Tag Archives: Office of Planning Research and Evaluation

The Mother and Infant Home Visiting Program Evaluation: Early Findings on the Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting Program – A Report to Congress

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2/6/2015

The Mother and Infant Home Visiting Program Evaluation: Early Findings on the Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting Program – A Report to Congress presents the first findings from the Mother and Infant Home Visiting Program Evaluation (MIHOPE), the legislatively mandated national evaluation of the Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting program (MIECHV or the Home Visiting Program). The report includes an analysis of the states’ needs assessments, as well as baseline characteristics of families, staff, local programs, and models participating in the study. The information in this report provides a foundation for understanding the implementation and impacts of MIECHV-funded home visiting programs. Later reports will explore the local and national implementation of those programs, and their effects on families with young children.

The study is being overseen by OPRE and conducted by MDRC in partnership with James Bell Associates, Johns Hopkins University, Mathematica Policy Research, the University of Georgia, and Columbia University. The study’s design and plans for the content of the Report to Congress reflect advice from the Secretary’s Advisory Committee on the Maternal, Infant and Early Childhood Home Visiting Program Evaluation.

Note: The current version of the report and Executive Summary include corrections on pages ES-7 and 47; specifically, 33 percent of mothers reported binge drinking or using illegal drugs before pregnancy and 40 percent exhibited symptoms of depression or anxiety. The previous version included incorrect figures.

Source: Office of Planning, Research & Evaluation, Administration for Children and Families

Available at: http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/opre/resource/the-mother-and-infant-home-visiting-program-evaluation-early-findings-on-the-maternal-infant-and-early-childhood-home-visiting

Child Development Research Fellowship Program

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5/14

Closing Date: July 14, 2014

This funding opportunity, originally announced for FY 2013, will be published for FY 2014 competition and award. ACF is funding a cooperative agreement to sponsor the Child Development Research Fellowship that will allow child development professionals from the academic community the opportunity to actively participate in policy-relevant research activities associated with Administration for Children and Families (ACF) programs. The goal of the fellowship program is to expose researchers to a policy environment and thereby to expand and enrich the field’s capacity for policy-relevant research. The program is intended to stimulate the active exchange of child development research and evaluation information directly relevant to ACF programs and to inform the process of developing long-term research and evaluation agendas across the various ACF programs and in the research community at large. The public will benefit from the increased availability of researchers highly skilled and experienced in policy-relevant research and evaluation. Fellows will be able to work on-site in the Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation (OPRE) of ACF, or other offices engaged in research on low income children and families, on a full-time basis for a period of one year, with a possible second and third year at the discretion of the grantee, and depending on availability of funds and continued interest of the placement agency. The cooperative agreement will require active partnership between the successful applicant and OPRE.

Source: Office of Head Start

Available at: http://hsicc.cmail1.com/t/ViewEmail/j/AE077DF6A4FE8A1F/2ABD24CF6E74000C0F8C96E86323F7F9

Child Care and Early Education Policy and Research Analysis and Technical Expertise Project, 2005-2013 | Office of Planning, Research & Evaluation | Administration for Children and Families

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6/2013

The Child Care and Early Education Policy and Research Analysis and Technical Expertise Project is a contract awarded by the Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation to Child Trends. The purpose of this contract is to support the provision of expert consultation, assessment and analysis in child care and early education policy and research to the Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation (OPRE), in the Administration for Children and Families (ACF), including activities related to: (a) providing expert advice, assistance and consultation in support of the agency’s research priorities and goals; (b) conducting assessment, analyses and summaries of policies, practices and research of relevance to the agency’s mission; (c) conducting studies to inform policy and practice and the development of new research priorities; (d) identifying and refining measures and instruments to improve the collection of data related to program policies and practices, and to program outcomes for families and children; (e) identifying sources of data and conducting statistical analyses on national and other original data-sets to answer questions of relevance to the Agency on child care utilization, child care supply, and the effects of child care and other early childhood policies on parental and child outcomes; (f) providing technical assistance and expertise in the preparation of written materials; and (g) convening experts on early care and education research and policy issues of relevance to the administration of the Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF) and other early childhood programs in States, Territories, and Tribes. Products supported through this contract include literature reviews, measures compendia, meeting summaries, briefing papers, webinars, research briefs, and research-to-policy/research-to-practice briefs.

Source: Office of Planning, Research & Evaluation, Administration for Children and Families

Available at: http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/opre/research/project/child-care-and-early-education-policy-and-research-analysis-and-technical

Two OPRE Graduate Research Grant Announcements

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The Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation (OPRE) in the Administration for Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has recently published two discretionary research funding announcements titled “Early Care and Education Research Scholars: Head Start Graduate Student Research Grants” and “Early Care and Education Research Scholars: Child Care Research Scholars,” which are summarized below.

