CFRP SYMPOSIUM: EVIDENCE-BASED POLICY AND ITS LIMITS, WITH KEYNOTE DR. RON HASKINS
Lunch was generously provided by the LBJ School’s Center for Health and Social Policy (CHASP) and the Smith Richardson Foundation
BASS LECTURE HALL | LBJ SCHOOL OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS | THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN
EVENT MATERIALS AND RESOURCES ABOUT EVIDENCE-BASED POLICYMAKING
Federal and state policymakers and philanthropies are increasingly emphasizing the use of evidence to drive policy decisions. However, what exactly is evidence-based policy, and what are some of the challenges to this decision-making approach? The Child and Family Research Partnership hosted a symposium on Thursday, April 16th at The University of Texas at Austin’s LBJ School of Public Affairs to bring together researchers, practitioners, policymakers, philanthropies, and students to discuss the benefits and challenges of evidence-based policy.
Dr. Ron Haskins, Co-Director of the Center on Children and Families at the Brookings Institution, was the symposium keynote speaker. Dr. Haskins is former Senior Advisor to the President for welfare policy at the White House; former Majority Staff Director and Welfare Counsel for the Subcommittee on Human Resources, Committee on Ways and Means, U.S. House of Representatives; co-author of the popular new book, Show Me the Evidence: Obama’s Fight for Rigor and Results in Social Policy, and the President-Elect of the Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management (APPAM).
Dr. Haskins provided invaluable insights about what it means to use evidence-based policy on the federal level. LBJ faculty, including CFRP Director Dr. Cynthia Osborne, CHASP Director Dr. Carolyn Heinrich, and Assistant Professor Dr. Paul von Hippel shared the successes and challenges of recent evaluations of evidence-based programs and the implications for state policymakers. There was also a panel of practitioners who provided unique perspectives on what evidence-based policy means in the real world, which included: Sasha Rasco, Director of Prevention and Early Intervention and Contract Performance, Texas Health and Human Services Commission; Carolyn Haney, Founder and Executive Director, WeViva; and Matt Kouri, Chief Executive Officer, Greenlights.
EVENT MATERIALS AND RESOURCES ABOUT EVIDENCE-BASED POLICYMAKING
Presentations
CFRP Papers
- Brief - What Should be Expected when Taking Home Visiting Programs to Scale?
- Working Paper - From Randomized Controlled Trials to Community-Level Change: What Should be Expected when Taking Home Visiting Programs to Scale?
- Working Paper - Reality Check: Can the Effects of Home Visiting Programs Found in RCTs be Replicated in the Real World?
General
- Memorandum from the Office of the President to Heads of Departments and Agencies, Next Steps in the Evidence and Innovation Agenda, July 26, 2013
- U.S. Department of Health and Human Service Evidence-Based Practice in Child Welfare
- Show Me the Evidence: Obama’s Fight for Rigor and Results in Social Policy
- PEW’s Evidence-based Policymaking: A Guide for Effective Government
- Society for Research in Child Development’s Opportunities and Challenges in Evidence-based Social Policy
- Evidence for Social Policy and Practice: Perspectives on How Research and Evidence Can Influence Decision Making in Public Services
Please contact events@childandfamilyresearch.org if you have questions.