Traditional approaches to disseminating research based programs and innovations for children and families, which rely on practitioners and policy makers to make sense of research on their own, have been found insufficient. There is growing interest in strategies that "make it happen" by actively building the capacity of service providers…

Ronald Hughes, Judith Rycus, and their colleagues have produced a seminal review of differential response (DR) programs implemented across the nation. Their review questions nearly every aspect of the DR movement, beginning with the concept on which all DR programs are based and ending with serious concerns about the quality of evaluations…

In their critique of differential response (DR), Hughes and colleagues raise a number of important issues that are central to broader efforts at the Administration on Children, Youth, and Families (ACYF) including the need for greater reliance on evidence-based practice in child welfare, more rigorous evaluation methodologies, and a robust set of…

This is a response to the document by Hughes et al. in this issue that offers a critique of the status of differential response (DR). We find the document to be helpful in intent, but do not find that it reflects scientifically sound methods, and contains many mischaracterizations of the status, impetus, research, and evaluation of DR to date. We…

This article is an invited commentary and analysis of the authors' completed systematic evaluation of Child Protective Services (CPS) differential response (DR) models. I write this commentary based on 25 years of public child welfare experience followed by 13 years as a social work professor and researcher. In their review of DR, the…

This reaction article highlights areas of agreement and disagreement with the study conducted by Hughes, Rycus, Saunders-Adams, Hughes, and Hughes on the current state of research and practice in differential response (DR). Overall, we agree with several of the arguments put forth by Hughes et al. regarding the limitations of DR research and the…

In this article, the authors responded to nine commentaries by 17 contributors to their article, "Issues in Differential Response." The authors found that a majority of the respondents agreed with the major conclusions of "Issues in Differential Response." However, there were varying degrees of disagreement regarding the…

Differential response (DR), also referred to as alternative response (AR), family assessment response (FAR), or multiple track response, was developed to incorporate family-centered, strengths-based practices into child protective services (CPS), primarily by diverting lower risk families into an assessment track rather than requiring the…

Out-of-school time (OST) programs offer a unique opportunity to provide educational supports to high-risk children and youths. The authors describe the utility of applying principles of risk and resilience to the development and evaluation of an OST program. Academic outcomes among participants at the Bridge Project, an OST program located in…

Service Delivery Assessment (SDA) is a qualitative evaluation strategy focused on the "delivering" of social services, rather than on monitoring the implementation of programs or assessing program outcomes. Both data collection and analysis methods are qualitative in nature. Data are gathered by intensive interviewing of providers and…

A survey of 47 New York City programs designed to provide preventive services to high risk families and children was undertaken through mailback collection forms, onsite interviews, and case record readings. Among findings were that data in the applications and monthly reports were incomplete and inconsistent; operational definitions of prevention…

A satellite assisted, interactive teleconference titled "Networking for Interagency Collaboration" was evaluated to determine the effectiveness of the telecommunications mode in contrast to a central site mode. The conference background, goals, and content are described and two specific telecommunications goals are formally presented: 1) to…

The first Niagara County Comprehensive Plan submitted to the New York State Division for Youth in 1977 articulated as its first priority a youth service delivery system. The attainment of this objective involved the simultaneous development of a self-evaluation procedure, which could be used as a basis for decision making. Thirteen social service…

Various quantities and types of services are provided by public and private agencies for older developmentally disabled persons living in the Midwest. Of the 639 questionnaires mailed to public agencies, private agencies, consumer-oriented agencies, nursing homes, and educational institutions, 325 were returned for a response rate of 55%. Overall,…

The rationale for a multistage approach to evaluating services demonstration programs is discussed. The approach takes into account limitations that are often found in such programs. The National Evaluation of Models for Linking Drug Abuse Treatment and Primary Care provides an example. (SLD)