Proposal Guidance from NCFR Sections

This year, we have a single call for proposals instead of 12 separate ones. You can still select up to three of NCFR’s 10 sections, and/or the NCFR Students and New Professionals (SNP) group that most align with your topic—this is for planning purposes only.

Learn more about these member groups below and their guidance for your proposals for 2026:

Advancing Family Science Section
Families and Health Section
Family and Community Education Section
Family Policy Section
Family Therapy Section
Feminism and Family Science Section
International Section
Racial and Ethnic Diversity in Families Section
Religion, Spirituality, and Family Section
Research and Theory Section
Students and New Professionals

Advancing Family Science (AFS)
Jaimee Hartenstein, Chair

The AFS Section aims to expand, strengthen, and enhance the Family Science discipline and profession. It is dedicated to addressing issues critical to the sustainability of Family Science programs, including effective program marketing and recruiting, innovative teaching methods, curriculum development and evaluation, administrative best practices, ethical considerations, and the overall advancement of Family Science as a discipline.

For the 2026 conference, the AFS Section seeks proposals that engage with the theme, Families at the Nexus of Law and Policy: The Intended and Unintended Consequences of Legislating Families and Relationships. The AFS Section welcomes innovative submissions that highlight family and community dynamics within this theme, particularly those that focus on strategies to prepare students for evolving environments and advance the development of Family Science in times of change.

Suggested proposal topics include (but are not limited to):

• Outreach and Marketing Innovations: Approaches that elevate the visibility of Family Science, supporting NCFR’s outreach efforts.
• Student Recruitment and Retention: New tactics for attracting and keeping students in Family Science programs.
• Public Engagement in Family Science: Methods for communicating the value of Family Science to the public, especially in supporting family experiences of power, privilege, and difference.
• Pedagogical Advances: Strategies for leveraging innovative teaching approaches to improve student outcomes. How can pedagogy evolve to address the lived experiences of students and families, especially regarding the concepts in the theme?
• Inclusive and Transformative Practices: New paradigms for working with families in diverse communities and changing environments. How has faculty work evolved to meet the needs of families and address their experiences of power, privilege, and difference?
• Global and Community Engagement: Expanding the reach of Family Science through community initiatives and study abroad programs.

Please note: Proposals focusing on theory development, research methodology, or specific family issues are better suited to other NCFR sections.

The AFS Section welcomes a variety of presentation formats, including presentations and panels, workshops, posters, and resource exchange roundtables. See special instructions for resource exchange proposals in the call for proposals.

AFS Section members are eligible for several awards.

Contact: Jaimee Hartenstein, Department of Human Development and Family Science, University of Central Missouri; email: hartenstein@ucmo.edu

Families and Health (FH)
Daphne C. Hernandez, Chair

The FH Section promotes the health and well-being of all families and their members through interdisciplinary practice, research, education, and policies related to family health. FH members collectively work across disciplines to improve the health and well-being of individuals, families, and communities. We view health holistically and on a continuum, encompassing a variety of wellness and disease states. We encourage innovative proposal submissions that deepen members’ understanding of strategies to promote health and well-being and lessen health disparities and concepts related to the conference theme.

This year’s conference theme, Families at the Nexus of Law and Policy: The Intended and Unintended Consequences of Legislating Families and Relationships, fits well with our section. We encourage proposals to consider: 

• ways that individuals, families, and communities’ power or privilege have helped or hindered the health of families, and
• how responses to the various mechanisms – discrimination, economic stressors, psychosocial stressors, and other individual, family, and community stressors - faced in recent years may differentially influence the families’ health depending on their power or privilege (or their lack of).

The 2026 theme lends well to proposals that emphasize families’ adaptation to laws and policies in the face of prosperity and extreme challenges. All proposals relevant to families and health will be considered but priority will be given to those that support the conference theme/subthemes.

