor of the Division’s newsletter he set an important precedent by providing in-depth discussions that were pertinent to the Division’s interests. Further, he focused the Division activities through efforts such as proposing a set of task forces with clearly stated themes and objectives related to public policy and the methods for disseminating their findings to relevant audiences; orienting early career psychologists towards policy-related scholarship; and creating monograph discussions of child and family policy. He encouraged collaboration across divisions and proposed Division awards to recognize psychologists and non-psychologists whose advocacy work on behalf of children was exemplary. Melton served on the executive committee for twelve consecutive years, cultivating a style of operation and inspiring a foundational programmatic agenda.

The strong advocacy and policy focus seen in Melton’s (1986) edited book on adolescents and abortion and Weithorn’s (1987) volume on psychologists’ involvement in child custody determinations was maintained and strengthened over time. In 1991, the Division adapted its mission statement to not only include advocacy, but also to list advocacy prior to service delivery. These changes, accompanying a growing portfolio of experiences in advocacy and service activities, placed the Division in a unique and strong position to respond to increasing mental health challenges facing children, youth, and families.Footnote 1

Recent Division History

In 2007, the Division changed its name to the Society for Child and Family Policy and Practice. The new name was thought to better reflect the Division’s current mission and welcome members from a broad range of disciplines. Advocacy was not added to the name, even though members share the belief that it, along with training, are essential elements of the Division’s mission. The new name aptly reflects other important aspects of the Division’s mission, which is “the application of psychological knowledge to advocacy, service delivery, and public policies affecting children, youth, and families. The Society advances research, education, training, and practice through a multidisciplinary perspective” (APA, n.d.b). Further, as stated in the Division’s by laws, the Division’s purposes are: “(1) To provide a recognized and designated organizational entity in APA to be concerned specifically with professional, scientific, and public interest issues relative to services and service delivery structures for children, youth, and families; (2) To advance and integrate the professional efforts of psychologists who work with children, youth, and families in different perspectives and settings; (3) To promote the application of developmental and ecological theory and research as a basis for development of prevention and intervention efforts with children, youth, and families; (4) To emphasize the importance of adequate education and training in service and investigative approaches related to children, youth, and families, and to the individuals, groups, and organizations who are in positions of influence in their lives; (5) To provide a systematic forum for the presentation of policy, clinical, and research findings in the area of services to children, youth, and families at APA meetings; (6) To provide a vehicle for relating psychological knowledge and integrating it with other fields (e.g., anthropology, law, pediatrics) and dimensions (e.g., employment, education, recreation, family planning), dealing with the total welfare of children, youth, and their families; (7) To provide a mechanism for child, youth, and family advocacy in order to bring about those social changes consistent with psychological knowledge that will promote the well-being of children, youth, and families; and (8) To stimulate the development of research initiatives on professional and policy issues concerning children, youth, and families by highlighting what is known and what needs to be known about these issues.”

A Call to Action: Why Division 37 Is Needed

During the past 2 decades, numerous reports have documented the conditions contributing to unprecedented levels of serious mental health issues among our youth. The case for what is now recognized as a crisis in children’s mental health is detailed in landmark federal documents such as Mental Health: A Report of the Surgeon General (U.S. Public Health Service, 1999), the Report of the Surgeon General’s Conference on Children’s Mental Health (US Public Health Service, 2000), the Blueprints for Change: Research on Child and Adolescent Mental Health (National Institutes of Health, 2001), and the President’s New Freedom Commission on Mental Health (2003). Together, these reports examine research in biology, neurology, human development, and psychology and conclude that an alarming gap between research and practice currently limits the development of responsive social policies, and that there is a need for action to integrate these domains. The urgency of this need is underscored by the fact that child and adolescent mental illnesses are now estimated to affect 16–20 % of youth in our nation (National Research Council and Institute of Medicine, 2009), yet the vast majority of youth have limited access to treatment (Masi & Cooper, 2006). Untreated mental health problems are associated with short- and long-term problems such as chronic mental illnesses, substance abuse, school dropout, early parenthood, incarceration, and diminished quality of life (NIMH, 2001). These consequences take an enormous emotional and economic toll on our youth, their families, and society at large. As such, there have been additional calls by top researchers to focus policy efforts on prevention, as highlighted in the report Preventing Mental, Emotional, and Behavioral Disorders Among Young People: Progress and Possibilities (National Research Council and Institute of Medicine, 2009).