If you have questions regarding either or both grant announcements, please email the OPRE grant review team at HSGraduateResearchReviews@icfi.com or call 1-877-350-4624.

Grant Opportunity 1: Head Start Graduate Student Research Grant

The full announcement for “Early Care and Education Research Scholars: Head Start Graduate Student Research Grants” is available online at: http://www.acf.hhs.gov/grants/open/foa/view/HHS-2012-ACF-OPRE-YR-0281. These grants are meant to facilitate high quality research that directly addresses the needs of low-income children, families, and their early childhood educators, to inform and improve Head Start policies and practice, and to foster mentoring relationships between faculty members and high quality doctoral students.

Who is eligible to apply? Head Start Graduate Student Research grants are available to support dissertation research by advanced graduate students from relevant disciplines who are working in partnership with Head Start or Early Head Start programs and faculty mentors.

Eligible applicants include doctoral level graduate students enrolled in accredited public, State-controlled, and private institutions of higher education. The institution must be fully accredited by one of the regional accrediting commissions recognized by the Department of Education and the Council for Higher Education Accreditation.

What is the funding award limit and project period? Applicants may apply for project periods up to 24 months with two 12-month budget periods. Up to $25,000 may be awarded for each budget period. For information about previous Head Start Graduate Student Grantees, seehttp://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/opre/hs/grad_student/index.html.

What types of research are supported? Proposed projects must represent high-quality research (including research using different methodologies, designs, or secondary data analysis) and must address applied research questions that will inform and improve Head Start policies and practice on topics of current interest. Topics of current interest for this announcement include, but are not limited to (please see announcement for further details):

  • Needs of families from diverse backgrounds
  • Family involvement and family outcomes
  • Issues related to children who are dual language learners
  • Professional development of staff
  • Community engagement and collaboration
  • Health and health services
  • Transition to kindergarten or from Early Head Start to Head Start
  • Teacher and classroom characteristics that influence children’s academic readiness
  • Leadership and management in Head Start programs

When is the application deadline? Letters of intent are due April 16, 2012 and applications are due May 14, 2012.

Grant Opportunity 2: Child Care Graduate Student Research Grant

The full announcement for “Early Care and Education Research Scholars: Child Care Research Scholars” is available online at: http://www.acf.hhs.gov/grants/open/foa/view/HHS-2012-ACF-OPRE-YE-0306. These grants are meant to build capacity in the research field to focus research on questions that have direct implications for child care policy decision-making and program administration and to foster mentoring relationships between faculty members and high quality doctoral students.

Who is eligible to apply? Funds for Child Care Research Scholars are available to support dissertation research on child care policy issues by advanced graduate students from relevant disciplines.

Eligible applicants include doctoral level graduate students enrolled in accredited public, State-controlled, and private institutions of higher education. The institution must be fully accredited by one of the regional accrediting commissions recognized by the Department of Education and the Council for Higher Education Accreditation.

What is the funding award limit and project period? Applicants may apply for project periods up to 24 months with two 12-month budget periods. Up to $25,000 may be awarded for each budget period. For information about previous Child Care Research Scholars, seehttp://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/opre/cc/ccr_scholars/index.html

What types of research are supported? Proposed projects must represent high-quality research (including research using different methodologies, designs, or secondary data analysis) and must address applied research questions that will inform and improve child care policies and practice. Topics of current interest for this announcement include, but are not limited to (please see announcement for further details):

  • Understanding the child care needs of diverse low-income families and/or improving child care programs and policies for various subpopulations.
  • The effects of alternative State/Territory/Tribal- and local-level child care subsidy policies and practices on children and families served
  • Issues related to Tribal child care
  • Features of child care that are most critical to support children’s development and family well-being
  • Factors that play a role in parents’ decisions about work, child care, and subsidy access
  • Examination of family-level processes that might be influenced by child care or child care subsidy use or might moderate the relationships between care and children’s development;
  • Examination of context-level factors that influence availability of and access to quality child care in rural United States
  • Issues related to the participation of various minority groups in different types of early care and education programs and how these types of care/programs meet their needs
  • Cost-effective investments to improve child care quality in all settings
  • Impact of changes in the early child care sector on the delivery and quality of child care and access to high-quality care by low-income, at-risk families
  • Issues and outcomes related to early childhood workforce development
  • Factors promoting or hindering collaboration among child care providers and other early childhood systems
  • Issues related to the participation of home-based providers in professional development initiatives and other systemic approaches to improve quality of care received by low-income children
  • Development/validation of measures/instruments to assess the characteristics of care or needs of caregivers
  • Issues related to child care licensing

When is the application deadline? Letters of intent are due April 13, 2012 and applications are due May 21, 2012.