• Rural Domestic Violence and Child Victimization Project: A continuation of a project begun in Fall 1998, evaluating a project to offer enhanced and collaborative services to victims of domestic violence in rural areas. Information gathered from the evaluation is used to modify and refine the program model, identify promising practices for both CAF and domestic violence agency staff, and to assess the impact of the project for children and families. (Anna Rockhill).


• Evaluation of Oregon’s Title IV-E Waiver: This study will investigate the impact of Oregon's waiver from certain federal Title IV-E funding requirements (services to children in foster care). In this second five-year Waiver Project, CWP will conduct an evaluation of the effectiveness of local Waiver projects in improving outcomes identified in the state’s Program Improvement Plan. An additional component of the evaluation will examine the effectiveness of a family decision meeting/service coordination model on outcomes for children and families. (Constance Lehman, Kirstin O’Dell, Angela Rodgers, Shu Liang).


• Periodic Program Improvement Onsite Reviews: CWP research staff will participate in twice annual case reviews in 3-4 selected counties, modeled on the federal CFSR on-site review process. CWP will also develop and conduct a process evaluation and critique of the review process (Diane Yatchmenoff, Claire Poirier).


• Evaluation of the Screening Protocol for 24-Hour Response: An evaluation of a pilot project to test the screening protocol to identify cases for immediate, imminent or regular assignment to the field. The evaluation will examine the extent to which 24-hour response objectives are met, barriers to implementation, and the impact of this practice change (Jim White, Claire Poirier, Jeff Alworth, Mashoula Capous).


• A Model for Recognizing and Assessing Change: The development of an empirically based model to guide workers in recognizing and assessing change in families’
  capacities to meet their children’s needs for safety, permanency, attachment and well-being (Diane Yatchmenoff, Angela Rodgers, Jeff Alworth).


• Empirically Based Training Curriculum: An evaluation of core caseworker training aimed at improving the design and delivery of training services (Mindy Ing).


• Federal System of Care Evaluation: The Child Welfare Partnership will evaluate the implementation of Oregon’s federal System of Care project. One goal of this evaluation is to determine the extent to which Oregon’s Child Welfare System of Care contributed to achieving permanency for children or youth in the least restrictive permanent placements possible in participating sites. (Diane Yatchmenoff)

• The following research and evaluation projects are funded outside of the Child Welfare Partnership’s master agreement with the state, under grants or contracts made directly to the Partnership.


• NWICF Quality Improvement Center in Child Protective Services: CWP will assist in the design and development of the needs assessment for the region (Oregon, Washington, and Alaska) and will conduct a cross-site evaluation of knowledge development grants awarded by the Center in years two, three and four of the project (Diane Yatchmenoff).


• Child Abuse Assessment Centers: The purpose of this project is to develop evaluation and reporting protocols for use by the state’s Child Abuse Assessment Centers and the CAMI Account Coordinator. Written practice standards for the Child Abuse Assessment Centers will be developed using a variety of existing statutes or Oregon Administrative Rules, guidelines of various organizations involved in child safety, while creating new guidelines specific to the needs of the centers of Oregon. (Diane Yatchmenoff, Mandy Davis).


• Children’s Trust Fund of Oregon Evaluation of Funded Projects: Assistance to the CTFO in developing or revising evaluation objectives, methods, and procedures to meet the organization’s needs and the needs of grantee agencies; technical assistance to grantees; data gathering, aggregation and reporting. (Mindy Ing).


• Robert Wood Johnson Substance Abusing Parents and ASFA Project: Study of the impact of ASFA legislation on families who enter the child welfare system with substance abuse issues as a primary concern. (Anna Rockhill).


• JRP Education Project Evaluation: A one-year evaluation of The Education Project, a program aimed at reducing the number of minority youth in Portland public middle schools who are excluded from education due to suspension or expulsion. The project consists of two components: System advocacy training and individual student advocacy (Diane Yatchmenoff, Yuko Spofford).


• OCF Ready to Learn! Evaluation: A three-year evaluation of the training, planning and implementation programs awarded grants from the Oregon Community Foundation’s Ready to Learn! initiative. All of the programs are aimed at supporting school readiness among children aged birth to five. (Constance Lehman).


• Evaluation of Supervising for Excellence in Oregon: An evaluation of the ASFA-related training program for supervisors, funded by a grant from the Children’s Bureau. The evaluation gives feedback on the training content and presentation along with the degree of learning gained by the trainees. (Mindy Ing, Claire Poirier,).


• Schoolworks, Byrne Grant (JRP): Schoolworks aims to reduce juvenile violence by addressing the educational needs of children and adolescents who are at high risk of future delinquency. JRP attorneys and social workers will provide advocacy to youth who are dependency and delinquency clients of JRP. (Anna Rockhill, Jim White).


• Evaluation of Rural Communities Child Welfare Training: This grant, funded by the Children’s Bureau will fund rural child welfare training for child welfare workers in the rural communities of Oregon and Alaska. The evaluation will identify areas of training content and delivery needing revision as well as changes in trainee competencies resulting from their participation in the training. The evaluation will provide important outcome feedback to relevant stakeholders. (Diane Yatchmenoff, Mindy Ing)

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