Likely contributing to the present level of need are the insufficiencies and instabilities of our managed care and welfare systems (Morris & Gennetian, 2006; Powell & Dunlap, 2005), along with the limited availability of treatments that have already garnered empirical support (Huang, Mcbeth, Dodge, & Jacobstein, 2004; Kutash & Rivera, 1995). There is special concern about the sociocultural relevance of many current treatments for the increasingly diverse and impoverished population of children of the twenty-first century (Crockett, 2003; Tolan & Dodge, 2005). As this group is least likely to use therapeutic services yet disproportionately absorbs the impact of multiple-stress environments (NIMH, 2001), the stage has been set for an explosion of mental health difficulties and a concomitant need for policy, funding, and services targeted at children, youth, and families. The stakes are high. As noted by Mary Jane England, Chair of the National Advisory Mental Health Council Workgroup on Child and Adolescent Mental Health Intervention Deployment, “Our ability to create a promising future for the country depends, in part, on our ability to ensure that all children have the opportunity to meet their full potential and to live healthy, productive lives. Meeting this challenge will require the work of many people. The research community must partner with families, providers, policymakers, and Federal agencies providing children’s services, as well as other stakeholders, to create a knowledge base on interventions and services that is usable, disseminated, and sustained in the diverse communities where children and their families live. Equally important to this effort is the need to develop the capacity of the field. A new generation of truly interdisciplinary researchers must be trained to strengthen the science base on child and adolescent mental health research and bridge the gaps within and across research, practice, and policy” (NIMH, 2001, p. iii).

England’s recommendation (NIMH, 2001) resonates with the purpose of Division 37 to improve the circumstances and futures of youth, their families, and communities through research, advocacy, service delivery, and public policy development. The Division has targeted these goals through a remarkable and interrelated set of activities including (a) building and maintaining a strong, organized infrastructure and an informed and active membership; (b) communicating and disseminating research to inform policy and services; (c) establishing professional development, training, and recognition programs; and (d) promoting divisional, interdivisional, and interdisciplinary collaborations focused on research, clinical outreach, and advocacy.

Infrastructure and Leadership: Secure Foundations for an Active Membership

Division 37 leaders and members have invested considerable effort in building the procedural framework, resources, and infrastructure needed to support members in child and family advocacy-oriented activities. The division functions under the leadership of the Executive Committee, which comprises 10 elected officers with voting rights: President, Past-president, President-elect, Secretary, Treasurer, Council Representative, Section on Child Maltreatment President, and 3 Members-at-Large. Other nonvoting, appointed officers of the Division include Graduate Student Representative (since 2000), Editor of the Advocate newsletter, Fellows Chair, Membership Chair, various chairs of committees and task forces, and liaisons to other organizations. In 2005, the Division also established an Undergraduate Student Representative position, optionally appointed by the President.

Each year, Presidents choose a theme for their initiatives. These have included the following: Edward Zigler: “Children, Youth, and Families”; Cynthia Shellenbach: “Fostering Resilient Children, Youth, and Families”; Karen Saywitz: “Developmental Psychology and the Child Witness”; Shelia Eyberg: “Dissemination of Mental Health Information to Parents and Teachers of Young Children in Head Start”; Brian Wilcox, who eschewed an explicit theme and focused on the Division’s financial health and sustainability; Richard Abidin: “Children’s Mental Health: Access Issues, Issues in the Delivery of Culturally Competent and Effect Treatments”; Luis Vargas: “Access, Engagement, and Intervention in the Delivery of Mental Health Services to Underserved and Culturally Diverse Children, Youth, and Families”; Bette Bottoms: “Improving Policy and Services through Research-based Advocacy”; Anne McDonald Culp: “Advocating for Prevention Programs and the Promotion of Positive Mental Health in Children”; Carol Falender: “Collaboration; Advancing Thinking and Practice of Evidence-Based Treatments for Minority Children, Youth, and Families; and Expanding Advocacy Training on Children’s Issues”; and Patrick Tolan: “Advancing Children’s Mental Health by Emphasizing the Value of Collaboration.” The division’s most recent presidents include Carolyn Schroeder, Sandra J. Bishop-Josef, and Karen Budd. At this writing, the President is Michael Roberts and the President-elect is John E. Lochman.

The Section on Child Maltreatment

Division 37 has one section, the Section on Child Maltreatment, which was established to act as a catalyst for advocacy and research related specifically to child maltreatment. In the early to mid-1990s, amidst a climate of nationwide distress over escalating rates of child abuse, increasing levels of poverty, and declining federal support for social programs, Diane J. Willis directed the APA’s Coordinating Committee on Child Abuse and Neglect to pioneer three working groups focused on child abuse issues: prevention and treatment, the legal system, and education and training. Their findings underscored the need to create an entity to champion child abuse issues in an exclusive and ongoing way. Willis approached a receptive Division 37 executive committee and President (Jan Culbertson) about this idea, and in 1994, the Section on Child Maltreatment was established with the mission to “advance scientific inquiry, training, and professional practice in child maltreatment, to provide up-to-date information about maltreatment, and to encourage networking and collaboration across Divisions/Sections in the area of child maltreatment.” As Chair of the new Section, Willis wrote its original bylaws and led a Coordinating Committee of devoted child advocates with expertise in child maltreatment (including Barbara Boat, Barbara Bonner, Jan Culbertson, Dennis Drotar, Jeff Haugaard, Karen Saywitz, Cynthia Schellenbach) into its first official meeting at which the first Executive Committee was elected (consisting of a President with a 2-year term, President-Elect, Past-President, Treasurer, Secretary, and three Members-at-Large). Over the next 3 years, the first dedicated President, Jeffrey Haugaard, further developed the bylaws and appointed an Advisory Board of 20 widely known researchers, clinicians, and advocates in child maltreatment.

