Building Capacity to Implement the Family First Prevention Services Act
Family First Prevention Services Act is sweeping child welfare legislation aimed at keeping families together with a focus on preventative services. This project supports the state in developing and implementing the evaluation components of the Family First Prevention Services Plan.
Fostering Opportunities, A Pay for Success Project to Improve the Foster Care Graduation Rate
Only one in four Colorado students who experience foster care during high school graduate with their class. In partnership with Jefferson County, this pilot develops and tests the effectiveness of a program that better aligns child welfare and education practices to ensure that every student who has experienced foster care has a consistent mentor and advocate for their educational success.
An Evaluation of the Colorado Community Response Program
Colorado is investing considerably in strengthening families to prevent the entry of young people into the child welfare system. This project supports a randomized evaluation determining the efficacy of the Colorado Community Response program, which provides voluntary services to families reported to the state for child abuse/neglect but whose circumstances do not rise to the level of child welfare service involvement.
Reducing Youth Recidivism with Multisystemic Therapy in Underserved Communities
Roughly one third of Colorado youth who spend at least a day in secure detention each year live in communities without a licensed MST provider. MST is an intensive home-based intervention for youth ages 12-17 whose behaviors put them at high risk for juvenile justice involvement and/or have problems with substance abuse. This pilot project evaluates the impact of the MST expansion on youth recidivism in eight Colorado counties.
The Impact of a Multidisciplinary Team Response to Child Abuse and Neglect Investigations
Following child abuse and neglect reports, families can become involved in investigations that span multiple government systems including law enforcement, child welfare, and the health system. With so many entities involved, the investigation process can be confusing and frustrating for families. This study assesses the impact of a coordinated multidisciplinary team response used in an urban Colorado county as well as caregiver perceptions of the investigation process.
Characteristics of Former Foster Youth Receiving Homelessness Services
Preventing homelessness of youth formerly in foster care begins with understanding characteristics of those most at risk. This project connects child welfare to homeless services data in the Denver metro area to inform policies and practices aimed at ensuring youth aging out of foster care have stable housing.
Evaluation of a 2Gen Approach to Child Support Services
Colorado Department of Human Services is changing the culture of child support from an enforcement model to a 2Gen customer service model. The project is an 11-county randomized trial that examines potential of a 2Gen model to increase child support payments and identifies ways to strengthen implementation.
Exploring Employment-Related Reasons for Inconsistency in Child Support Payments
Some non-custodial parents pay child support one month and not the next. This project describes the feasibility of using routinely collected administrative data to identify employment-related reasons that relate to churn for the cohort of child support cases.
Common Cross-System Metrics to Inform Coordinated Care for Multisystem Utilizers
A large number of Coloradans find themselves in need of services from multiple public systems, and government leaders struggle to understand the best way to coordinate a shared response for these multisystem utilizers. This project starts the work of building common metrics of public system utilization across state agencies so that state government leadership and their teams can make more informed decisions about how to meet the needs of multisystem utilizers.
Rapid Response for Youth Who Runaway From Home, A Pay for Success Project
Youth who runaway from home are likely to be involved in the juvenile justice or child welfare systems within one year. This Pay for Success project examines the impact of “rapid responders” on connecting youth and families to evidence-based services that ultimately prevent deeper juvenile justice or child welfare involvement.