The Role of Policy: Shining a Light on the Experiences of Latinx Children, Youth, and Families

• In Event: Interventions with Latinx families: the role of family, culture, and policy.

Abstract

Latinx children and youth spend most of their time with their families (Lansford et al., 2001; Murry & Lippold, 2018). Due to the central role of the family in shaping children and youth's developmental competencies, it is important to highlight the need for policies and programs to support not only Latinx children and youth but also their families. The family is the first context in which children and youth are socialized around how to value and envision their life trajectories. For instance, a recent study focused on Mexican‐origin youth followed from seventh grade to eleventh grade revealed that mothers' and fathers' educational expectations for their youth were critical in shaping youth's own competence and educational expectations across adolescence (Aceves et al., 2020). Family is therefore critical in shaping children and youth’s developmental success not just in their educational outcomes but beyond (Aceves et al., 2022).
This presentation aims to highlight how policy plays an integral role in the experiences of Latinx children, youth, and their families. Often research focuses on the direct implications that research has on families, youth, and children, but forgets to describe the impact it can have on policies and institutions (e.g., school systems) that can directly shape the developmental experiences of Latinx children, youth, and families. This presentation will first discuss key demographic information on Latinx children, youth, and families that highlight their current experiences in the U.S. The second part of the presentation will talk about how key national policies and programs have impacted the experiences of Latinx children, youth, and families. The third part of this presentation will describe the holistic approach for Latinx children and youth’s developmental competencies model with a focus on describing the family component (see Figure 1; Aceves et al., 2022). Finally, this presentation will discuss policy and practice recommendations that can be implemented by stakeholders involved and invested in improving the experiences of Latinx children, youth, and families (see Table 1 for examples of the recommendations that will be discussed). The overall goal of this presentation is to complement the research presented in this panel and share how research connects to policy and practice; and its ability to actively improve the experiences of Latinx children, youth, and families (Aceves et al., 2022).

Authors

• Lorena Aceves, Child Trends -Maryland
  Presenting Author

• Max Crowley, Penn State University

• Brenda Rincon, University of California - Riverside

• Diamond Bravo, University of California - Riverside