Today, the Section on Child Maltreatment is one of only two groups within the APA that focuses exclusively on issues related to child maltreatment (the other being a related special interest group within Division 56, Trauma Psychology). Most Section members are also Division members, illustrating the large role the Section plays in attracting and maintaining the membership of the Division as a whole. This is not surprising, given the centrality of child maltreatment to understanding children’s mental health issues. Section members have conducted research, disseminated information, and organized trainings on the prevalence, causes, and prevention of child maltreatment, and on issues that arise when child victims enter the legal system. As discussed below, the Section has led the division in sponsoring congressional briefings, amicus briefs, and interdisciplinary conferences related to child maltreatment. In so doing, Section members have heightened awareness of child maltreatment and the needs of victims in public, professional, and political domains. Such advocacy activities have been possible because of the Section’s Social Policy Committee, formed in 2000 under Gail Goodman’s leadership to enhance the Section’s policy work.

Communicating and Disseminating Research to Inform Policy and Services

Most recently, Division 37 has expanded synergistic communications among its members and society, by way of meetings and conferences, newsletters, and peer-reviewed publications.

Meetings, Conferences, and Electronic Communication

The Executive Committee meets in person semi-annually, at the APA convention and at a midwinter meeting often held in Washington, DC to facilitate connections with APA. The Section on Child Maltreatment Executive Committee also meets at the APA convention. The annual APA convention allows a range of opportunities for members to congregate and connect. It is a central event for the Division and Section, which do not have a separate dedicated conference as do some other larger divisions. The Division and Section sponsor a hospitality suite, social hours, symposia, poster sessions, business meetings, and award speeches.

Symposia are important forums for information dissemination. Key symposia have included “Linking Juvenile Delinquency and Child Maltreatment: Causes, Correlates, and Consequences” “From Proof to Practice: Does Research Change Policy and Practice in Children’s Services?”; and “Promoting Resiliency in Children and Families in the Wake of Hurricane Katrina.” The Division expands its approximately ten symposium offerings by sometimes sponsoring cross-cutting interdivisional symposia with other child-relevant divisions. For example, while President, Bette L. Bottoms organized a cross-cutting symposium, “Psychology and Children: Translating Research into Better Policy and Services,” involving divisions 37, 7, 16, 54, 27, 53, and Division 37 Past Presidents Gerry Koocher, Gail Goodman, and Brian Wilcox. While President, Carol Falender organized “Children’s Mental Health: Innovations in Evidence-Based Treatment for Ethnic Minority Children and Adolescents,” involving divisions 37, 12, 16, 37, 48, and 53. Both symposia formed the basis for issues of the Child and Family Policy and Practice Review.

The Division has expanded its outreach by cosponsoring conferences organized by other like-minded organizations. For example, in 1998, the Division cosponsored the conference “Violence Against Children in the Family and Community: A Conference on Causes, Developmental Consequences, Intervention and Prevention,” which led Penelope Trickett and Cynthia Schellenbach into a Division 37/27 collaboration that culminated in their edited book, Violence Against Children in the Family and Community. The Division also cosponsored the Florida Conference on Child Health Psychology in 2001, and the Section on Child Maltreatment cosponsors and/or contributes to numerous cross-disciplinary conferences, trainings, and colloquia on interpersonal violence issues, with organizations such as the American Professional Society on the Abuse of Children (APSAC), the American Bar Association, and the American Psychology-Law Society (APA Division 41).

In 2000, the Division dedicated one of its Member-at-Large positions to “Communications and Technology,” which has led to “virtual” meetings among members. Web-based chat rooms allow members to discuss child-relevant interests such as “Policy and Research in Child Rehabilitation Psychology,” “Interventions for Depressed Youth” and “Issues Facing Children in the Legal System.” A Division 37 electronic listserv functions to keep members informed about child and family issues, conference events, and policy developments. It is frequently used by Division presidents to communicate with the membership and by members of the Public Interest Government Relations Office to notify members of pending legislation in need of psychological input and action.

