By developing a theory of change or a logic model, organizations can plan strategically, ensure alignment with their mission, and systematically evaluate their impact. These frameworks also improve communication among stakeholders, guide decision-making, and offer a clear structure for measuring success.
The Child Welfare Research and Training Alliance offers training and consultation around theory of change and logic model development to help child welfare organizations plan, implement, and evaluate their programs effectively. These tools clarify goals, outline the steps to achieve them, and map the connections between activities and both short- and long-term outcomes.
The Child Welfare Research and Training Alliance is located at the University of South Florida, providing access to faculty experts in survey design and the most current and widely accepted statistical software, databases, and research tools, as well as educational and clinical journals. Surveying allows us to access a greater number of people and have the potential to reach representative samples of large populations in which to draw conclusions and/or make important decisions. Survey research is also useful to study the entire population (instead of a sample) when the group is small. We utilize surveys as one source of information to gather data that informs, for example, evidence-based practices and policies in child welfare. Insights gained from this research may guide program design, help leadership allocate resources more effectively, and lead to improvements in service delivery.
The Child Welfare Research and Training Alliance employs in-depth interviews and analysis to gain a deeper understanding of issues impacting the safety, health, education and wellbeing of children and their families. These interviews involve detailed, open-ended discussions with key stakeholders, such as caseworkers, families, school personnel, and service providers. By exploring their experiences and perspectives, we can uncover underlying trends and identify areas for improvement. The analysis of this qualitative data helps to inform our research, identify trends, patterns, and insights; thus, enabling us to develop more effective strategies and policies that address the complexities of child welfare systems. In-depth interviews can be paired with more quantitative data to explain reasons for trends in things like performance measures that only offer a number and not a reason or reasons why something might be occurring. Additionally, our faculty works side by side conducting this type of mixed method research.
The Child Welfare Research and Training Alliance utilizes youth and family focus groups to gather valuable insights that inform our research and guide its practical applications. Our team is skilled at conducting focus groups and engaging directly with young people and families. Through this engagement, we gain a deeper understanding of their experiences, needs, and perspectives within the context of the systems that support them. Focus groups allow us to collect firsthand feedback and ideas that can be applied to improve practices, ensuring that our work is both relevant and impactful for those we aim to serve. They can also be used to employ a participatory research process in which youth and their families are asked for feedback on research protocols and findings.