Topics may include any of the following related to couple and family relationships. These topics can be specific to a developmental stage or take a life course perspective:

• adverse childhood experiences (ACES);
• adaptive athletics;
• anorexia, bulimia, disordered eating;
• chronic pain, pain management;
• community-based interventions to improve health and wellness;
• community services on health (e.g., education, services, and supports through schools, health care centers, community mental health centers, military, churches, parks, and recreation centers);
• community violence (including mass shootings, war, and political unrest);
• disabilities (e.g., learning, physical/mobility, brain injuries, impairments);
• family caregiving (ongoing care for the health needs of an older adult family member or friend);
• firearm violence;
• grief and loss;
• health behaviors (e.g., exercise, sleep);
• health promotion programs (e.g., community health workers, nursing);
• housing instability and homelessness;
• human trafficking (sexual economies, forced labor, isolation);
• immigrant and refugee health;
• intergenerational relationships and transfer;
• intimate partner violence (e.g., emotional, financial, psychological, physical, sexual, technological abuse);
• mental health;
• access to health resources/facilities, disparities in diagnosis and treatment;
• nutrition (feeding practices, diet behaviors, food insecurity);
• nutrition-related outcomes (diabetes, cardiovascular disease, obesity);
• physical health;
• relational influences on health (e.g., siblings, partners, aging parents); and
• substance abuse.

Established scholars, new professionals, and students are encouraged to submit proposals. In addition, established scholars are encouraged to collaborate with students and/or new professionals on submissions.

Each year at the conference, FH acknowledges outstanding student and professional papers, and student posters, with honors that include plaques or certificates and monetary awards. Please look for those calls. We cannot wait to reward members for their hard work!

Contact: Daphne C. Hernandez, Department of Research, Cizik School of Nursing, University of Texas Health Science Center – Houston; email: daphne.hernandez@uth.tmc.edu

Family and Community Education Section (FCE)
Jacquelyn Mallette, Chair

The Family and Community Education (FCE) Section supports and unites members of NCFR who are involved with and interested in translating Family Science into effective community education and enrichment for individuals, couples, and families. The 2026 conference theme, Families at the Nexus of Law and Policy: The Intended and Unintended Consequences of Legislating Families and Relationships, offers an opportunity to submit proposals that examine how laws and policies shape family life and how family and community education can inform, respond to, and influence these systems to promote the thriving of every family.

Family and Community Education is uniquely positioned at the intersection of research, practice, and policy. Through evidence-informed programming, community engagement, and applied scholarship, Family Life Educators and community educators translate research into accessible, actionable resources that reach families, practitioners, and decision-makers. We invite proposals that demonstrate how community education efforts are shaped by legal and policy contexts, how educators and practitioners navigate these systems, and how family and community education can serve as a bridge between Family Science and the broader policy ecosystem.

Proposals for this section may share innovative, evidence-informed resources and foster dialogue about methods, materials, programs, and processes aimed at enriching the lives of individuals, couples, and families across the life course. We are particularly interested in proposals that encourage collaboration among researchers, practitioners, and policymakers and that demonstrate clear implications for family and community education. All proposals relevant to family and community education will be considered; however, priority will be given to proposals that clearly align with the conference theme and subthemes.

Examples of presentation topics may include, but are not limited to:

• New and innovative ways of delivering Family Life Education and community programming that respond to legal and policy contexts affecting families;
• Translation of Family Science into community-based resources that inform policy, advocacy, or policy implementation;
• Examination of critical gaps in community education programming and training related to law and policy (e.g., child welfare, immigration, caregiving, custody and divorce, economic supports, healthcare, or family regulation);
• Effective use of innovative online and emerging technologies to expand access to family education and policy-relevant information;
• Approaches that support practitioners and families in understanding, navigating, or challenging harmful, unscientific, or inequitable policies;
• Sustainability strategies for community programs addressing policy-driven family needs using evidence-based approaches;
• Effective and innovative Family Life Education practices for diverse populations that promote resilience, healing, and family thriving within complex policy environments;
• Cutting-edge community education programs that engage researchers, practitioners, and policymakers in collaborative problem-solving.