Newsletters

One of the most important channels of communication for Division members has been its publications. Its newsletter was established in 1978 under the direction of Seth Kalichman. Milton Shore and Suzanne Sobel published the first seven newsletters; when Gary Melton became editor in 1980, he created more a formal organizational framework. As the subsequent editor from 1983 to 1985, Donald Wertlieb formatted the newsletter to a newspaper style. Jan L. Culbertson then developed it to resemble its current format, originally including more advocacy-related topics in a “point—counterpoint” debate-style fashion. It was renamed the Child, Youth, and Family Services Quarterly in 1990 and then The Child, Youth and Family Services Advocate (“The Advocate”) in 2000, mirroring the increasing transparency the division has placed on its public interest activities. The newsletter has evolved over the years, from early single-themed issues that included comprehensive literature reviews related to current policy and needed policy changes, to today’s newsletter format that informs the membership about diverse substantive topics as well as organizational business issues. Across these transformations, it has always continued to be a comprehensive resource intended to keep readers current on research, service, and policy developments central to child and family well-being, as well as to encourage translating this knowledge into advocacy and practice. For example, articles focus on nutrition, Head Start, child welfare, child abuse and other such areas. Each issue often includes columns from Division leaders, members, and guest writers reviewing cutting-edge academic research and policy reports in articles such as “Socially Supportive Interviewing of Child Eyewitnesses” and “Advocating for Prevention Programs and the Promotion of Positive Mental Health for Children.” In 1998, a regular column featuring the latest policy and advocacy developments in Washington, DC was added. Past newletters can be accessed at: http://www.apa.org/divisions/div37/child_maltreatment/child_newsletter.html.

The Section on Child Maltreatment regularly contributes to the Advocate with columns by its President and Graduate Student Representative, but the Section also has its own newsletter which spun off from the division’s newsletter in 1997. It includes articles relevant to various aspects of abuse and recurring features such as the “Case Notes” column, launched by Bette Bottoms and focused on the implications of legal decisions related to child maltreatment and psychology, and the “Best Practices” column, launched Anthony Mannarino and focused on clinical best practices related to child maltreatment.

Peer-Reviewed Publications

A prime goal of Division 37 has always been to provide peer-reviewed publication outlets for materials relevant to child advocacy. Growing from an initiative during David Wolfe’s presidency, between 1998 and 2002, the Division published and distributed to its membership more than 20 issues of its own peer-reviewed journal, Children’s Services: Social Policy, Research, and Practice, edited by Michael Roberts. Articles reflected the Division’s mission and ranged from Grasley, Wolfe, and Wekerle’s (1999) discussion of a community-based program aimed to decrease violence in youth’s relationships to Holden and Brannan’s (2002) special issue disseminating the national evaluation of the Comprehensive Community Mental Health Services for Children and Their Families Program. Although it filled an important niche in the field, Children’s Services was ultimately discontinued in 2003 due to the financial strain it placed on the Division. The final issue, cosponsored with the Section on Child Maltreatment, focused on the link between childhood maltreatment and later life juvenile delinquency (Quas, Bottoms, & Nuñez, 2002).

The resulting void was filled in 2005 with a semi-annual publication called the Child and Family Policy and Practice Review, edited and reviewed by Division presidents and their appointees. In some ways, this publication was a reincarnation of the initial single-themed Child, Youth, and Family Services Quarterly. For example, the inaugural issue, edited by Luis Vargas, “Cultural Diversity and Mental Health,” highlighted the importance of appreciating diversity in mental health issues and of attending to the needs of underserved people. The issue represented the multicultural themes that are inherent in many of today’s division activities. Later issues included Bette Bottoms’ and Patricia Hashima’s “Psychology and Children: Translating Research into Better Policy and Services,” and Anne Culp’s “Practice, Research and Policy Agendas for Healthy Family America: A Program Designed to Prevent Child Maltreatment.” The publication of the Review ceased at the end of 2008 with Carol Falender’s retrospective issue containing articles by Division presidents from every 5 years since 1985. In 2006, on behalf of the Division and the Section, Bottoms and Quas (2006) edited an issue of the Journal of Social Issues entitled, “Emerging directions in child maltreatment research: Multidisciplinary perspectives on theory, practice, and policy.” The volume was dedicated to the very real needs of actual child maltreatment victims, after a decade that was at times more focused on debates about false reports and whether some forms of child sexual abuse are actually harmful (for discussion, see Goodman, 2006 and Ondersma et al., 2001).

The Section on Child Maltreatment has also sponsored an important series of publications describing model undergraduate, graduate, and professional curricula on child abuse and neglect. The first two, Information on Child Maltreatment in the Undergraduate Curriculum and Including information on Child Maltreatment in the Graduate Curriculum, resulted from one of Jeff Haugaard’s presidential initiatives and were published in 1995 in cooperation with APA’s Public Policy Directorate. In 2000, the trilogy was completed with a high school curriculum, An Introduction to Child Maltreatment: A Five-Unit Lesson Plan for Teachers of Psychology in Secondary Schools, with Cindy Miller-Perrin serving as editor (Miller-Perrin, 2000). Miller-Perrin and Malloy (2007) recently published an updated compendium of all the guides, the Curriculum Guide for Instruction in Child Maltreatment. These products, which can be accessed at http://www.apa.org/divisions/div37/resources.html, allow the Section and Division to reach hundreds (perhaps thousands) of students at the undergraduate and graduate level by providing packaged curricula that teachers who are not experts themselves can use to teach students about psychology-relevant issues facing children.

