Family-Serving Organizations doing Systems and Policy Change Work

Family-serving organizations–or FSOs–have a unique role to play in ensuring policies reflect families’ lived realities. This is because of their direct service role in communities, their connections with families, and their involvement in policy and systems change work. FSOs have the potential to influence policy and decision-making in a way that better meets the needs of families and engages and centers them in systems and policy change. This exploratory study examines what it means to serve families, what qualities and conditions support and constrain FSOs from engaging in systems and policy change, and what models, approaches, and frameworks they draw from to center the most affected people in this work.