As has been done at previous conferences, the Advancing Family Science and Family and Community Education Sections will again feature Resource Exchange Roundtables. The Resource Exchange Roundtables are an interactive opportunity to demonstrate an educational, administrative, enrichment, or pedagogical resource that has been particularly useful when working with students, families, professionals, or other populations. Presenters must provide a tangible resource to participants and include an example of that resource in the proposal. Resource Exchange Roundtable submissions go through the normal proposal review and evaluation process; those accepted are peer reviewed.

We encourage proposals from established scholars, practitioners, new professionals, and students. Proposals that are first authored by FCE Section members are eligible for FCE Proposal Awards, including four Student Proposal Awards and two Professional Proposal Awards. In addition, professionals may be considered for two named section awards, the Margaret E. Arcus Award and the Ernest G. Osborne Award. See descriptions of awards at https://www.ncfr.org/awards/section-awards.   

Contact: Jacquelyn K. Mallette, Department of Human Development and Family Science, East Carolina University; email: mallettej16@ecu.edu

Family Policy (FP)
Jordan A. Arellanes, Chair

Family Policy Section Mission Statement 
The Family Policy (FP) Section devotes itself to promoting effective social action for individuals and families by monitoring pressing policy issues, evaluating the potential impacts of new policies, working for effective change, and creating strategies to educate and raise awareness, resulting in improved quality of life for individuals, families, and society.

Conference Vision
In 2025, NCFR adopted the vision of Every Family Thriving which positions NCFR as a leader in disseminating knowledge and influencing the entire policy ecosystem about the possible effects of policy on relationships and families. The theme of the 2026 NCFR Annual Conference could not be timelier, given NCFR’s new vision and rapid shifts in the policy and legal landscape. The overarching goals for this conference are to showcase cutting-edge scholarship and practice that positions families at the nexus of law and policy and foster connection, collaboration, and partnership that lead NCFR to its new mission of every family thriving. 
 
Family Policy Section Purpose and Goals
Given NCFR’s vision and goals, the Family Policy Section is uniquely positioned to be a source of strength for NCFR membership. This section is the heart of research and practice centered in law, policy, and families. We welcome research on policies at the federal, state, or local levels and encourage the use of a family impact lens. A vast majority of the research being done by NCFR members has policy recommendations and implementations. Yet, too often these implementations become tangential to the topic of interest. Our section is dedicated to supporting research that clearly defines how and why research relates to and informs policy, while also serving as a resource to help scholars and practitioners learn to center their work in political ramifications.

1. We expect that, given the theme of the conference, our section will receive ample conference submissions. We will prioritize paper and poster submissions that clearly outline how and why their work relates to and informs a specific policy, law, or practice. 
2. All topics related to family policy will be considered. Priority will be given to submissions that align with the conference theme and subthemes addressing the following areas:
   1. We are particularly interested in workshops related to professional development for attendees, which provide resources for teaching family policy and translate research into useful materials that shape policy briefs.
   2. Research with direct relevance to statutory, regulatory, or judicial decision-making, including implications for family law and public policy.
   3. Clear translation of Family Science for legislative and policy impact, such as policy briefs, testimony, or applied dissemination strategies.
   4. Work that explicitly bridges family law, family policy, and Family Science, highlighting their intersections and mutual influence.
   5. Research that connects micro-level family processes to macro-level policy contexts, including social, legal, and institutional systems.
   6. Critical examinations of the processes and impacts of legislating relationships, particularly those centering lived experience and diverse perspectives.
   7. Examples of Family Science applied in real-world policy settings, including program design, implementation, evaluation, or advocacy-informed practice.
   8. Innovative or interactive presentation formats that foster engagement and collaboration among researchers, practitioners, policymakers, and communities.
3. As part of our mission, we have decided to hold a call for papers to be part of two symposium submissions. Intention to submit to these symposiums should be emailed to Jordan Arellanes (jaarell@ilstu.edu) by March 13th to receive priority. Notification about the fit of papers into the symposium will be sent back to authors by March 18th. 
   1. The Influence of Immigration Policy on Family Well-Being: We seek papers that examine how current immigration policy is influencing family well-being across diverse ethno-racial identities and national backgrounds.  
   2. The State of Family in a Post-Dobbs Era: Legal Change, Family Well-Being, and Policy Impact: We seek papers that examine how post-Dobbs legal and policy environments are currently influencing family well-being across diverse populations, including reproductive decision-making, caregiving arrangements, economic stability, and access to health and social services.
4. If you have questions about this call for submissions or have ideas for alternative symposiums, please email Jordan Arellanes at jaarell@ilstu.edu.