Professional Development, Training, and Recognition Programs

Division 37 and its Section on Child Maltreatment consider training and professional development to be of central importance. Building on national training guidelines endorsed by the Hilton Head Conference on Training Clinical Child Psychologists in 1985 (Roberts, Erickson, & Tuma, 1985), the Division is actively engaged in the development and dissemination of models and programs that strengthen the training of psychologists who provide services for youth (Roberts et al., 1998; Roberts & Task Force, 1996). The Division and Section have also developed vehicles for providing education on issues relevant to children, youth, and families for students, early career and established professionals, and the public at large. Finally, the Division and Section provide financial and monetary awards to support researchers in the field.

Student Training

The Division is deeply invested in cultivating the talents and interests of students and has established a highly visible support structure for this purpose. The Division offers students a special reduced-fee membership category and even free membership at times, believing that engaging students at the beginning of their careers will lead to an enduring commitment to the Division and, more importantly, to its purpose. The annual conference offers a student reception, mentorship and research presentation opportunities. Graduate student representatives edit a student page on the website and write a regular column in the Division’s newsletter, aimed at educating students about how to become involved in advocacy and about policy-relevant pre- and postdoctoral training and career opportunities within academic, governmental, and nonprofit organizations. Undergraduate student representatives also contribute a newsletter column, “Spotlight on Undergraduates,” which highlights an undergraduate involved in research or advocacy related to the Division’s mission.

The Section on Child Maltreatment has also been dedicated to student training since its inception, as reflected in (a) its student representative position, (b) its 1997 roundtable discussion on training and education in child maltreatment at the annual APA conference (Nightingale & Portwood, 1997), (c) its maintenance of an Internship Guide on the web site that lists clinical internship sites providing training and services relevant to child abuse and neglect for clinical psychology doctoral students (thanks to the efforts of members such as Narina Nuñez), and (d) its participation in “Internships on Parade” at the APA Convention.

Postgraduate Education and Advocacy Training

The Division is also committed to the education of early career professionals and other postgraduate professionals within and outside of its membership. In 2008, it added to its Executive Committee a Member-at-large for Early Career Psychologists. In the late 1990s, the Division sponsored a Continuing Education program for licensed psychologists in collaboration with several state psychological associations and, with APA’s Committee on Children, Youth, and Families (CYF), it cosponsored the Task Force on Innovative Training Approaches for Psychologists, chaired by Jane Knitzer and Judith Meyers. This activity led to an APA symposium and resource guide.

A centerpiece of the Division’s training activities has been its Advocacy Training Initiative. For years, the Division partnered occasionally with the APA Public Interest Government Relations Office to sponsor free Advocacy Training Workshops in Washington, DC. There, members of Division 37 and other child-relevant divisions would participate in a morning training session, then spend the afternoon on Capitol Hill meeting with Congressional representatives and advocating for child issues. Consistent with the heart of the Division’s mission, these sessions taught psychologists to advocate for children’s needs with local, state, and national legislators. To expand the reach of these successful sessions substantially, APA Division 37 Task Force on Advocacy (2006) produced the APA Division 37's Guide to Advocacy (http://www.apa.org/divisions/div37/division37advocacyguidepart1.pdf). This specific and extensive advocacy training package is disseminated widely via the division’s website and on DVD and includes materials that can be used by anyone (students and postgraduate professionals, psychologists and non-psychologists) to teach themselves and others about how to advocate for children’s needs—how to approach law and policy makers at all levels, educate them about psychological research, and convince them to support allocations of money to child and family issues. The hope is that these materials will support a “train the trainer” model that will have a snowballing effect across the nation and result in more funding at all levels for children’s mental health care, child abuse prevention, juvenile justice concerns, etc. A task force led by Mindy Feinberg Gutow and Carol Falender aimed to disseminate training in advocacy at all levels of education, from high school through professional training, in conjunction with multiple directorates of APA and the Interdivisional Task Force on Child and Adolescent Mental Health.

Awards

Four awards established early in the Division’s history recognize outstanding professional accomplishments related to child and youth policy, research, and advocacy. The Nicholas Hobbs Award, established in 1984, is presented annually to a psychologist who emulates the efforts of its namesake, a charter member of Division 37 dedicated to child policy and research (Routh & Culbertson, 1996). Past winners have included W. Rodney Hammond, Donald Wertlieb, Lawrence Aber, Dante Cicchetti, Aletha Huston, Barbara Bonner, Joy Osofsky, Gail S. Goodman, John R. Weisz, Robert M. Friedman, and Karen J. Saywitz, Brian Wilcox, and Sheila Eyberg. The Lifetime Advocacy Award is a premier honor celebrating individuals who have contributed consistently and sizably to the needs of children, youth, and families. It has been bestowed only twice in the past decade, to Mary Campbell in 2011 (Campbell, 2000) in honor of her 25 years of service as Director of APA’s Office of Children, Youth, and Families (CYF) and to Senator Christopher Dodd (in 2005) in honor of his legislative work benefiting children and families. The Distinguished Contribution to Child Advocacy Award is given to a non-psychologist who has contributed remarkably to child, youth, and family advocacy. Past recipients include actors, entrepreneurs, executive directors, journalists, lawyers, philanthropists, physicians, and public administrators. In the past decade, winners have been Ellen Bassuk, Olivia Golden, Deborah Prothrow-Stih, T. Berry Brazelton, Beatrice Hamburg, John Myers, Tom Birch, Virginia Weisz, Beth A. Stroul, and Robin Kimbrough-Melton, Laurie Mulvey, and Shay Bilchik.

