Research Questions:
- To what extent do program children experience placement stability while in out of home care?
- How much time do program children spend in out of home care prior to permanent placement?
- Do program children have frequent visitation with their biological parents?
- Are program children reunified with their biological parents within 12 months?
- To what extent do program families experience subsequent maltreatment allegations?
- To what extent do program families experience subsequent removals?
Project Design:
Year 1 of the study involved a process evaluation including a best practices assessment, pre-court staffing, and court observation, individual interviews with team members, and a focus group interview with program participants. NPC also provided evaluation technical assistance by informing the development of an in-take form, assisting with the selection of an online database for program data, and reviewing data for accuracy and completeness. In Year 2, NPC is assisting the program in enhancing its data collection strategy and expanding the number and type of data sources and elements collected and analyzed. Quarterly reports are developed to reflect activities, outputs, outcomes, and impacts to promote continuous quality improvement of the program.
Funding Source: The Mat-Su Health Foundation has contracted with NPC Research to conduct the evaluation and provide evaluation technical assistance.
Start Date: April 2018
Project Team
Principal Investigator & Project Director
Project Staff