We look forward to a wonderful conference where we can collaborate on some of the most pressing issues of our time. 

Awards: The FP Section recognizes exceptional student and professional work through its awards. Visit ncfr.org/awards/section-awards/family-policy for more information.

Contact: Jordan A. Arellanes, Associate Professor of Psychology, Illinois State University; email: jaarell@ilstu.edu.

Family Therapy (FT)
Alyssa Witting Banford, Chair

The FT Section unites members who share common interests, goals, and purposes in couple, marriage and family therapy. The section improves the practice of family therapy through the promotion of: 

a) open dialogue between clinicians and researchers relative to couple, marital and family therapy theories, research, practice and training; 
b) the integration of theory, research and practice; and 
c) effective, efficient, and ethical practice methods. 

The theme of the 2026 conference, Families at the Nexus of Law and Policy: The Intended and Unintended Consequences of Legislating Families and Relationships challenges us to consider the social and ecological context of families today. For the family therapy section in particular, this theme can call us to consider how clinicians address these socio-ecological contexts in the therapy room, how social context influences mental and relational health, and what impact therapists can have in this vein. 

We hope that the 2026 conference theme will attract cutting edge scholarship covering a broad range of relationally oriented clinical research that examines clear and actionable research questions related to the theme of law, policy, legislation and how these affect family life and the therapeutic process. All proposals relevant to Family Science will be considered, but priority will be given to those that support the theme/subthemes of the conference.

We are seeking proposals focused on (but not limited to): 

• Developing and testing clinical theories (e.g., theories which link family therapy practice to legislation) 
• Creating and evaluating therapeutic interventions (e.g., interventions which address and/or clarify the role of law, legislation and policy as it relates to mental and relational health); 
• Improving the training and supervision of marriage and family therapists (e.g., training and supervising clinicians who are aware of how legislation and policy influence mental health and marriage and family therapy interventions); and 
• Presenting innovative mechanisms to access data and conduct research. Special consideration will be offered for proposals which include clinical data. We also invite submissions on a wide variety of other topics important to the family therapy field. 
• Research and applied presentations can focus on systemic topics including but not limited to: 
  • Adoption;
  • Incarcerated families;
  • Gender affirming care;
  • How professionals can support family thriving when it can cost them professionally;
  • Workshop on nonacademic clinical careers;
  • Local service providers/administrators around a topic;
  • Child and family advocacy center;
  • Advocates for family peace;
  • Military families;
  • Divorce & custody. 

Established researchers, therapists, and educators as well as students and new professionals are encouraged to submit proposals. Student and new professional poster and paper submissions that are first authored by FT Section members are eligible for awards within the section (please see descriptions on our section website at bit.ly/NCFR-FTawards and attend to the award solicitation discussion board posting in the fall). In addition to the general NCFR review criteria for proposals, the FT Section expects that proposals will include clear and practical implications for clinicians, educators, or supervisors, and clear emphasis the profession of couple, marriage and family therapy. 

Contact: Alyssa Banford Witting, Marriage and Family Therapy Programs, School of Family Life, Brigham Young University; email: alyssa_banfordwitting@byu.edu

Feminism and Family Science (FFS)
Andrea Roach, Chair

The FFS Section works to integrate feminist scholarship and perspectives into theory, research,and applied work with families. As feminist family scholars we explore, question, and critique biases and assumptions within the Family Science discipline to foreground and change interlocking systems of privilege and oppression (e.g., challenging sexist, racist, classist, ableist, cissexist, and heterosexist beliefs).

Drs. Brian Ogolsky and Jennifer Hardesty, the 2026 conference Program Chairs, have chosen the theme Families at the Nexus of Law and Policy: The Intended and Unintended Consequences of Legislating Families and Relationships. Drs. Ogolsky and Hardesty would like to highlight the consequences, both intended and unintended, of legislating relationships, particularly as they pertain to families at the margins. They are adopting an innovative approach to planning conferences by incorporating daily themes and requesting proposals that align with both the overall conference theme and each daily theme.