The Diane J. Willis Early Career Award will be bestowed for the first time in 2013. The award honors the significant career of Diane J. Willis, whose child-focused advocacy has informed a range of issues and spanned a variety of disciplines, affecting both national and global public policy arenas. The award will recognize early career psychologists who show promise in advancing public policy concerning the well-being of children and families.

Division 37 and the Section on Child Maltreatment both bestow various awards honoring students and budding psychologists and supporting their early work. These include (a) the Division’s and Section’s annual Student Poster Awards for excellent research presented at the annual APA conference; (b) the Division’s annual dissertation award; (c) the Section’s Undergraduate Research Award for excellent papers related to child maltreatment; and (d) the Section’s $400 dissertation small grant instated in 2001 to encourage excellent dissertation research central to the Section’s mission. Gail Goodman led the way for the Section’s Early Career Award for Outstanding Contributions to Research and Practice in the Field of Child Maltreatment, established in 2001 and given in alternating years to a new outstanding practitioner or researcher. Finally, the Section also provides an important resource that helps researchers and clinical professionals find other monetary awards for their work—The Alert, first edited by Lane Geddy, and published in print and as a website. It is a compendium of funding opportunities for research and clinical work in child maltreatment.

Divisional, Interdivisional, and Interdisciplinary Collaborations Promoting Research, Clinical Outreach, and Advocacy

In keeping with its core mission, some of Division 37’s most important work is its child- and family-focused advocacy, in the form of direct education of courts and policymakers, clinical outreach, the promotion of relevant research, and so forth.

Collaborations with APA Offices

Of great benefit to the Division and its mission has been the long history of collaboration with the APA Public Interest Government Relations Office (PI-GRO), which performs a range of policy-related functions that dovetail with Division goals, including collaborating with legislators and federal agencies on psychology-relevant issues, engaging in congressional briefings and testimony, partnering to providing advocacy training workshops (as mentioned previously), and maintaining connections with other organizations that have common policy goals. Interactions between the PI-GRO and Division 37 are mutually beneficial. For example, the PI-GRO relies on Division 37 members for knowledge and expertise that inform its undertakings, and the PI-GRO keeps Division members informed of important policy and legislative activities through reports to the executive committee, newsletter articles, and up-to-the-minute email listserv postings. For example, Division 37 members are part of the PI-GRO’s Public Policy Action Network listserv, which provides immediate email alerts when there is a legislative issue of relevance to children and families that can be informed by Division 37 members’ input. The PI-GRO synthesizes listserv members’ feedback, then works directly with congressional offices to ensure that relevant psychological science gets translated into a message that the lawmakers can understand and use to shape better public policy. The PI-GRO also provides Division 37 members with opportunities to influence policy through its public policy column in each Advocate, which describes (a) recent and upcoming legislative initiatives and what the issues mean for psychologists, (b) pressing government financial appropriations developments and concerns, and (c) advocacy actions needed from members. Columns have addressed, for example, child maltreatment funding (e.g., Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act), education (e.g., Elementary and Secondary Education Act; Individuals with Disabilities Education Act); and mental health prevention and intervention (e.g., Child and Adolescent Mental Health Resiliency Act; Child Health Care Crisis Relief Act; Bullying and Gang Prevention for School Safety and Crime Reduction Act; Safe and Drug-Free Schools and Communities Act). The most powerful aspect of the Public Policy Advocacy Network listserv and the newsletter column is the clear intent to involve readers in practical advocacy efforts. The importance of these methods for providing an avenue for Division 37 to actively engage in policy making cannot be underestimated.

Division 37 and the Section on Child Maltreatment have also enjoyed a strong partnership with APA’s Committee on Children, Youth, and Families (CYF), which raises awareness, disseminates information, and develops APA Policy Statements on subjects such as child abuse, sexuality and education, dating violence, school dropout, bullying and violence prevention, and the effects of advertising and media violence on children. The relationship with CYF is strengthened by liaisons who report regularly between the groups and by the fact that Division 37 members are often members of the CYF. Division 37 and CYF members have formed working groups to consider, for example, psychoactive medications for children and innovative treatment and training approaches for the public sector. One collaboration produced a faculty resource guide about training college students to work with youth who have serious emotional disabilities (Vargas, 2000).

Interdivisional Collaborations

Division 37 has formed a variety of successful partnerships with other divisions, especially those with child interests such as 12 (Society of Clinical Psychology), 16 (School Psychology), 43 (Society for Family Psychology), 53 (Society of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology), and 54 (Society of Pediatric Psychology). A subset of those (37, 16, 53, 54) plus Division 7 (Developmental Psychology) and 27 (Society for Community Research and Action) collaborated to produce the prior mentioned APA symposium “Psychology and Children: Translating Research into Better Policy and Services,” and 37, 16, 7, and 53 produced a special issue of the Child and Family Policy and Practice Review.

