IS THERE FAMILY POLICY?

Family policy is often equated with welfare programs or problems of female-headed families. Steiner even suggests that: family policy has to do with mechanisms for identifying fami-ly dysfunction, and with the organization of responsibility in public support systems: decisions about when public programs will take up the slack and the conditions under which they will do so. It is also sometimes identified with groups at the extreme ends of the political or religious spectrum. This may be one of the rea-sons that groups such as the extension service have difficulty recog-nizing its importance. But is family policy limited only to families in trouble? What Is Family Policy Family policy has become a popular issue that takes on a variety of meanings depending on the individual or group using the term