The Rural Policy Research Institute (RUPRI) recently held the inaugural meeting of its panel of rural human service practitioners, researchers and policymakers.  RUPRI, in collaboration with the Federal Office of Rural Health Policy in the Department of Health and Human Services, created the panel to advance the understanding of the rural dimension of human service delivery and finance and to effect needed change in policy and practice, through the dissemination of realistic policy and practice recommendations. 

Founding members of the RUPRI Rural Human Services Panel hail from across the country and represent a diversity of rural constituents.  Their expertise covers a wide range of human service issues, including poverty research, child welfare, community development, service delivery administration, immigrants and migrant workers, and legal justice.  Panel members are:

• Kathleen Belanger, Assistant Professor of Social Work at Stephen F. Austin State University
• Vaughn Clark, Director of Community Development at the Oklahoma Department of Commerce
• Jerry Friedman, Executive Director of the American Public Human Services Association
• Mario Gutierrez, Director of Rural & Agricultural Worker Health Programs at the California Endowment
• Susan Patnode, Executive Director of the Rural Law Center of New York
• Bruce Weber, Professor of Agriculture, Resource Economics and Extension Economist at Oregon State University. 

"I am pleased that this impressive group of panelists has committed their time and expertise to this great need for rural people and places.  This panel will model itself after our very effective RUPRI Rural Health Panel, which has had a noticeable impact on rural health policy for over 15 years through their policy engagement with Members of Congress and their staff.  While the challenges for human service delivery in rural areas differ from health delivery challenges, the need for a panel to present the policy challenges and recommendations in a coherent, realistic manner is just as critical," said Brian Dabson, RUPRI President. 

Panel topics will cover both macro issues, including social determinants of health and community development, and micro issues that directly address the rural implications of human service policy provisions, proposed legislation and federal regulations.