Perhaps the best example of Division 37’s interdivisional efforts is the Interdivisional Task Force on Child and Adolescent Mental Health (2001), which, it is fair to say, is the centerpiece not only of the Division’s, but also APA’s, advocacy efforts on behalf of children’s mental health. To review its history, taking advantage of the national spotlight on children’s mental health issues generated in part by the Report of the Surgeon General’s Conference on Children’s Mental Health: A National Action Agenda (U.S. Public Health Service, 2000), APA formed a cross-directorate Working Group on Children’s Mental Health. Chaired by future Division president Patrick Tolan, and including then-President Karen Saywitz and future member of the Board of Directors Barry Anton, this working group generated a report that included strategies to assist the APA in promoting the Surgeon General’s action agenda. In 2001, to ensure that these recommendations would be implemented, Division 37 joined with Division 7 to establish the Interdivisional Task Force on Child and Adolescent Mental Health, chaired by Karen Saywitz and including Division 37 members Sheila Eyberg, Anne Culp, and Mary Haskett. Later that year, the task force, led by Division 37, was joined by 6 other divisions (12, 16, 27, 43, 53, 54) and its goals were expanded to also promote the goals and recommendations of CYF’s Resolution on Children’s Mental Health. Then, in 2003, the APA Task Force on Psychology’s Agenda for Child and Adolescent Mental Health, chaired by Barry Anton and including Karen Saywitz as a member, was formed, and in 2004, it produced a comprehensive report that became the work plan for the Interdivisional Task Force on Child and Adolescent Mental Health. That report, available at http://www.apa.org/pi/cyf/child_adoles_mentalhealth_report.pdf, included directions for using APA policy, research, training, and practice resources to promote the children’s mental health issues highlighted by the Surgeon General. It highlighted these priorities: (1) Promoting public awareness of children’s mental health issues; (2) Fostering scientifically validated prevention and treatment in children’s mental health; (3) Improving assessment and recognition of mental health needs in children; (4) Eliminating racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic disparities in access to care; (5) Improving the infrastructure for children’s mental health services; (6) Increasing access to and coordination of quality child mental health care services; (7) Training front line workers to recognize and manage child mental health needs; and (8) Monitoring access to and coordination of quality mental health care services for children.

The Interdivisional Task Force on Child and Adolescent Mental Health has accomplished much in relation to these goals, thereby raising public awareness and supporting more research and better practice related to children’s mental health needs. Products include, for example, (a) the article Crisis in Child Mental Health Care: A Well-Kept Secret, which has been widely published in the newsletters of numerous APA divisions and state psychological associations; (b) a special issue of Child and Family Policy and Practice Review entitled “Prevention for Child Mental Health: Scientific Promise to Practical Benefit” edited by Karen Saywitz and invited by then-President Anne Culp; (c) talking points on the crisis in children’s mental health care that were created and disseminated under the direction of Kathy Katz; (d) public service announcements developed with Radio Disney to foster healthy child adjustment and coping; (e) several APA convention symposia; and (f) efforts to train mental health professionals to work with children and adolescents. Task force members have also provided input on numerous congressional legislative issues and expert testimony on various bills.

Finally, the Interdivisional Task Force has arranged for congressional briefings, which are among the division’s most important advocacy initiatives. When Congress is about to consider a child or family issue that can be informed by psychological knowledge, organizations may arrange a meeting at the Capital where articulate experts translate psychological research into words that Congress people and their staffers can understand. And often, they listen. In turn, real laws and policies that affect millions of children sometimes get shifted in line with the best available science. In 2007, Karen Saywitz led the Interdivisional Task Force and Division 37 in organizing, “Children’s Mental Health: Key Challenges, Strategies, and Effective Solutions,” a briefing addressing the reauthorization of SAMHSA, No Child Left Behind, and the Child Health Care Crisis Relief Act. It informed policy makers about the prevalence of children’s mental health problems and the failure of the current delivery system. Division 37 was joined in sponsorship by divisions 7, 12, 16, 27, 43, 53, and 54; Senators Pete Domenici (R-NM) and Edward Kennedy (D-MA); Representatives Jim Ramstad (R-MN), Patrick Kennedy (D-RI), Donna Christensen (D-VI), Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX); and Co-Chairs of the Congressional Mental Health Caucus: Rep. Grace Napolitano (D-CA) and Rep. Tim Murphy (R-PA). Four Congresspersons spoke, in addition to the panelists who included Jane Knitzer, Janice Cooper, Kimberly Hoagwood, Kenneth Martinez, William Pelham, Patrick Tolan, and Mark Weist.

