2019 National Child Welfare Evaluation Summit

Leveraging Data and Evaluation to Strengthen Families and Promote Well-Being

August 20-21, 2019
Marriott Wardman Park, Washington, DC

Registration for the National Child Welfare Evaluation Summit has reached maximum capacity and is now closed.

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The 2019 Evaluation Summit, Leveraging Data and Evaluation to Strengthen Families and Promote Well-Being, aims to strengthen the link between research and practice in child welfare. The Summit offers a forum for participants to explore foundational questions about how we define and generate evidence, effectively engage with one another to share and interpret data, and identify and use findings to improve child welfare services and inform goals for the future of child welfare at the local and national levels. Participants will discuss practical, ethical, and methodological dilemmas that accompany our efforts to conduct analyses, research, evaluation, and continuous quality improvement (CQI) and apply results to improve outcomes.

During the Evaluation Summit, attendees will:

• Share ideas and learn from each other
• Examine designs and methods
• Discuss familiar and emerging challenges and opportunities
• Present research and evaluation findings
• Exchange tools and tips
• Build new skills
• Expand professional networks
• Explore possible solutions from multiple perspectives

Plenary Sessions

The Opening and Closing Plenary sessions will invite Evaluation Summit participants to reflect on the shift toward prevention in child welfare and how data and evaluation can be leveraged to improve practice, strengthen families, and promote well-being. Attendees will consider the implications of our momentum toward evidence-based practice and policy in child welfare and consider the state of research, evaluation, and CQI in the field. Presenters will highlight opportunities and propose strategies to support the pursuit of “what works” for children, youth, and families. Attendees will hear from a variety of perspectives as they explore the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead.

Concurrent and Poster Sessions

Evaluation Summit participants will choose from more than 100 workshops and discussion sessions and 50 poster presentations by child welfare agency leaders, researchers, evaluators, funders, policy makers, practitioners, and other stakeholders on topics that include:

• Defining “evidence-based practice” and increasing access to the evidence-building process
• Sharing results and lessons learned from title IV-E waiver demonstration projects and other federal demonstration grants, including those related to family-group decision making, youth-at-risk for homelessness, supportive housing for families, serving families affected by substance use, and others
• Identifying and exploring disparities in child welfare services and outcomes
• Responding to the requirements of, and opportunities afforded by, the Family First Prevention Services Act
• Exploring the potential promise and risks inherent in using predictive analytics and other approaches with “big data”
• Making data and evaluation more consumable and using novel techniques to communicate results
• Co-creating, implementing, and evaluating interventions with children, youth, families and front-line child welfare staff
• Assessing the cost and return on investment of prevention services and collaboration efforts
• Reconciling dominant and other worldviews about what constitutes “rigorous” research and evidence
• And more!

2019 Evaluation Summit Program at a Glance

Additional Information

Find out more about the 2019 National Child Welfare Evaluation Summit on the Evaluation Summit website. Resources include:

• Information and materials from past evaluation summits
• Registration, hotel, and travel information
• “Spread the Word” materials
• Frequently asked questions and contact information

For more information about the 2019 Evaluation Summit, explore the website or contact the conference organizers at summit2019@impaqint.com.