"Do we deliver quality services? Are our programs effective?
How do we better meet the needs of our changing community?”
Child and family-serving professionals grapple with these questions on a daily basis. Factors impacting the lives of youth and their caregivers are complex. In the current environment, stakeholders and funders require methods grounded in evidence-based practices and models. They want regular reports on how their investments are producing intended changes and effective services. IFF’s Research and Evaluation team specializes in collaborating with the systems and community-based organizations that provide human services to identify and implement applied research techniques that lead to stronger, more effective practices and produce measurable results on targeted outcomes.
IFF operationalizes its commitment to child welfare and human service organizations through applied research, training evaluation, and data collection projects. We support an array of service areas, including language access planning, mental health, child welfare, substance abuse prevention, maternal and child health issues, child and adolescent services, and more strategic issues related to organizational operations and community planning.
Contact:
Ilona Arnold-Berkovits
Director of Research and Evaluation
Institute for Families, School of Social Work
Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey
iff@ssw.rutgers.edu
Applied Research and Program Evaluation: Helping programs understand how they make a difference.
We engage in:
• Needs assessment
• Program evaluation
• Research design
• Evaluation plan development
• Logic model development
• Research questions
• Instrument development (surveys, focus groups, interviews)
• Data collection
• Data analysis
• Literature reviews
• Technical assistance
Training Evaluation: Maintaining high-quality training programs.
We develop tools, standards, and practices that assess and sustain high-quality instructional services focused on producing changes in professional behaviors and skills. We provide stakeholders with comprehensive reports that summarize knowledge gains, service levels, satisfaction with content and instructors, and application of trainee learning experiences to everyday practices.
Disseminating Data: Online data reports and visualizations (public or within organizations).
We engage with databases and data management, data processing, and data hubs/portals (interactive website).
New Jersey Child Welfare Data Hub: Disseminating information about needs and outcomes supporting the safety and well-being of youth.
This interactive hub provides statistics, utilization information, service levels, and outcome rates for children and families across all 21 counties and allows visitors to produce customized data queries. A collaboration with the NJ Department of Children and Families built upon a commitment to transparency and accountability, this information offers the public state- and county-level information about the needs of and services provided by New Jersey’s child welfare and behavioral health system. Dynamic data portals allow visitors to view and manipulate graphs illustrating service and outcome trends targeted by demographic features.
Training evaluation with approximately 70 course titles, 700 courses delivered, and more than 30,000 early childhood educators trained each year. This project includes satisfaction surveys and follow-up email surveys assessing transfer of learning. Read more about the project.
Training evaluation with approximately 100 course titles, 400 courses delivered, and more than 15,000 child support professionals trained each year. This project includes satisfaction surveys, pre/posttests, and follow-up email surveys assessing transfer of learning. Read more about the project.
Training evaluation with approximately 50 course titles, 800 courses delivered, and more than 12,000 child welfare professionals trained. This project includes satisfaction surveys and pre/posttests.
We supported county-specific Human Service Advisory Board planning through custom data guides reporting on more than 75 community indicators that reveal local needs and inform service planning.
A partnership with Family Guidance Center funded by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (SAMHSA) assessed the implementation and outcomes of a Community Behavioral Health Clinic in Warren County. The goal of the clinic was to increase access to and improve the quality of mental health, substance use, and primary care services in Warren County.
In partnership with the Research on Youth Thriving and Evaluation Institute, we evaluated the impacts of web-based content produced by the Center for Parent and Teen Communication (CPTC) at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) on parents of adolescents. The goal was to study how parents shifted their understanding of adolescent development after interacting with CPTC content.
In partnership with the NJDHS Office of New Americans, we examined the language and cultural accessibility needs and gaps connecting communities with limited English proficiency to state-funded services. The work produced a needs assessment, Language Access Plan, and toolkit intended to increase access to services and equitable practices.
The NJCC was developed to identify best practices in forensic evaluations within the state’s child welfare system. Our work included a utilization study of forensic practices, a statewide Quality Improvement Study, and a Quality Improvement Tool to assess practices. We coordinated networking and educational summits, reports on practice issues, learning lectures, and web-based trainings. While NJCC activities concluded in 2020, an inventory of these initiatives is available.
In 2019, NJVAA conducted a needs assessment to assess training needs of the state’s workforce supporting victims of crime. Based on findings, recommendations were made to make training more accessible and useful to their work. Our evaluation informed services provided by the NJ Office of the Attorney General and NJVAA. Companion training evaluation reports detail the effectiveness of more than 60 courses offered to 1,500 professionals supporting survivors of interpersonal violence and other crimes.
We evaluated the effectiveness of Overcoming Obstacles, a national K-12 life skills curricula, and surveyed educators on their experiences. Read more about the project.
