The following resources explore how to use data and evaluation findings effectively to strengthen child welfare programs and improve outcomes for children and families. Resources include State and local examples.
Case Studies in Tribal Data Collection and Use (PDF - 4004 KB)
National Indian Child Welfare Association & Annie E. Casey Foundation (2004)
Explores how Tribal communities collect and make use of data, and how the collection and use of data has affected the well-being of their children and youth.
Evaluating Your Community-Based Program: Part 1: Designing Your Evaluation (PDF - 473 KB)
American Academy of Pediatrics (2006)
Focuses on understanding and planning an effective evaluation and explores how evaluations contribute to program design and improvement.
Evaluation Toolkit
W.K. Kellogg Foundation (2005)
Describes how to integrate an evaluation component into program design.
Fostering Court Improvement
American Bar Association Center on Children and the Law, National Child Welfare Resource Center on Legal and Judicial Issues, & Barton Child Law and Policy Clinic.
Assists States with opening new, collaborative dialogs with all stakeholders in their child welfare systems through the use of data and data analysis.
Handbook of Practical Program Evaluation
Wholey, Hatry, & Newcomer (Eds.) (2nd ed.) (2004)
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Describes methods for assessing program results and improving program performance. The handbook includes methods of analysis, the use of appropriate statistics and statistical tests, regression models, and cost-effectiveness and cost-benefit analysis.
State and local examples
Child Welfare Practice and Data: Making the Connection
Children's Services Practice Notes, 14(2), 2009
North Carolina Division of Social Services & The Family and Children's Resource Center
Explores how using data can help guide interventions and improve child welfare practice.
Using Administrative Child Welfare Data to Identify Sibling Groups
Lery, Shaw, & Magruder
Children and Youth Services Review, 27(7), 2005
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Presents results of a study that examined a cross-section of children in the California foster care system. The study compared four sibling classification schemes to determine how well each method identifies siblings and offers how each strategy might apply to meeting legislative mandates for placing siblings together.