From groundbreaking studies to innovative partnerships, OPRE is leading research, evaluation and data initiatives to inform policies, support programs, and, ultimately, make communities stronger and healthier.
Our findings and insights are being used to make an impact at the local, state, and national levels.
For example, OPRE’s National Survey of Child and Adolescent Wellbeing informed a proposed amendment to the Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System (AFCARS) reporting system related to kinship care and Indian Child Welfare Act. Findings from this study also informed the Children’s Bureau Program Instruction on kinship navigator programs.
In another example, the American Indian and Alaska Native Head Start Family and Child Experiences Survey project released videos of Native teachers, program administrators and Office of Head Start Region 10 staff sharing how they use the data collected in this survey to strengthen AI/AN Head Start programs.
Our creative use of different ways of sharing information has also shown promise. For example, OPRE’s Child Care and Early Education Policy and Research Analysis project, which identifies high priority issues in the early care and education space and develops research-based information to respond to that need, has focused more efforts on disseminating their products. In particular, social media engagement with a video, Family Voices on Access to CCEE, and a research highlight, Aspects of Wellbeing for the CCEE Workforce, outperformed nearly all other products that our research partner Child Trends posted on LinkedIn in 2024, an account with 20,000 followers.
We aim for our evidence to be both rigorous and relevant to our key audiences, including executive and legislative branch staff at the federal, state and local level. In two examples of our reach at the federal level, our office has had multiple requests from Congressional staff to share the findings from projects ranging from healthy marriage and responsible fatherhood, child care and child welfare, a sign the research we are producing is relevant to current policy discussions. Within ACF, the new Office of Regional Operations rural community initiative focusing on the needs of rural communities across the country, drew from OPRE’s Human Services Programs in Rural Contexts study to inform these important cross-cutting efforts.
In 2024 we also made great strides towards unlocking the power of ACF data to inform policies, streamline operations, and continually improve human services and outcomes for children and families. ACF developed its first ever ACF Data Strategy, which outlines a vision to ensure that data can be used to improve access, quality, and experiences of ACF services. This year, as part of this strategy, we launched a Data Governance Council which provides centralized guidance on data policies and processes to improve our data and its use. We have also advanced our work to make ACF’s data accessible (PDF) to external researchers, communities, and policymakers.
Another key audience we aim to reach is the broader field of state administrators, local practitioners, and other researchers in the public and private sector. To reach these audiences, we’ve also worked to share evidence, insights, and what works through innovative conferences and events. In 2024, we held both the Research on Economic Self-Sufficiency (RECS) Conference and the National Research on Early Childhood (NRCEC) Conference. To build the capacity of federal staff to engage in and use evidence, we also held our annual ACF Evaluation and Monitoring 101 training and OPRE Innovative Methods Meeting on economic evaluations. Over 2,000 people attended these conferences and trainings.
As another way to reach a broader audience, each week nearly 20,000 audience members receive digestible evidence in our newsletter. In the last year we saw a 300% increase in the access of our publications and resources — our reach has never been higher! We studied ACF programs through rigorous research, evaluation, and data projects designed to produce usable evidence and insights that can make ACF programs continually more efficient and effective. And we’ve been incredibly productive translating those evidence and insights into usable resources: in 2024 we released over 225 purpose-designed reports, briefs, blog posts, and toolkits on topics ranging from employment and training to positive youth development to early childhood development.
As we look forward to the coming year, OPRE remains dedicated to building evidence and data that can make ACF programs more efficient and effective, and the future of America’s children and families strong and healthy.