D3: Cost-Effective Strategies for Evaluation Studies in Child and Family Services
Area of Focus: Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion, Child, Family, and Community Well-Being
Content Level: Doer
This session will cover cost-effective strategies for conducting evaluation studies in child and family services that use a co-design approach. It will address:
- Quasi-experimental design innovations in program evaluation for public and private child welfare agencies that take less than a year to complete and cost less than $70,000
- How to design evaluations so they meet the criteria for acceptance by the Family First Prevention Clearinghouse
- How to design and carry out your research in a way that pays attention to equity and authentic involvement of the community
Presenters will also present lessons learned from recent return on investment evaluations of Family Resource Centers in California, Colorado, Kentucky, and Tennessee. Participants will be encouraged to share their experience and wisdom related to the session’s topics.
Learning Objectives
- Quasi-experimental design innovations in program evaluation for public and private child welfare agencies that are brief and relatively inexpensive to complete
- How to design evaluations so they meet the criteria for acceptance by the Family First Prevention Clearinghouse
- A newly revised, comprehensive handout for this will be provided
- How to design and carry out your research in a way that pays attention to equity and authentic involvement of the community
- A brief checklist released in 2024 will be provided
Presenters
Peter Pecora
Managing Director of Research Services, Professor
Casey Family Programs
Brittany Mihalec-Adkins
Research Scientist II
Child Trends