SAINT PAUL, Minn. — The National Council on Family Relations (NCFR) is pleased to announce Rachel H. Farr, Ph.D., as the new editor of NCFR’s Research and Policy Briefs, which provide policymakers and others with research on families to help inform decisions that affect families at the federal, state, and local levels.

Dr. Farr is an internationally recognized leader and scholar in LGBTQIA+ research. She has extensive research experience with over 75 publications and over 100 presentations. Dr. Farr’s research is respected at the intersection of research and policy. She is cited in 25 amicus briefs and authored one of NCFR’s Research and Policy Briefs. Dr. Farr brings editorial experience from her current role as Associate Editor of the Journal of Family Psychology, as well as recurrent roles as guest editor, editorial board member, and ad hoc editor/reviewer for various journals. Dr. Farr is a Professor and Associate Chair of the University of Kentucky's Psychology Department.

In addition to her family policy and editorial experience, Dr. Farr is an active member of NCFR, serving as co-chair of NCFR’s Adoption and Foster Care Focus Group for over 10 years, a member of the NCFR Family Policy Section since 2012, and an NCFR conference proposal reviewer since 2019. She has presented at numerous NCFR conferences. Outside of NCFR, Dr. Farr has served on many committees to review conference proposals, grants, awards, and other important policy and practice documents for professional organizations.

Dr. Farr has been awarded for her outstanding contributions to benefit children, youth, and families by the American Psychological Association’s Committee on Children, Youth, and Families, as well as her mentorship in research by the Center for Clinical Translational Science and the UK. She has a passion for policy-relevant research about diverse adoptive families and parenting among the LGBTQIA+ community.

“I look forward to the prospect of working closely with Dr. Crosswhite and a variety of scholars who will author these briefs. I am enthusiastic to facilitate and strengthen authors’ connections to policy-oriented scholarship,” Dr. Farr said. She shared her priority to “cover timely and important topics relevant to families.”

“Dr. Farr has impressive family policy knowledge and experience; a solid, established scholarship record emphasizing family-related topics, including policy; and demonstrated competence in writing research and policy briefs,” says Jennifer Crosswhite, Ph.D., NCFR’s senior director of research, family, and policy education. “She will make an excellent editor of the research and policy briefs. I look forward to her experience working with the media and public scholarship to help disseminate the briefs more widely.”

NCFR expresses immense gratitude to Elaine A. Anderson, Ph.D., who served as a dedicated editor to NCFR’s Research and Policy Briefs for the past 6 years. Dr. Anderson has been an amazing leader through the development and production of timely family-focused briefs. Dr. Anderson will be missed!

The purpose of NCFR’s Research and Policy Briefs is to educate policymakers and others who have an investment in families. Brief topics must be timely and include a family perspective. Briefs are based on high-quality research; are educational, nonpartisan, and objective; and are written by experts in the field.