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Connecting Policymakers and Professionals to
Build Research-Based Family Policy
STATE SEMINARS
PUBLICATIONS
FAMILY DATA
FAMILY IMPACT
 
Policy Institute for
Family Impact Seminars

UW-Madison/Extension
Nancy Nicholas Hall
1300 Linden Drive
Madison WI 53706
Phone: 608-263-2353
Fax: 608-265-6048
Family Impact Seminar State Sites
State Sites Image Map
The PINFIS Network
The Family Impact Seminars—a series of seminars, discussion sessions, and briefing reports—provide state policymakers with nonpartisan, solution-oriented research on family issues such as after-school programs, children’s health insurance, early childhood care and education, juvenile crime, and welfare reform. The Family Impact Seminars were created to better connect research and policy, and to promote a family impact and racial equity lens in policymaking. Twenty-one states and the District of Columbia are part of the Policy Institute for Family Impact Seminars network and are currently conducting or planning to conduct Family Impact Seminars in their capitals.

The Seminars target state policymakers, including legislators, legislative aides, governor’s office staff, legislative service agency staff, and agency representatives. The traditional format of the 2-hour seminars consists of three 20-minute presentations given by a panel of premier researchers, program directors, and policy analysts. For each seminar, discussion sessions are held and a background briefing report summarizes high-quality research on the issue in a succinct, easy-to-understand format.

Each state conducts one or two seminars a year, usually in the state capitol building, on an issue identified by a bipartisan group of state legislators. The Seminars are sponsored primarily by universities and Cooperative Extension. If you would like additional information about the Family Impact Seminars, please visit the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) page. If you have any questions, contact Director Karen Bogenschneider.

Download the Policy Institute for Family Impact Seminars brochure. (pdf)



Harvard Names the Family Impact Seminars as a Bright Idea
The Family Impact Seminars were named a Bright Idea on September 25, 2012 by the Harvard Innovations in American Government Awards Program. The Seminars are a proven, replicable, and cost-effective model that advances evidence-based policy and overcomes partisan paralysis. The selections were made by a panel of policy experts to recognize and promote creative government initiatives and partnerships. The Innovations in American Government Awards Program is housed at the Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation at the John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University. Training and technical assistance to the Family Impact Seminars sites across the country is provided by the Policy Institute for Family Impact Seminars at the University of Wisconsin-Madison/Extension currently funded by the W. K. Kellogg Foundation and the W. T. Grant Foundation.
If you have trouble accessing this page, require this information in an alternative format, or wish to request a reasonable accommodation because of a disability contact Jennifer Seubert at info@familyimpactseminars.org or 608-263-2353.

Wisconsin capitol photo courtesy of Jeff Miller, UW-Madison University Communications, ©2002.
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