Founded in 2017, the Clark-Fox Policy Institute aims to advance social and economic justice through practitioner training and working collaboratively to develop evidence-informed policy that bridges the gap between researchers and impacted populations by aligning scientific research with lived experience.
Founded in 1994, the Center for Social Development (CSD) undertakes domestic and international research testing social innovations and uses evidence to inform policy and practice. The center is well known for innovations in asset building for family security and development. Many other initiatives are underway in the following areas: Financial Inclusion; Civic Engagement and Service; Thriving Communities; Child and Youth Development; Social Justice, Environment and Social Development; and Race, Inequality and Social Mobility.
Founded in 1993, the Center for Mental Health Services Research (CMHSR), through its national network of research partners, works with social service and mental health agencies to build a base of evidence to address the challenges of delivering mental health services to vulnerable populations. CMHSR was the nation’s first Social Work Research Development Center, and is home to two NIMH-funded training programs.
Founded in 2018, the Center for Innovation in Child Maltreatment Policy, Research and Training is dedicated to advancing science to prevent child maltreatment and, when prevention is not possible, to effectively intervene to promote healthy outcomes. It is grounded in the idea that research, practice and training efforts must be related and of equal importance to assure that policy and practice are informed by the latest science.
The Center will attend to the most pressing needs of the field and employ collaborative real-world approaches in its science. Two of its large research projects focus on testing innovative means of improving maltreatment screening capacity through advancing the use of integrated administrative data to inform child welfare and cross-system response; as well as improving the science around screening newborns for risk of maltreatment and engagement of new parents in services.
The Center for Dissemination and Implementation at the Institute for Public Health at Washington University in St. Louis promotes the adoption of proven treatments, programs and strategies for routine practice.
The Black Families, Racism, and Resilience (BFRR) Lab addresses how culturally strength-based assets can support Black children, youth, and families. Our lab studies how attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors change over time. Understanding development through a cultural-ecological lens helps educators, practitioners, and scholars to understand how policies, laws, and day-to-day interactions shape attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors of Black Americans. Inequitable experiences will affect how Black Americans view themselves and perceive the world depending on their social positioning, which includes race, ethnicity, gender, social class, and sexual orientation. Our purpose is to empower Black American communities with culturally responsive and empowering solutions.