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Child welfare is a continuum of services designed to ensure that children are safe and that families have the necessary support to care for children successfully. These services are provided by a range of entities; public child welfare agencies often collaborate with private agencies, community-based organizations, and other public agencies to ensure that families receive the services they need, such as supportive child care, parenting classes, in-home family preservation services, mental health services, and substance abuse treatment. FPG's work in child welfare encompasses biological, environmental, and other factors related to ensuring the safety and well-being of children and families.

Featured Project

The National Implementation Research Network (NIRN) has partnered with the King County Public Health Department to support the development of a comprehensive implementation guide for Family Ways that is aligned with the Active Implementation Frameworks (AIFs). This project involves a review and gap analysis of Family Ways materials, capacity building through training and consultation, and integration of the AIFs into the Family Ways Implementation Guide, over a 15-month period.

Featured FPG News Story

A team of implementation specialists at FPG is behind a new and growing collection of practical, research-informed resources. The Implementation Capacity for Triple P (ICTP) Implementation Support Practice Action Guide Series is designed by the Impact Center at FPG’s ICTP projects, which are a collaborative effort to support communities in North Carolina and South Carolina successfully and sustainably implement the evidence-based Triple P – Positive Parenting Program system of interventions.

Featured Person

Sherra Lawrence, MA, is a senior implementation specialist at FPG, where she leads initiatives to improve the access and quality of programs, policies, and practices for children and families, especially those from marginalized populations. As a child and family research practitioner by training her work often focuses on supporting cross-sector, multi-level initiatives and using best practices from implementation and improvement science and research methods to ensure equitable development, implementation, and evaluation of programs, practices, and policies.

Current Projects

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Center for Trauma Recovery and Juvenile Justice NCTSN Cat II
The Active Implementation Support for the Center for Trauma Recovery and Juvenile Justice’s (CTRJJ) grant project designates Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute’s resources in support of the CTRJJ’s Workplan and Core Team, in addition to other key participants. The aims of the project include the use of applied, proactive implementation support training, coaching and technical assistance as noted below. The primary role on the implementation support to CRTJJ is to work behind the scenes with all designated relevant partners. However, FPG implementation specialists will have the ability to deliver content, coaching, and ongoing systems supports to relevant recipients.
Demonstration of Limited Intermediary Supports Focused on the North Carolina Triple P System
NC DHHS’s Division of Child and Family Wellbeing (DCFW) and the Impact Center at the UNC Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute are partnering to initiate and demonstrate over two years a set of limited intermediary supports focused on the North Carolina Triple P System. Building on the DCFW’s recent set of investments in child and youth behavioral health and conversations between the Impact Center and DCFW about DCFW’s priorities and identified needs, the intermediary supports will specifically focus on: strengthening evaluation activities, system structures and practices, and model fidelity within North Carolina Triple P and generally, accelerating the use of evidence (both research evidence and practice-based evidence) in decision-making and programmatic and support activities.
Equity Research Action Coalition
Exploring legal status and race as determinants of Black immigrant maternal health
In collaboration with the Black Alliance for Just Immigration (BAJI) and African Family Health Organization, community-based organizations that engage and educate African American and Black immigrant communities, we will conduct an exploratory sequential mixed-methods research to identify barriers and facilitators to positive birth outcomes for Black mothers with a focus on attention to health care access through focus groups and interviews and conduct causal inference analyses using extant data (i.e., Vital Statistics) to examine the effect of 2009 Children’s Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act on the birthing outcomes of Black immigrants.
Implementation Support for an AIFs-aligned Family Ways Roadmap
The purpose of this project is for the National Implementation Research Network (NIRN) to partner with the King County Public Health Department to support the development of a comprehensive implementation guide for Family Ways that is aligned with the Active Implementation Frameworks (AIFs).
Mental Health, Earlier (MHE) ALACRITY Research Center
The Mental Health, Earlier ALACRITY Research Center addresses a key element of the NIMH 2020-2025 Strategic Plan Goal 3: Strive for Prevention and Cures: advancing preventive interventions in a developmentally appropriate manner as early in life and illness course as possible, to prevent or forestall mental illnesses and associated dysfunction.
The California Abundant Birth Project Evaluation: Advancing Birth Equity Through Guaranteed Income for Pregnant People
The California Abundant Birth Project (CA-ABP) is a guaranteed income program for pregnant people at greatest risk of birth inequities in five California counties (San Francisco, Alameda, Contra Costa, Riverside, and Los Angeles), funded by the State of California, municipal governments, and philanthropic funding. The California Abundant Birth Project will provide unconditional, monthly income supplements during pregnancy and postpartum to randomly selected participants, with the goal of curbing financial stress and promoting healthy pregnancy outcomes. The goal of this project is to evaluate the impact of this guaranteed income program on birthing outcomes, maternal and child health, and children’s early outcomes.
Using Implementation Science in Supporting NC's Division of Child and Family Wellbeing Child Behavioral Health Team
The DCFW Implementation Support Project for the DHHS Child Behavioral Health Leadership Team (federally funded component) and its projects continues to build on the existing partnership that the Impact Center has with the CBH team at DHHS. The partnership creates an implementation science, practice-based set of activities and capacity building efforts in support of a multi-tiered policy/governance, program (e.g., EBP) support, and delivery system across North Carolina. Beginning July 01, 2023, the Impact Center will continue to work alongside and receive directions from DCFW Leadership, embed implementation science best practices within the Team, its projects, and support system partners where directed.
Virginia's Evidence-Based Practices Initiative: Transformation Zone
Virginia's Evidence-Based Practice Initiative is seeking support for capacity development in best practices of implementation science. Multiple agencies within the state of Virginia are collaborating in their efforts to foster and facilitate the use of evidence within their local communities. The collaborating state agencies include the Office of Children Services (OCS), Department of Social Services (DSS), Department of Education (VDOE), Department of Juvenile Justice (DJJ), Department of Behavioral Health & Developmental Services (DBHDS), and Department of Medical Assistance Services (DMAS). A state leadership team comprised of representation from these various state agencies has been formed to design and lead the initiative. The National Implementation Research Network (NIRN; http://nirn.fpg.unc.edu) and partners within the Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute propose providing a blended model of training, coaching, and consultation supports to support the implementation of the Virginia Evidence-Based Practice Initiative through a Transformation Zone approach. Equity will be centered and explicitly attended to in all aspects of services provided.