Fred Wulczyn, Principal Investigator
2009

The New South Wales Department of Community Services is undertaking a large-scale prospective longitudinal study of children and young people in out-of-home care, which will continue for five years. The primary goal of the study is to inform the design and development of the out-of-home care service system and casework practice so as to improve the outcomes for children and young people who are placed. This will be achieved through a better understanding of the factors that affect those outcomes. Chapin Hall is leading the development and analysis of administrative data for the project, and is contributing to the study design and project management.

To a certain extent, this study parallels the National Survey of Child and Adolescent Well-Being (NSCAW), and will yield international comparative data on the well-being of children served by the child welfare system. Because the population of children entering care in New South Wales, Australia, looks very much like the population of children entering care in the United States, the potential for comparative analysis and understanding policy and practice is substantial.