August 1, 2008

Evidence-Based Practice: A Child Welfare Research Agenda for California

Through a series of symposia beginning in July, 2005, practitioners and researchers learned about evidence-based practice. Activities during and between the symposia focused on how to move toward a system in which research conducted across the state, reflected the priorities identified by the practice community and consumers of the child welfare system. Focus groups were convened with line staff, parents involved in the system, foster youth and foster parents to elicit the areas that they felt were important for research. The research agenda was intentionally divided into the areas of Safety, Permanence, and Well-Being, to reflect the broad federal and state outcomes for child welfare.