In our section’s ongoing commitment to fighting systematic oppressions and inequities, we particularly encourage work that is grounded in intersectionality, critical frameworks, and praxis, including but not limited to critical race, critical femininities, queer, Black, Chicana, Indigenous, and anti-colonial feminisms. We encourage submissions that foreground how White heteropatriarchal systems shape our understandings of individual, familial, and community well-being, or lack thereof. Submissions that are critical, reflexive, and explicit in identifying ways to promote individual, family, and community well-being are also welcome. 

We encourage transdisciplinary work, grounded in sociohistorical and cultural contexts, furthers NCFR’s goals of disseminating high-quality scholarship and theory and engaging with diverse communities and practitioners. We invite proposals advancing feminist theories and practices related to the conference theme. Established professionals, newer professionals, and undergraduate and graduate students are all encouraged to submit proposals.

While not limited to these areas, some suggested topics for proposals may include:

• shifting theoretical paradigms to engage with anti-racist, feminist, and queer theories;
• Black, Indigenous, Latinx, Asian, Queer, and Trans joy, liberation, agency, and collectivism;
• reproductive justice, trans rights, and ableism in the face of ongoing policy changes;
• challenging patriarchal, heteronormative, colonialist, U.S.-centric, and White supremacist;
• ideologies in family scholarship and praxis;
• family and interpersonal violence survivors as agents of change, navigating inequitable and;
• unjust systems as they strive for safety, justice, and healing;
• praxis through resistance and focusing on structural issues; and
• feminist and critical pedagogy.

Contact: Andrea Roach, Assistant Professor in Child and Family Science, California State University, Fresno; email: aroach@csufresno.edu

International (IN)
Jou Chen-Chen, Chair

The International (IN) Section aims to deepen understanding of the diverse, contextually grounded ways family processes, relationships, and well-being are shaped worldwide. The section promotes cross-national and international family research, education, policy, and practice, and facilitates communication and collaboration among international family scholars. Through its global focus, the IN Section highlights how families are embedded within legal, policy, and sociocultural systems and how these systems shape family life across national and regional contexts.

Connection to the 2026 Conference Theme
With its international and comparative lens, the IN Section is well-positioned to make significant contributions to the 2026 NCFR conference theme, Families at the Nexus of Law and Policy: The Intended and Unintended Consequences of Legislating Families and Relationships. Laws and policies governing families vary widely across countries, yet families everywhere must navigate legal systems related to marriage, parenthood, migration, caregiving, work, health, and social protection. Globalization, transnational mobility, and international human rights frameworks further connect family lives across borders, making international perspectives essential to understanding how law and policy operate as macro-level forces within the social ecology of families.
The IN Section is uniquely equipped to address the conference theme by centering:

• Comparative and cross-national analyses that illuminate how different legal and policy regimes shape family outcomes;
• Families’ lived experiences of law and policy, particularly among marginalized, mobile, and transnational populations;
• The translation of international family scholarship into policy-relevant insights and practice-oriented applications.

Proposals submitted to the IN Section should explicitly link their work to the conference theme and/or one or more daily subthemes, including intended and unintended policy consequences, neglected or underexamined policy issues, and the role of family scholars as change agents within policy ecosystems.

Expectations for Proposals
The IN Section welcomes proposals using qualitative, quantitative, mixed-methods, theoretical, or interdisciplinary approaches. Submissions should clearly articulate:

• The international, cross-national, or global context of the work;
• How law, policy, or legal institutions shape family processes, relationships, or well-being;
• The implications for policy, practice, education, or advocacy, including how findings may inform family-centered policy design, implementation, or reform.

Proposals that explicitly address policy translation, practitioner relevance, or collaboration among researchers, practitioners, and policymakers are especially encouraged.

