Prevention Services Evaluation Partnerships: Building Evidence for Mental Health, Substance Use, In-home Parent Skill-based, and Kinship Navigator Programs and Services

The Administration for Children and Families (ACF), Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation (OPRE) plans to solicit applications for Prevention Services Evaluation Partnerships. These 3-year grants aim to support summative (i.e., impact) randomized control trial or quasi-experimental evaluations of a mental health, substance abuse prevention and/or treatment, in-home parent skill-based, or kinship navigator program or service. The grants will support collaborations among evaluators and partnering Title IV-E agencies, community entities, and/or other researchers to conduct well-designed and rigorous summative evaluations of programs and services intended to provide enhanced support to children and families, including pregnant and parenting youth in foster care, as well as prevent child abuse and neglect and foster care placements. Grant recipients will be expected to conduct a randomized control trial or quasi-experimental evaluation design that aligns with Title IV-E Prevention Services Clearinghouse (the Clearinghouse) Design and Execution Standards for Moderate or High Support of Causal Evidence and may contribute to the research systematically reviewed by the Clearinghouse. Grant recipients may collect and analyze primary data or leverage existing data for the proposed evaluation. ACF is particularly interested in evaluations of programs or services that are eligible for review by the Clearinghouse, but which are not yet rated; programs and services with a rating of “does not currently meet criteria” by the Clearinghouse; and programs and services that have been designed for or adapted for specific cultural, ethnic, or racial groups, or programs and services that aim to serve other populations that have been historically marginalized and/or have historic or ongoing disproportionate representation in the child welfare system in order to support the goals and requirements of the Executive Order on Advancing Racial Equity and Support for Underserved Communities. In addition, ACF is particularly interested in evaluations that leverage existing administrative data. Applicants must demonstrate that programs and services proposed for evaluation are ready for rigorous summative evaluations, for example by describing formative evaluations that have already been completed. Finally, grant recipients will be expected to collaborate with federal staff and with each other as they conduct their evaluations.The project period will be 36 months, with one budget period of 36 months. For further information about OPRE, see https://www.acf.hhs.gov/opre.