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SAGE Journal User Guide

Article 1:

Scott, W.R., Deschenes, S., Hopkins, K., Newman, A., & McLaughlin, M. (2006). Advocacy Organizations and the Field of Youth Services: Ongoing Efforts to Restructure a Field. Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, 35(4), pp. 691-714.

This article examines how advocacy organizations bring about new conceptions of youth, influence the organization of the field, and ultimately change the way public policy addresses youth’s needs.

Questions to Consider:

1. How did the perspective of healthy development for youth impact the development of policy?

2. What is an organizational field and how is it used in the context of advocacy?

3. How do advocacy organizations play a part in influencing policy?

Article 2:

Armstrong, M.I., Evans, M.E., & Wood, V. (2000). The Development of a State Policy on Families as Allies. Journal of Emotional and Behavioral Disorders, 8(4), pp. 240-248.

This article describes one state’s efforts to develop a policy regarding involvement of parents in planning, services research, and system structural reform.  The authors identify the stages of parent involvement in policymaking and share recommendations for a “families as allies” policy.

Questions to Consider:

1. Describe the initiation of the “families as allies” activities.

2. How did the strategies differ at the state level and local level?

3. Describe the stages of family involvement in policymaking identified by the authors.