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Category: Project

Description: The study is a cross-site process evaluation to describe how 13 communities across the United States implemented the Community Collaborations to Strengthen and Preserve Families grants awarded in fiscal years 2018 and 2019 (FY18-FY19) by the Children's Bureau within the Administration for Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. A major aim of the Building Capacity to Evaluate Child Welfare Community Collaborations to Strengthen and Preserve Families (CWCC) Cross-Site Process Evaluation is to advance understanding of collaborative approaches to preventing child maltreatment. The evaluation is being conducted by Abt Associates and Child Trends through a contract from the Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation (OPRE), Administration for Children and Families (ACF), U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, in collaboration with ACF’s Children's Bureau. OPRE’s webpage about the study is located here: https://www.acf.hhs.gov/opre/project/building-capacity-evaluate-child-welfare-community-collaborations-strengthen-and. The study will employ a mixed methods design and collect data between spring 2020 through summer of 2024. It will address the following research questions: 1. What are the promising approaches and challenges in identifying, establishing, and maintaining new and existing partnerships? 2. How are data being linked and used within and across agencies to: (1) identify families in need of child abuse and neglect (CAN) prevention services; (2) identify the specific needs of families; (3) make informed decisions about service provision; (4) inform continuous quality improvement; and (5) track outcomes? 3. How are grant implementation activities structured and operationalized, within and across CWCC grantees? 4. What factors—including state and local policies, geographical location (rural vs. urban), resources, staff and organizational capacity, training, cross-partnership coordination, and existing infrastructure—promote or impede implementation of the child welfare community collaborations, within and across CWCC grantees? 5. To what extent are CWCC grantees planning to sustain activities beyond the current grant, and what factors do they believe will help or hinder these efforts? The study is being conducted by an independent third-party evaluator, Abt Associates and their partners Child Trends and Dr. Sharon McGroder, under contract with the Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation within the Administration for Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.