Topics of Interest
Possible topics related to the conference theme include, but are not limited to:

• Comparative studies of family law, social policy, and welfare systems across countries or regions;
• The impact of migration, refugee, asylum, and citizenship policies on transnational, immigrant, and mixed-status families;
• Family responses to global crises, including war, displacement, climate change, pandemics, and economic instability;
• Legal and policy regulation of marriage, divorce, parenthood, caregiving, and kinship in diverse cultural contexts;
• Policy impacts on marginalized families, including ethnic, racial, religious, sexual, and gender minorities, Indigenous families, and displaced populations;
• International perspectives on children’s rights, gender equality, reproductive justice, aging, and intergenerational care;
• The role of international organizations, human rights frameworks, and transnational advocacy in shaping family policy;
• Practice- and community-based approaches that support family resilience and well-being across global contexts;
• Cross-national work aligned with daily subthemes, such as unintended policy consequences, underexamined family issues, or strategies for engaging law and policy systems.

Authors are encouraged to explicitly connect their topic to the broader social ecology of families and to consider how international perspectives can inform more equitable and effective family policies and practices.

Inclusivity and Outreach
All proposals relevant to Family Science will be considered; however, priority will be given to submissions that clearly engage with the conference theme and subthemes. The IN Section strongly encourages submissions from international scholars, graduate students, early-career professionals, and practitioners, and seeks broad geographic representation. Graduate students and scholars from underrepresented regions are especially encouraged to submit their work.

Contact: Jou-Chen Chen, Associate Professor, Family Science, Western Michigan University; Email: jou-chen.chen@wmich.edu

Racial and Ethnic Diversity in Families (REDF)
Denzel L. Jones, Chair

The REDF Section examines the multifaceted challenges and issues that affect individuals, families, youth, and communities within sociopolitical, historical, economic, and cultural contexts. Our work centers on ethnicity, race, and other social addresses, exploring social, cultural, biological, regional, and ancestral characteristics, traditions, learned behaviors, customs, and adaptive tendencies found at all levels of human ecology. We strive to advance scholarship and practice that promotes equity, justice, and well-being among racially and ethnically diverse families.

The 2026 NCFR conference theme, Families at the Nexus of Law and Policy: The Intended and Unintended Consequences of Legislating Families and Relationships, invites us to critically examine how laws and policies shape family life and how family scholars can influence these processes. Law and policy profoundly influence racially and ethnically diverse families and often carry consequences that amplify inequities—shaping access to resources, family structures, and lived experiences. The REDF Section is uniquely positioned to analyze these dynamics through a lens of race, ethnicity, and intersectionality, ensuring that scholarship informs culturally responsive policy and practice.

We encourage proposals that consider how legislation and policy intersect with race, ethnicity, and other social positions to advance knowledge that informs equitable policy and practice and shape family life. While all proposals relevant to racially and ethnically diverse families will be considered, priority will be given to those aligned with the conference theme and subthemes. Examples include (but are not limited to):

• Family Autonomy: How do legal definitions of family privilege or marginalize certain racial and ethnic groups?
• Law and Policy Impacts: How do laws and policies governing marriage, parenting, adoption, reproductive rights, immigration, housing, education, or family formation affect racially and ethnically diverse families? What are the intended and unintended consequences of these regulations?
• Intersectionality and Legal Frameworks: How do race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, socioeconomic status, and other social positions intersect to shape families’ experiences under law and policy? What unique challenges arise at these intersections?
• Systemic Inequities: In what ways do systemic racism and other forms of oppression manifest in family-related legislation? How do these frameworks perpetuate disparities or require additional resilience among marginalized families? What strategies dismantle these systems?
• Marginalization and Access: How do legislative actions create or dismantle barriers to resources, opportunities, and protections for racially and ethnically diverse families? What inequities emerge when policies fail to account for cultural and structural diversity?
• Historical and Contemporary Contexts: How have historical legal structures and contemporary policy shifts influenced the lived experiences of racially and ethnically diverse families? What legacies persist, and how do they inform current debates?
• Advocacy and Reform: What programs, policies, and practices are needed to promote equity and justice among racially and ethnically diverse families? How can culturally responsive approaches inform legislative reform and implementation? How can family scholars collaborate with policymakers to promote equity and justice?
• Neglected Issues: What areas of law and policy disproportionately affect racially and ethnically diverse families but remain underexamined?

