Research on Public Policy
Predictors of Food Insecurity — Professor Judith Bartfeld
Impact of Public Policies on Families — Professor Karen Bogenschneider
Potential Impact of Social Security
Privatization, Personal Finance Education
Needs — Professor Karen Holden
Parent Education Programs — Professor David Riley
Juvenile Delinquency Prevention and Programs — Professor Stephen Small
Predictors of Food Insecurity — Professor Judith Bartfeld
Judith Bartfeld and Lingling Wang authored a discussion paper, “Local-Level Predictors of Household Food Insecurity,” available on the Institute for Research on Poverty website: http://www.irp.wisc.edu/publications/dps/dplist.htm. The paper supportsthe view that food insecurity results from a complex interplay among personal resources, public resources, and the economic and social contexts in which a household resides. Professor Bartfeld and Rachel Dunifon published an article, “State-Level Predictors of Food Insecurity Among Households with Children,” in the Journal of Public Policy Analysis and Management. The article explored the role of state characteristics in explaining cross-state differences in household food security. This research also served as the basis for a report published by the Economic Research Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, by Judi Bartfeld, Rachel Dunifon, Mark Nord, and Steve Carlson, titled Most of the Differences in Food Insecurity Across States Can Be Accounted for by a Small Number of Household and State Characteristics. Professor Bartfeld also received a grant from the USDA to examine the use of the School Breakfast Program and its potential impacts on food security and breakfast eating patterns.
Impact of Public Policies on Families — Professor Karen Bogenschneider
Karen Bogenschneider has been named a 2006 Fellow by the National Council on Family Relations. This award recognizes enduring contributions to the field of family studies through a career of teaching, scholarship, outreach, professional service and leadership. The Policy Institute for Family Impact Seminars, which Professor Bogenschneider directs, is supported by the Kellogg Foundation and provides technical assistance to 22 states conducting Family Impact Seminars in their state capitals. The Wisconsin Family Impact Seminars staff (Professor Bogenschneider, Heidi Normandin, and Mark Lederer) received a 2006 School of Human Ecology Outreach Award. The second edition of Professor Bogenschneider’s book, Family Policy Matters: How Policymaking Affects Families and What Professional Can Do, was published. With doctoral student Maureen Ittig, Professor Bogenschneider also published an instructor’s manual (with accompanying CD), which includes family policy syllabi, classroom activities, daily lesson plans, discussion questions, and assignments from several family policy instructors from across the country.
Potential Impact of Social Security Privatization, Personal Finance Education Needs — Professor Karen Holden
Karen Holden continued her work on several funded grants and serves as co-investigator on a new, $104,807 grant from the National Endowment for Financial Education to examine the financial issues and personal finance teacher education needs of pre-service and in-service educators. This involves collaboration with scholars of personal finance education at several other universities, in particular Iowa State University, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, North Dakota State University, Colorado State University, University of California-Fullerton, and Virginia Tech University.
Parent Education Programs — Professor David Riley
David Riley continued his parenting education program. A collaborative project with UW-Extension, the program is delivered in English and Spanish versions to half of all parents giving birth in Wisconsin every year and has been adopted by many other states and two other countries.
Juvenile Delinquency Prevention and Programs — Professor Stephen Small
Stephen Small completed a project for the Governor's Commission on Juvenile Justice and the Wisconsin Office of Justice Assistance, and he co-authored a report, “What Works, Wisconsin: What Science Tells Us About Cost-Effective Programs for Juvenile Delinquency Programs.” He was selected to deliver the inaugural "Family Strengthening Distinguished Lecture" at the Jefferson Auditorium of the U.S. Department of Agriculture in Washington D.C. in 2006. The title of his presentation was "Good Intentions Aren't Enough: Toward More Effective Youth and Family Programs, Policies, and Practices." The annual newly inaugurated lecture series was sponsored by the National 4-H Council, through a grant from the Annie E. Casey Foundation.