Although the work of the Interdivisional Task Force on Child and Adolescent Mental Health is remarkable, many other important interdivisional collaborations are led by Division 37. For example, in 2000, Divisions 37 and 27 formed the interdivisional task force Fostering Resilient Children, Youth, and Families, led by Cynthia Schellenbach and Ken Maton, which organized key symposia at meetings of the APA, the Society for Community Research and Action, and the Society for Prevention Research. It also produced a policy-oriented report and brief advocacy position papers designed for use in advocacy work with legislators as well as a book written by social science and policy experts reviewing the complex contexts of child development, issues in fostering resilience, and implications for policy and advocacy (Maton, Schellenbach, Leadbeater, & Solarz, 2003). Another noteworthy interdivisional collaboration occurred in 2001, when Division President Sheila Eyberg worked with Division 29 (Psychotherapy) to develop “tip sheets” on parenting and behavioral management in the classroom for dissemination to Head Start parents and teachers. Division 37 has also been involved in the APA Interdivisional Coalition for Psychology in Schools and Education. Finally, Divisions 37 and 41 joined in an Interdivisional Task Force on the Prevention of Child Maltreatment, which has, for example, cosponsored national conferences on child maltreatment.

Interdisciplinary Collaboration and Engagement

Division 37 has always embraced collaboration as a goal, not only among psychologists but also with professionals from other fields concerned with child well-being, such as medicine, social work, law, and politics. This is evinced by its election of a non-psychologist to a leadership position (Benjamin Pasamanick, M.D., was President in 1987) and its dedication of an award to non-psychologists. To extend its visibility and influence outside of the APA, Division members have reached out to federal, academic, private, and nonprofit agencies by including reports from outside agencies in its newsletter and sending division members to interdisciplinary meetings.

The Division has had particularly fruitful collaborations with the Consortium on Children, Families, and the Law, which comprises associations and university-based centers across the disciplines of policy, law, psychology, and family studies, and which fosters collaborations to improve child and family policy through research, education, and consultation. For example, Division 37 has contributed both fiscally and substantively to the Consortium’s Congressional Briefing Series, on topics ranging from early intervention to the juvenile justice system (Limber, 1998). Examples include O’Donnell and Davidson’s 1997 briefing entitled “The seeds of violence: Early childhood abuse, misbehavior and delinquency” and Wilcox and Levine’s 1997 briefing entitled “Child maltreatment: issues in reporting, processing and case disposition.” In 2002, a briefing entitled “Protecting our nations’ children: What we know about child abuse prevention” was organized by the Section on Child Maltreatment and cosponsored by the Division, the APA PI-GRO, the Consortium, and the University of Missouri-Kansas City. Then-APA President Phil Zimbardo introduced the briefing, moderated by Dan Dodgen of the APA Public Policy Office, and Congressional sponsorship was given by Senator Christopher Dodd, D-CT. Division speakers included Jeff Haugaard, who discussed theory and statistics concerning child maltreatment; Sharon Portwood, who presented an overview of child abuse and neglect prevention programs, and Linda Smith, Director of the Golden Strip Family and Child Development Center (Clemson, South Carolina), who described a successful real-life example of a community-based child abuse prevention program. The aim was to encourage appropriations for the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act.

Finally, amicus curiae briefs are also a fine example of Division 37’s interdisciplinary advocacy activities. The U.S. Supreme Court, State Supreme Courts, and lower appeals courts tackle many child-relevant cases that could be informed by psychological science, but are not, unless psychologists and attorneys work together to ensure that research makes its way in front of judges deciding the cases. Division 37 members are in unique positions to do this, sometimes individually as expert witnesses. But the division as a whole can also reach the courts through amicus curiae briefs; summaries of psychological research in terms that legal professionals can understand and apply to the issues at hand in a particular case. In turn, the Division has the opportunity to affect case law in important ways. In 2003, under the Presidency of Thomas Lyon, the Section on Child Maltreatment spearheaded an amicus brief reviewing the effects of child sexual abuse and disclosure that was submitted to the U.S. Supreme Court in California v. Stogner. The brief was created in collaboration with lawyers from the Washington, DC office of Arnold and Porter and signed by the APA, the National Association of Counsel for Children, and both the American and the California Professional Societies on the Abuse of Children. Such truly interdisciplinary efforts are made easier when the involved division members are interdisciplinary themselves—Lyon holds doctorates in both law and developmental psychology.

Conclusion: The Power of the Group to Effect Change

By relying on collaboration, scientific vision, and advocacy, Division leaders and members have moved it during the past decade into its current state as a dynamic, powerful agent of change. The Division has become a synergistic, interdisciplinary organization that has contributed substantially to improving the lives of children, youth, and families through its effective focus on advocacy, service delivery, and public policies. The hard work of Division 37 members has created an opportunity through which intentions to create a better, safer, more nurturing world for children become reality. Sharing this vision and becoming involved in advocacy makes positive change possible at both local and national levels. Whether advocating for better public policy, conducting and disseminating groundbreaking research, or developing better clinical services, it is evident that Division 37 has and will continue to play an essential role in improving the lives of children, youth, and families.