Child Welfare

Understanding the risk factors children face helps strengthen the work of agencies and programs. Mathematica contributes to these efforts by advancing research on child welfare programs. We work across a range of issues to provide expertise on the design of child abuse and neglect studies, evaluation technical assistance for homelessness prevention efforts, and data-driven evaluations of home visiting and other programs. For ACF, we are conducting a participatory and utilization-focused cross-site evaluation by identifying strategies for adopting, implementing, and sustaining evidence-based home visiting programs to prevent child maltreatment. Also for ACF, we are participating in a multi-site randomized trial evaluation of state grants to fund home visiting services for families with pregnant women and children ages birth to 5, in addition to developing design options for future studies to improve monitoring and assessment of child abuse and neglect reporting. Read more about our child welfare work.