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In this article, we make an argument for the importance of policy education for marriage and family students as a way of promoting critical thinking and engagement in science translation or advocacy. Several relevant active pedagogical approaches to teaching about law/policy are reviewed. We then describe the objectives and assignments from a class on Child Welfare, Law, and Social Policy, including written policy briefs and amicus curiae (friend of the court) legal briefs, and subsequent oral presentations. Student feedback is presented from eight classes with undergraduates and graduate students over a five-year period. We end with some conclusions about the approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent concerns regarding permanence for foster children have inspired child welfare agencies to re-focus more of their efforts on biological parents as permanent resources for children in care. The social work field has responded to this situation with family-focused training for frontline staff; one such curriculum is the Family Development Credential (FDC). Tools exist for evaluating FDC trainees' retention of material and ability to integrate FDC concepts into practice. However, the transformative nature of the program (i.e., the way in which FDC training is associated with participants' family-focused attitudes towards clients) has not previously been measured. FDC-trained and non-FDC-trained child protection workers (N = 251) in one state completed a vignette study that tapped their attitudes toward the parents of children involved in child protective services. No difference in family-focused attitudes emerged between the two groups. Implications for practice and suggestions for further research are presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]