Family Policy Council


A Family Policy Council is a group that works to influence government policy and culture. In particular, the term refers to US state-based organizations affiliated with Focus on the Family, a conservative Christian organization. Family Policy Councils work for policies that FotF describes as "pro-family". These include opposition to same-sex marriage, LGBT adoption, and LGBT workplace protections, and support for abstinence-only sex education, increased legal restrictions on abortion and traditional Christian gender roles. FPCs also work to shape public opinion, organize political demonstrations, and cultivate future politicians.
The term "Family Policy Council" has also historically referred to government entities on a couple of occasions. A Washington state coalition of state agencies named Family Policy Council operated from 1992 to 2012. A proposed Delaware government entity was also named Family Policy Council in 1993.
The existence of Focus on the Family's affiliated FPCs has spurred the development of other, sometimes opposing policy organizations. An example is OutNebraska, a "statewide LGBTQ advocacy organization" that works against policy goals of Nebraska Family Alliance

Origins

Focus on the Family states that the first Family Policy Council opened in 1988.
The early history of FPCs was kept "behind the scenes" by FotF. Michael Jameson, a FotF representative, spoke about FotF's nascent effort to create "pro-family" organizations in US states to "affect legislation and to affect our culture" at 1989 Denver meeting of conservative policy groups. The United Methodist Reporter wrote that while FotF "is helping pro-family groups create coalitions, at the same time it is urging them to keep secret their participation in the coalition and even that a coalition exists." Jameson explained that "the coalitions can be more effective with a low profile and by leaving their public identity to the groups comprising the coalitions."
Religion journalist Frederick Clarkson has stated that FotF "often has selected and reshaped an existing state-level organization rather than create a Family Policy Council from scratch." For example, Citizens for Community Values was a Cincinnati anti-pornography organization founded in 1983 before it was reshaped into the official Family Policy Council for Ohio in 1991. The Wisconsin Family Council was founded as Family Research Institute of Wisconsin to advocate for corporal punishment in religious schools in 1986. The Minnesota Family Council was previously known as The Berean League, "a publisher of anti-gay literature." These organizations were taken under the FotF umbrella.
An organization named "Family Policy Council" was active in Richmond, Virginia 1989; it was formed to oppose sex education. Later organizations with names that contain "Family Policy Council" include North Carolina Family Policy Council, founded in 1992.
Family Policy Councils are loosely based on the FotF-affiliated lobbying group Family Research Council, which states: "Family Policy Councils accomplish at the state level what Family Research Council does at the national level - shape public debate and formulate public policy."

Operations

Family Policy Councils sometimes divide their operations into legal entities with differing tax status. For example, Colorado Family Action is a 501 organization, which can legally do more government lobbying than its sibling Colorado Family Action Foundation, a 501 organization dedicated to shaping culture.
As of 2019, Family Research Council's website lists FPCs for 41 states; 39 of these are also listed by Family Policy Alliance. Family Policy Alliance is FotF's state government lobbying arm and liaison to the FPCs.
FPCs' work is socially conservative. FPCs sometimes coordinate their work with, and exchange staff with, a network of fiscal conservative organizations called State Policy Network. A few organizations are both FPC and SPN members, for example, Alabama Policy Institute.

Impact

Family Policy Councils advocated for state bans on same-sex marriage in the 1990s and 2000s, many of which passed into law. A University of Arizona statistical study of the bans concluded that the "measure of Family Policy Council strength in a state increases the probability of adopting a same-sex marriage ban."
An example is Ohio's gay marriage ban, spearheaded by the Ohio FPC in 2004. A lawsuit against the Ohio ban lead to Obergefell v. Hodges, the US Supreme Court decision that legalized gay marriage nationwide in 2015.

Listing of organizations

Focus on the Family affiliates

The following organizations have an official connection to Focus on the Family and its state government lobbying arm, Family Policy Alliance. This is not a complete list.
The following organizations also lobby for policy and encourage cultural change in connection with families. They are not affiliated with Focus on the Family, and may have differing and in some cases opposed policy goals.