Dissemination of research findings is a critical aspect of Center efforts on behalf of best practice in child welfare. Staff involved with the Center’s various, ongoing research projects share findings with the larger child welfare community through reports, journal and book publication, public presentations, our website, and talks at research and professional conferences.

Each stage of management and accountability feeds into a knowledge dissemination process that supports continuous refreshing of the Center's research agenda and dissemination of information on evidence-based practices through the production of outcome reports, bibliographies, research reviews and studies, service evaluations, and policy audits and analyses.

Most reports are available in PDF format for ease of downloading. They are also available in hardcover and can be ordered directly from the Publications page.

Recent Center reports -

1. Can AFCARS Be Rescued? Fixing the Statistical Yardstick That Measures State Child Welfare Performance [March 2008]
2. Child Welfare in Illinois: From 'Calcutta' to the 'Gold Standard' in Voices for Children, Kids Count, March 2008, page 40
3. Cunningham Children's Home Supported Education and Employment for Older Youth in Care [July 2007]
4. Placement Stability and Number of Children in the Home [July 2007]
5. Illinois Child Endangerment Risk Assessment Protocol: A Report to the General Assembly [December 2007]

Recent Center articles -

1. Haight, W., Ostler, T., Black, J., Sheridan, K., & Kingery, L. (2007). A child's-eye view of parent methamphetamine abuse: Implications for helping foster families to succeed. Children and Youth Services Review, 29, 1-15. Available online doi:10.1016/j.childyouth.2006.03.007 
2. Choi, Sam, & Ryan, Joseph P. (2007). Co-occurring problems for substance abusing mothers in child welfare: Matching services to improve family reunification. Children and Youth Services Review 29, 1395–1410. Available online doi:10.1016/j.childyouth.2007.05.013
3. Cole, S., & Hernandez, P. (2007). Crisis Nursery outcomes for caregivers served at multiple sites in Illinois. Children and Youth Services Review. Available online doi:10.1016/j.childyouth.2007.11.001 
4. Ryan, J.P., Hernandez, P., and Herz, D. (2007). Developmental trajectories of offending for male adolescents leaving foster care. Social Work Research, 31, 83-93. Available online - Click here.
5. Ryan, J.P., Herz, D., Hernandez, P. and Marshall, J.M. (2007). Maltreatment and delinquency: Investigating child welfare bias in juvenile justice processing. Children and Youth Services Review, 29, 1035-1050. Available online doi:10.1016/j.childyouth.2007.04.002 

Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse project materials are available on the AODA project pages.