Research Evidence Use and the Process of Improvement in Child Welfare An Introductory Guide

INTRODUCTION. THE CASE FOR RESEARCH EVIDENCE USE  PART 1: CHILD WELFARE SYSTEM DYNAMICS  1.INFLOW AND OUTFLOW  2.THE PROCESS OF IMPROVEMENT AND THE DEMAND FOR EVIDENCE  PART 2: ASKING QUESTIONS AND ORGANIZING DATA  3.THE PROCESS OF IMPROVEMENT STARTS WITH A QUESTION  4.CREATING A LONGITUDINAL DATABASE  PART 3: ANSWERING QUESTIONS TO GENERATE EVIDENCE  5.SAMPLING: SPECIFYING THE ANALYTIC POPULATION  6.COMPUTATION: ANSWERING QUESTIONS ABOUT FREQUENCY AND LIKELIHOOD  7.COMPUTATION: ANSWERING QUESTIONS ABOUT SPEED  8.COMPUTATION: ANSWERING QUESTIONS THAT COMBINE AN INTEREST IN SPEED AND LIKELIHOOD  9.BEYOND ADMISSIONS AND EXITS—ANSWERING QUESTIONS ABOUT OTHER MISSION-CRITICAL OUTCOMES  PART 4: EVIDENCE USE THROUGHOUT THE PROCESS OF IMPROVEMENT  10.BUILDING A CAUSAL HYPOTHESIS  11.IMPLEMENTING INTERVENTIONS AND MEASURING CHANGE OVER TIME  PART 5: BUILDING AN ORGANIZATION THAT SUPPORTS EVIDENCE USE  12.CAPABILITY, MOTIVATION, AND OPPORTUNITY

Biography

Lily T. Alpert is a Senior Researcher at Chapin Hall Center for Children. Through research and direct support to state, local, and private child- and family-serving organizations, her work focuses on the application of longitudinal research methods to the process of improvement. Dr. Alpert holds a Ph.D. in Human Development and Family Studies from the University of Connecticut.

"Achieving positive child welfare outcomes is complex work. Research Evidence Use and the Process of Improvement in Child Welfare provides a thoughtful framework for thinking about those outcomes and the analytic processes necessary to understand what “success” means. Lily Alpert’s work provides numerous real life applications, ensuring the book is useful to a wide audience from new practitioners to seasoned child welfare administrators."

Bonnie Hommrich, Former Commissioner, Tennessee Department of Children’s Services, US

"As a university researcher partnering with child welfare agencies, I find this book invaluable. Alpert persuasively bridges scientific rigor and practice reality in an essential guide to help staff ask better questions and use evidence to drive reform. A foundational resource for students training for a career in human services."

Daniel Webster, Ph.D., Principal Investigator, California Child Welfare Indicators Project, University of California, Berkeley, US

"This book is both an inspiring call to action, and a clear and comprehensive how-to guide. Lily Alpert has spent years teaching this content, distilled here into its most accessible and engaging form in her deeply human, warm, and jargon-free voice. She knows her audience well and has the perfect motivation for them: it helps kids when practitioners put this content into action, and she can prove it!"

Nora Gordon, Ph.D., Distinguished Professor of Public Policy, Georgetown University, US