Research and Evaluation

We invest in reliable research related to the populations and issues critical to our mission, particularly in the areas of family permanence, poverty and opportunity, and community change.

Working with outside experts, our staff oversees evaluations of Casey’s signature programs and strategies, ensuring credible results and that the lessons we learn inform future efforts and the field of philanthropy.

When government or other organizations develop promising strategies to make large-scale improvements for kids and families, we support evaluation of that work. Casey investments strengthen several major publicly funded evaluations, including the Choice Neighborhoods Initiative.

We provide grants to expand and maintain data resources and build others’ skills in using data effectively through support for projects such as the National Neighborhood Indicators Partnership.

We support the advancement of integrated data systems by funding developmental work in state and local governments, and by partnering with national field builders such as Actionable Intelligence for Social Policy and the National Association of Counties.

We train and encourage grantees to effectively measure what they’ve achieved to further strengthen their efforts.

The lessons and findings in Casey-funded studies have been used by government, philanthropy and the nonprofit sector. For example, the evaluation of the Centers for Working Families has contributed to the adaptation and expansion of that approach across the country.

Making Connections, a multiyear, multisite initiative, offered the Foundation many opportunities to assess its strategies involving two-generation approaches, community-change efforts and resident and parent engagement. In addition, a large-scale longitudinal survey has been transformed into a database for scholars.

Through investments such as the Census Project, we have helped improve and sustain the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey, protecting one of the most important sources of state and local data on kids, families and communities.

For many years, the Foundation maintained a foster care agency that worked with children and families. Evaluations have shown its innovative approaches connected children in care with lifelong families.

Casey supported the evaluation of the Moving to Opportunity for Fair Housing Demonstration Program, a government-funded study in which a few thousand low-income families were offered a chance to relocate from a high-poverty neighborhood to one with lower poverty. Findings are helping identify how the well-being of children and adults changes when living in stronger communities.

Other research and evaluation investments include our work in collaboration with other funders such as the Fragile Families and Child Well-Being Study and the Research Network for How Housing Matters for Children and Families.

If you're interested in learning more about quality research and evaluation, visit the following Casey-sponsored resources:

• Making Connections Cross-Site Survey website, maintained by NORC at the University of Chicago, makes available to policy researchers a rich longitudinal dataset to support research on community development and family strengthening issues, and serves as a clearinghouse for Making Connections survey products including reports, journal articles, working papers, dissertations and survey instruments.
  
• National Neighborhood Indicators Partnership, a collaboration of local data partners in 37 cities coordinated by the Urban Institute.