Role of Research and Public Policy - Paper Sample

Introduction

Advocacy is the act of representing, promoting, or defending a person, opinion, or interest (Bishop-Josef & Dodgen, 2013). Advocacy is a broad idea that encompasses varying activities such as human rights representation and social marketing. Public policy and research play a role in that they guide the approaches adopted by coalitions and organization to preserve or change specific government programs. This is known as public advocacy, and it involves mediating and negotiating a dialogue via which opinion leaders, influential networks, and decision-makers take ownership of the public's ideas, proposals, and evidence and act on them.

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Joint advocacy is one done on behalf of young children and young adults. This can be perplexing since most individuals feel they know a lot about children and what is best for them. Additionally, most children and young adults, predominantly from disadvantaged backgrounds, never have a chance to voice their opinions in policy decisions affecting them (Bishop-Josef & Dodgen, 2013). As such, it is vital for those who care for and have knowledge about children and the youth to advocate on their behalf. Effective advocacy should take into consideration all factors influencing a given policy.

Critical Stages

Some critical stages towards creating strong advocacy for the youth and children comprise: defining the issue, reviewing all research pertinent to solving the issue, coming up with precise advocacy goals, and conveying research to abide by the policymaking process, to achieve the advocacy goals. An example of an issue worth advocating for is youth homelessness. Homelessness not only includes living on the streets and informal shelter programs but also lack of tenure and temporary accommodations such as doubling-up and couch-surfing ("Engaging Youth Experiencing Homelessness: Core Practices and Services", 2016).

There are different types of youth homelessness. Nevertheless, there are specific youth subgroups that are more prone to experiencing homelessness. These include the LGBTQ community, pregnant teens, young adults in foster care systems or involved in juvenile justice, immigrants and refugees, rural youth, and victims of sexual exploitation and trafficking ("Engaging Youth Experiencing Homelessness: Core Practices and Services", 2016). Advocating for youth homelessness is often challenging due to hindrances such as legal issues since several states require parental permission for care providers to treat unaccompanied youth. At times, teens are unwilling or unable to secure such permission. Another hindrance is the rigid agency policies that place unrealistic expectations on the youth to conform to certain acceptable behaviors, creating barriers to care.

Conclusion

Another issue worth advocating for is the matter of homelessness in families with young children. In the U.S, families with young children undergoing homelessness make up a third of the citizens facing homelessness on any given night. Fifty-nine per cent of people suffering from family homelessness are young adults under eighteen years ("Homelesness in America: Focus on Families with Children", 2018). Racial demographics show that three-quarters of these families are Black or Hispanic. This calls for advocacy as often these races do not have strong voices advocating for their needs.

References

Bishop-Josef, S., & Dodgen, D. (2013). Advocating for Children, Youth, and Families in the Policymaking Process. Issues in Clinical Child Psychology, 11-16.
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-7456-2_2

Engaging Youth Experiencing Homelessness: Core Practices and Services. www.nhchc.org. (2016). Retrieved 10 December 2020, from
https://www.nhchc.org.

HOMELESSNESS IN AMERICA: Focus on Families with Children. Usich.gov. (2018). Retrieved 10 December 2020, from https://www.usich.gov/resources/uploads/asset_library/Homeslessness_in_America_Families_with_Children.pdf.