Child and Family Advocacy

Catalog description

The essence of this course is to learn how to promote and protect both the optimal well-being of children and the core strength of the family unit at all levels in society. To do this, students will use a bioecological systems approach to discern potential harm and/or benefit to children and families and effective solutions at each level. These levels or systems include the micro, meso, exo, macro, and chronosystems. Additionally, this course is multidisciplinary in that utilizes the fields of sociology, family studies, child development, political science, philosophy, and communications. Related skills such as researching, writing, speaking, and social media will be taught. Child and family advocacy will teach students why the family is the most humane, economical, and powerful system known for building competence and character in people. Finally, the course equips students to see how the majority of challenges that children and families face are connected or interrelated, and thus the solutions are similarly correlated. The focus of this course is on the interaction between social science, moral systems, public policies, and gospel doctrines relating to the well-being of children and families.