Scholars, practitioners, and new professionals of all ethnic, racial, and diverse backgrounds are encouraged to submit proposals. We welcome submissions that are innovative, theoretically grounded, and methodologically rigorous. Accepted proposals submitted by Students or New Professionals (SNP)—who are also REDF Section members—will be considered for the SNP Best Proposal Awards for the section. Submissions must demonstrate completed research on a topic directly related to racially and ethnically diverse families. We look forward to your insightful contributions that will help us explore and address the complexities of law, policy, and family life within racially and ethnically diverse communities.

Contact: Denzel L. Jones; School of Counseling, Therapy, and Psychology; Antioch University New England; email: djones10@antioch.edu

Religion, Spirituality, and Family (RSF)
Haley Sherman, Chair

The Religion, Spirituality, and Family (RSF) Section highlights the critical importance of examining religion and spirituality and their intersections with family life. The section focuses on how religious and spiritual beliefs, practices, and institutions shape family experiences and interact with other family-related disciplines and NCFR sections.

The 2026 NCFR conference theme, Families at the Nexus of Law and Policy: The Intended and Unintended Consequences of Legislating Families and Relationships, closely aligns with scholarship in religion, spirituality, and family studies. Laws and policies are often influenced by religious and spiritual values, shaping family formation, functioning, and access to resources. This theme provides an important opportunity for the RSF Section to examine how religion and spirituality intersect with legal and policy contexts to both support and constrain families.

Religion and spirituality may serve as sources of resilience, meaning-making, and healing for families navigating legal and policy-related challenges, particularly those who are marginalized or minoritized. At the same time, religiously informed laws, policies, and institutional practices may produce unintended consequences that exacerbate inequality, exclusion, or harm. Understanding these dual roles is essential for advancing research that critically examines how religion and spirituality influence family life at the intersection of power, policy, and social structure.

We invite RSF section members to consider how religion and spirituality shape, reinforce, or resist legal and policy frameworks affecting families. Proposals that explore both the supportive and restrictive roles of religion and spirituality—and their implications for individuals, families, and communities—are strongly encouraged.

The following questions may help guide proposal development for submission to the RSF Section:

• How do religion and spirituality influence the development, interpretation, or implementation of laws and policies affecting families?
• In what ways do religion and spirituality serve as sources of support or resilience for families navigating legal or policy constraints?
• How have religious or spiritual beliefs contributed to intended or unintended consequences of family-related legislation?
• How have religion and spirituality been used to justify inclusion, exclusion, or differential treatment of families within legal and policy systems?
• How do religion and spirituality intersect with power, privilege, and inequality in shaping families’ access to rights, protections, and resources?
• In what ways do families draw on religion or spirituality to respond to or resist harmful laws or policies?
• How can understanding religion and spirituality enhance our understanding of family resilience amid legal and systemic challenges?

These questions are not intended to be exhaustive but are offered to inspire proposals that demonstrate how a focus on religion and spirituality can meaningfully contribute to this year’s conference theme. All proposals addressing these or related issues concerning religion, spirituality, and family life are welcome.

Contact: Haley Sherman, Department of Psychological Science, Valdosta State University; email: hsherman@valdosta.edu

Research and Theory (RT)
Ashley Ermer, Chair

The RT Section focuses on promoting work that effectively integrates research and theory about families and the context in which families live, work, interact, and develop. All theoretical perspectives and styles of research that emphasize both conceptual and empirical rigor are welcome.

Consistent with the purpose of RT, we invite proposals that:

• rigorously explore the links between theory and the research process or methodologies; and;
• anchor research questions or hypotheses in a clearly articulated theoretical perspective.

We invite you to submit a proposal and encourage your colleagues to do the same. In line with this year’s conference theme Families at the Nexus of Law and Policy: The Intended and Unintended Consequences of Legislating Families and Relationships, we especially welcome proposals focusing on family theory and methodology as related to law and policy. All proposals relevant to Family Science will be considered, but priority will be given to those that support the conference theme. We underscore a call for theoretically grounded proposals that present rigorous, cutting-edge aspects of a content area, methodology, or analytic procedure.

