FamILens: good practices in progress

A group of researchers from the University Center on the Family coordinated by Elisabetta Carrà has been engaged for some years in the application, in Italy, of a model developed in the United States for the analysis of the impact of public policies and services on the well-being of families, called Family Impact. This model is particularly interesting because it is based on the idea that everything that is decided in public policy, which generally focuses on the individual, actually has an impact on his or her family relationships. Failure to take them into account can have serious repercussions on the effectiveness of policies on the one hand and on the well-being of the family and the community on the other, with the effect of creating or amplifying inequalities. The US model is based on five criteria that should guide policymaking: empowering families, promoting their stability, supporting the quality of family relationships, taking into account the diversity among families, actively involving them, promoting their networking. These are criteria that American research has shown to be particularly effective in promoting the well-being of families. In 2020, the Family Center filed an application for the registration of the FamILens trademark to guarantee a theoretical and research heritage, unique in Italy, which has developed with the intention of applying the American model in our country as well.

Thanks to a three-year funding obtained from a call for proposals from Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore to support projects of particular cultural importance, a research project has been launched, directed by E. Carrà (Multifaceted FamILens), aimed at developing a tool applicable to various areas of intervention, to verify ex ante, in itinere and ex post the repercussions on families of policies and practices, leveraging the model of family impact.

A large group of researchers belonging to different disciplinary fields (sociology, psychology, economics, statistics and pedagogy) is involved in the project. The first task will be to address the question of what it means to adopt a view that puts the family back at the center in the different disciplinary fields, where this approach is already practiced, what hinders it, what could be done to promote it and what changes would be essential to promote its diffusion. At the same time, research will start aimed at developing specific family impact indicators, which decline the 5 criteria of FamILens into four areas of intervention: family mediation, home care for the elderly, human resources management and social service in the area of families with minors.

The objective of this phase is to produce practical and easy-to-apply tools that can be attractive to operators and that can constitute a valid support in planning future policies or modifying those already in place.

Subsequently, four surveys will be carried out aimed at operators in the 4 areas of intervention: family mediators, home assistants, social workers and human resources management. For the latter, it is also hypothesized to carry out a survey on beneficiary families. For the sake of completeness, case studies will be conducted with the aim of bringing out good practices.

This research is perfectly in line with the mission of the Family Center committed to showing the strategic importance of family relationships for the well-being of the person and the community.