Child Care Research Scholars Grant

New Research Funding Opportunity

The Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation (OPRE) in the Administration for Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has recently published a funding opportunity announcement to support dissertation research related to early care and education policies and practice.   

Child Care Research Scholars Grant (FON: HHS-2011-ACF-OPRE-YE-0159)

Child Care Research Scholars grants are available to support dissertation research on child care policy issues. These grants are meant to build capacity in the field to focus research on questions that inform child care subsidy policy decision-making. The full announcement for ¿Early Care and Education Research Scholars: Child Care Research Scholars¿ is available online at: http://www.acf.hhs.gov/grants/open/foa/view/HHS-2011-ACF-OPRE-YE-0159 . Applications are due June 14, 2011. For information about previous Child Care Research Scholars, see http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/opre/cc/ccr_scholars/index.html .

Eligible applicants are public, private, and State-controlled institutions of higher education, and non-profit institutions in the United States applying on behalf of university faculty who serve as mentor/principal investigator and for an enrolled doctoral-level student. Applicants may apply for up to two years of funding and may be awarded up to $25,000 for each year . 

If you have questions regarding this funding opportunity, please email the OPRE grant review team at Reviewers@icfi.com or call 1-877-301-8193.

Recently Released Reports

The Administration for Children and Families (ACF), Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation (OPRE) recently released a few reports.

Implications of Behavioral Research for Social Welfare Research and Policy

On July 22nd, 2010, the ACF Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation (OPRE) hosted a symposium on the application of behavioral research to programs that serve low-income children and families titled, ¿Implications of Behavioral Research for Social Welfare Research and Policy.¿  OPRE released a written summary of the event, which convened behavioral researchers, social welfare researchers, foundation staff, federal staff, and social service program operators to discuss the challenges facing social service programs, with emphasis on whether insights from behavioral research can address these challenges, and if so how this can be done. Among the specific goals of the day were to discuss approaches to improve social service delivery, address program challenges related to issues like enrollment take-up, engagement, and program completion rates, and improve the overall effectiveness of programs that serve low-income children and families. The summary can be found: http://www.wrconference.net/behavioraleconomics/summary.aspx

Research Brief Series on ¿Measuring Quality in Early Care and Education Settings¿

As part of the work of the Quality Initiatives Research and Evaluation Consortium (INQUIRE), ACF OPRE has published four briefs that review the current state of the field of quality measurement and provide key information for policymakers, researchers and practitioners to assure the integrity of measurement strategies and the appropriate use of data on quality of early care and education. The briefs were produced for ACF by experts in the field of early childhood under a contract with Child Trends. The briefs can be found at: http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/opre/cc/childcare_technical/index.html

A Two-Generational Child-Focused Program with Employment Services

As part of the Enhanced Services for the Hard-to-Employ Demonstration and Evaluation Project, the Administration for Children and Families, Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation, published a report entitled, ¿A Two-Generational Child-Focused Program with Employment Services¿.  The Enhanced Early Head Start (Enhanced EHS) program is a two-generational, early childhood development program that was enhanced with services aimed at proactively addressing the employment and educational needs of low-income parents.   This report discusses the challenges that programs faced in implementing Enhanced EHS and presents short-term effects of the program on parents and their children approximately 18 months after families first enrolled in the study.    The Enhanced EHS is one of four sites in the Enhanced Services for the Hard-to-Employ Demonstration and Evaluation Project.  MDRC, along with its research partners, is conducting the evaluation.   The report can found at: http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/opre/welfare_employ/enhanced_hardto/index.html