Possible topics of salience to our section might include:

• advances in measurement, assessment, and analysis that are anchored in theory, particularly those that leverage advances in analysis and technology;
• submissions related to the role of theory/methodology in examining the impact of legislative action on relationships and families;
• results from qualitative or quantitative studies that highlight theoretically driven research questions about individual, family, or community; mixed-methods designs are of particular interest; and;
• reports on the development of new theories that account for contemporary understanding of within-group heterogeneity (e.g., variability in outcomes when accounting for social determinants of health and well-being).

Symposium proposals are strengthened by including scholars who are from diverse disciplines or who approach the topic with innovative methodological strategies and theoretical perspectives and should include a maximum of four papers organized around a common theme, with a named discussant.

In addition, formats other than symposia are welcome. Presentations by senior scholars as well as rising new scholars are encouraged, as are proposals by scholars from outside of North America. Presentations stemming from products of prior Theory Construction and Research Methodology (TCRM) Workshops are also encouraged.

We look forward to putting together another great selection of R&T Section sessions.

Contact: Ashley Ermer, Associate Professor, Family Science and Human Development, College for Community Health, Montclair State University; 
email: ermera@montclair.edu 

Students and New Professionals (SNP)
Dane Rivas-Koehl, Program Representative

SNP sessions promote professional skill development and provide relevant information to students (graduate and undergraduate) and new professionals (within five years of their final degree). The primary focus of SNP sessions is to support the professional development of students, teachers, researchers, practitioners, and others at the early stages of their careers.

The 2026 NCFR Annual Conference theme is Families at the Nexus of Law and Policy: The Intended and Unintended Consequences of Legislating Families and Relationships In line with NCFR’s vision that every family can thrive, this theme emphasizes the need for family scientists to engage the broader policy ecosystem by producing, translating, and applying knowledge to inform how laws and policies shape families and relationships. The 2026 conference goals include positioning Family Science at the nexus of law and policy, fostering critical perspectives on legislating relationships, building collaborations among researchers, practitioners, and policymakers, and strengthening the skills needed to engage with and shape the legislative process.

With the conference theme, goals, and the SNP mission in mind, we are particularly interested in proposals that help students and new professionals build concrete skills for conducting, teaching, translating, and applying Family Science in law and policy contexts, especially when working with or on behalf of families most affected by legislative action. Students, new professionals, and seasoned professionals are encouraged to submit proposals.

With this in mind, we welcome proposals related to (non-exhaustive):

• Translating Family Science for policy audiences (e.g., policy briefs, testimony, rapid response research translation, media engagement) and strengthening “research-to-policy” pipelines;
• Practical strategies for engaging in the legislative and policy process (local/state/federal), including relationship-building with policymakers and community partners;
• Navigating ethical, legal, and professional considerations when research, teaching, or practice intersects with contested laws/policies (e.g., research protections, institutional constraints, professional risk);
• Scholar-activism and practitioner-activism in law/policy arenas, including coalition work and community-engaged approaches;
• Preparing for professional roles that bridge Family Science, law, and policy (e.g., nonprofit, government, think tanks, consulting, extension/applied work);
• Becoming an expert resource in legal/policy settings (e.g., serving as a consultant or expert witness; communicating evidence under adversarial conditions);
• Sustaining work-life integration and protecting mental health while doing high-stakes policy-relevant work (burnout prevention, boundaries, support systems);
• Navigating publishing, mentorship, and career pathways when your work centers on legally/politically salient family topics, including experiences of historically excluded/underrepresented scholars.

Proposals are welcome in any format that cultivates skills, knowledge, and critical perspectives relevant to students and new professionals. All proposals relevant to Family Science will be considered; however, priority will be given to sessions that clearly advance the conference theme/subthemes and goals. If you are a student or new professional with a proposal outside of these foci, it may be a better fit in another conference section.

Contact: Dane Rivas-Koehl, Department of Human Development and Family Studies, University of Illinois; email: mdr8@illinois.edu