Research Topics
Abuse, Neglect, Adoption & Foster Care
Explore research and evaluation projects focused on children who are maltreated or who are at risk for child maltreatment, children and families who come to the attention of child protective services, and children and families who are receiving child welfare services either in their families of origin or in substitute care settings.
Child Care
Explore research and evaluation projects that further our understanding of child care as a support for parental employment and for children’s developmental wellbeing. In addition, discover work related to the role of child care subsidies in allowing working parents with low incomes to balance work and family obligations.
Head Start & Early Head Start
Explore research and evaluation projects guiding program improvement in Head Start programs and in the fields of early childhood programming and early childhood development.
Home Visiting
OPRE manages research and evaluation activities related to the Maternal, Infant and Early Childhood Home Visiting (MIECHV) program. The MIECHV program is administered by the Health Resources and Services Administration, in collaboration with the Administration for Children and Families. Major research and evaluation projects include the Multi-Site Implementation Evaluation of Tribal Home Visiting (MUSE), the Home Visiting Evidence of Effectiveness (HomVEE) project, and the Mother and Infant Home Visiting Program Evaluation (MIHOPE).
Human Trafficking
This portfolio includes research and evaluation projects intended to improve services for victims of human trafficking; to inform the development of anti-trafficking strategies, policies, and programs to prevent and respond to human trafficking; and to guide future evaluation. OPRE partners with the Office on Trafficking in Persons, in addition to other ACF program offices, on these efforts.
Methods & Tools
Explore projects and publications focused on innovative research methods and designs, measurement development, and tools for understanding different types of research and evaluation.
Self-Sufficiency, Welfare & Employment
Explore research and evaluation projects addressing rigorous evaluations of promising employment and training strategies and other innovative approaches for increasing economic self-sufficiency.
Strengthening Families, Fatherhood, Healthy Relationships & Marriages
Explore research and evaluation projects on topics such as family formation and stability, co-parenting, marriage, fatherhood, and violence in relationships. Studies include a focus on the implications of programs and policies for child, adult, and family well-being.
Youth Services
Explore evaluation projects focused on approaches for helping youth make healthy choices that lead to self-sufficient adult lives. Efforts include evaluations of teen pregnancy prevention and sexual risk avoidance education strategies and approaches to improve outcomes for at-risk youth.
Data Topics
ACF Data
ACF collects a wide range of data from grantees, including states, tribes, localities, and other partners, which are used to manage programs, build evidence, and conduct research to inform human services policy and program design.
Data Privacy, Sharing & Linking
OPRE develops resources related to data privacy, sharing, and linking to help entities navigate the privacy and other challenges that arise when responsibly sharing personally identifiable information (PII) to learn about or enhance services that promote the well-being of children and families.
Data Governance
Data governance is the mechanism (i.e., structures, processes, and policies) for organizational staff and leadership to manage data throughout the data lifecycle, while ensuring its security, exploring opportunities to share data for evidence-building activities, and using data for programmatic, evaluation and research purposes.
Evidence Capacity
“Evidence capacity” refers to the knowledge, skills, behaviors, and resources that enable an organization to build and use evidence in its work.