The following resources feature family policy research and other projects that were conducted by the Department of Family Science at the University of Maryland, College Park.

Policy and Issue Briefs

General Well-Being

Gay Adoption

Rural Families and Welfare Issues

Narrowed Paths to Economic Well-being for Rural Families

Engaging Unheard Voices

The Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit

Child Care Use by Low Income Rural Families

Health and Mental Health

Drug, Alcohol, and Tobacco Use in Rural, Low-Income Families: An Ecological Risk and Resilience Perspective

Barriers to Mental Health Access for Rural Residents

Physical and Mental Well-being in Urban and Rural Communities: Impact of Non-Medical Factors on Limited Resource Families

Examining Health Care: What's the Public's Prescription?

Food Security

Families and Food Security

Food Insecurity and Food Resource Management

Do Food Programs Make Children Overweight?

Family and Community

Responsible Fatherhood

Rural Mothers Speak: About Relationships - Implications for Marriage-Promotion Policy Initiatives

Social Support: Key to Educational Outcomes Among Rural, Low-Income, Teenage Mothers

Social Support: Marital Status, Social Support, and Psychological Well-Being in Rural, Low-Income Families

Family Policy Election Guide (2004)

In an effort to inform voters about where the two major presidential candidates stood on family-relevant issues, family policy doctoral students in the Department of Family Science at the University of Maryland compiled this family issues voting guide. The guide presents an objective, non-partisan collection of information comparing candidates on important family policies such as health care, child care, stem-cell research, unemployment, immigration, same-sex marriage, welfare reform, and Medicare. Find the guide at: Family_Election_Guide

Rural Families Speak Project

Family Science faculty and graduate students are collaborating with 14 other land-grant universities to conduct an interdisciplinary, multi-state, longitudinal study to assess the impact of declining public assistance on the well-being of families and communities. Findings from this study will provide important information to program administrators and policy makers who are seeking to help families gain, regain, and/or retain their means of economic self-sufficiency. This project is supported by USDA, the Maryland Department of Human Resources, Maryland Cooperative Extension, the American Association of Family and Consumer Sciences, and the University of Maryland.

Maryland Rural Families Speak: On Life in a State of Poverty

Maryland Rural Families Speak: About Food Security

Maryland Rural Families Speak: About Health

Maryland Rural Families Speak: About Employment

Maryland Rural Families Speak: About Public Assistance

Maryland Rural Families Speak: About Mental Health

Maryland Rural Families Speak: About Child Care

Program and Policy Reports from Rural Families Speak

Dorchester County Speaks

Garrett County Speaks

Drama Based on Rural Families Speak

"Checking Out," a drama based on data collected in the Rural Families Speak study, is available from the Maryland Family Policy Impact Seminar. Set in a community grocery store, the drama reveals the lives of three Maryland mothers over three years as they struggle to keep their families fed.

Program Evaluation Reports

Child Support Enforcement Evaluation Report

Dads Make a Difference Evaluation Report

Maryland Responsible Fatherhood Evaluation Report

State-level Data

Kids Count Data
Indicators of child well-being, demographic change, education, economic condition of families, child health, and children in low-income working families

Children's Defense Fund
State profile

Kaiser Family Foundation
Health data

National Center for Children in Poverty
State efforts to promote family economic security

Stateline.org
Budget and taxes, crime and prisons, environment, income and poverty, insurance and accidents, and population

Maryland PUBLIC Policy Links

Department of Legislative Services: Staff

Maryland Manual On-line: A Guide to Maryland Government

Maryland State Archives