Community Capacity
Community-based programs can help reduce risk and promote resiliency among children and families. Chapin Hall works with a range of these programs, from early education, to before- and after-school programs, to intervention programs for the young people who need it most. We translate evidence to guide practice, and we study outcomes to learn the best ways to help children and families thrive.
Focus Areas
Our Work Focuses On
How community-based organizations can use administrative data, practice models, and system coordination to understand and evaluate programs and improve services for children and families.
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From juvenile courts to mentoring programs, this section includes research about community-based organizations’ impacts on youth outcomes.
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Our extensive body of research on early home visiting, plus reports on pre-K to Kindergarten transition, mitigating toxic stress and more.
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Reports on afterschool programs, restorative justice, career education, and more.
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Spotlight
Community Capacity
Spotlight
New Human Services Approach Focuses on 10 Critical Services; 50% of New Mexico Participants Report Trouble Accessing Programs
These briefs describe experiences needing and having difficulty accessing the 10 vital services for surviving and thriving that are part of 100% New Mexico.
2023
Supporting Families of Those Reentering from Incarceration with Cash, Wraparound Supports
This brief summarizes the Kinship Reentry Program approach, client perceptions of the program, and its readiness for future evaluation.
2023
Alameda County’s Youth Transitions Partnership: Lessons from a Formative Evaluation of a Program for Transition-Age Youth in Care
Chapin Hall conducted a formative evaluation of YTP and released several reports and briefs.
2022
Community Capacity Resources
Chapin Hall resources for building community capacity, including data management tools, recorded webinars and more.
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Recent Content
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Community Capacity
Recent Content
Report
Supporting Student Parents: Evaluating the New Moms College Success Program Pilot
Chapin Hall partnered with New Moms to evaluate this pilot program and understand its implementation.
2025
Report
Evaluating Colorado’s Early Child Care Facilities: A Review of the Physical State of Properties and Potential for Expansion
A team of Chapin Hall experts collaborated with the Community Development Institute to assess the condition of early child care facilities in Colorado.
2024
Report
Convening Uncovers Strategies to Help Meet Needs of Older Transition-Age Youth
This summary report documents the proceedings of a Think Tank on strategies to meet the needs of older transition-age youth.
2024
Project
Chapin Hall Resources Address Racial Bias in Research, Systems
How Chapin Hall works to address bias in research and advance racial equity in systems.
June 17, 2024
News
Chapin Hall Receives APHSA Research and Evaluation Innovation Award
Chapin Hall's work on economic and concrete supports in the preservation of families and prevention of child welfare involvement is called “groundbreaking.”
June 13, 2024
Research
Reports Explore Employment Patterns, Child Care Needs Among Low-Income Parents
This series of briefs focuses on the work, school, and child care engagement of Illinois families enrolled in the Child Care Assistance Program (CCAP).
2024
News
New Mexico’s New Statewide Report Identifies Barriers to Vital Services
The social determinants of health (SDOH) predict who survives and who thrives as they encompass crucial services that significantly shape our health, such as...
April 9, 2024
Report
Counties Make Progress Implementing 100% New Mexico Initiative
County leaders in New Mexico are coordinating efforts within and across counties to address service barriers in each of 10 vital services, all with interrelated...
2024
Research
In Statewide Survey, New Mexicans Identify Barriers Accessing Vital Services
Report describes the baseline results from 6,549 local community members from 11 New Mexico counties about barriers they face accessing vital services.
2024
Report
How Racial Matching is Related to Early Childhood Teacher Well-being
This study examines the association between classroom diversity and the well-being of the ECE workforce.
2024
Report
Improving Opioid Addiction Treatment for People Who Are Incarcerated
Researchers examine how a jail approaches Medication for Opioid Use (MOUD) treatment via telehealth during COVID-19.
November 15, 2023
Research
Supporting Families of Those Reentering from Incarceration with Cash, Wraparound Supports
This brief summarizes the Kinship Reentry Program approach, client perceptions of the program, and its readiness for future evaluation.
2023
Project
Promoting Sustainable Data Use in State Programs
A new toolkit helps public sector agencies build the culture and infrastructure to apply data analysis routinely, effectively, and accurately
July 28, 2023
Report
Youth Participants Give High Marks to LifeSet Program in Illinois
This brief examines the ways LifeSet is and is not supporting the transition from foster care to adulthood for 13 young people.
2023
News
Chapin Hall announces new paid parental leave policy
Chapin Hall has enacted a broad new paid parental leave policy, offering 12 weeks of paid parental leave to benefits-eligible employees.
February 9, 2023
Report
Families Experiencing Adversity Prior to COVID-19 Pandemic Better Able to Cope with Stressors
Study examines how families that had different experiences of risk and resilience have endured the pandemic.
2022
Research Collection
Mitigating Toxic Stress: How can systems work together to prevent its effects?
Toxic stress can threaten children's long-term well-being, with significant costs to our nation’s health and communities. Pediatric primary care clinics are...
October 6, 2022
Research
100% New Mexico’s 10 Vital Services Model Resonated Strongly During Pandemic
A developmental evaluation of eight New Mexico counties’ adaptation of the 100% New Mexico model to ensure access to 10 vital services during the pandemic.
2022
Report
Evaluation identifies key drivers for progress in Doña Ana County, NM pilot
A developmental evaluation of Doña Ana County’s pilot of the 100% New Mexico model to prevent adversity and childhood trauma by ensuring access to 10 vital...
April 19, 2022
Report
Pilot Study of Infant/Early Childhood Mental Health Consultation in Illinois Finds Benefits
This report describes the results of a 15-month pilot study of the Illinois Model of IECMHC with 4 public health departments in the state of Illinois
2021
News
Bryan Samuels Named to Blue Ribbon Committee on Juvenile Justice
Chapin Hall executive director to advise on Cook County juvenile justice practice.
April 21, 2021
Report
Illinois Model of Infant/Early Childhood Mental Health Consultation Improves Staff Reflective Capacity, Classroom Climate
We conducted a 3-year pilot study of the Illinois Model of IECMHC with 23 early childhood programs, including child care, pre-K, and home visiting.
2021
News
Chapin Hall Experts Co-Author Foreword to Out-of-School Time Book
Two Chapin Hall experts write forward to book on using data to improve out-of-school time programs.
February 9, 2021
Report
Chicago Latino Communities Face Limited Supply and Other Barriers to Accessing Child Care to Meet Their Needs
This study explores how Latino families living in predominantly Latino communities in Chicago make childcare decisions relative to the density of formal care...
2020
News
A Season of Crisis
Chapin Hall issues statement on race, health, justice and our collective commitment to transforming systems.
June 11, 2020
News
New tools released by Chapin Hall help health care providers address social needs
These Practice Bulletins provide thoroughly sourced practice recommendations for health care providers to have empathetic conversations with families to assess...
May 4, 2020
Report
System Changes Could Improve Relationships between Incarcerated Mothers and Their Children
This brief shares comments from incarcerated mothers interviewed by researchers and researchers' findings about programs for incarcerated mothers.
2020
Research
Two-Generation Pilot Program Improves Young Parents’ Education, Employment, Personal Growth, and Parenting
CYPP was designed to improve parenting, personal growth, and family self-sufficiency by supporting education and employment. Chapin Hall conducted three studies...
2020
Report
Building Quality Linked Data Sources Can Help Develop Evidence for Policy
There is strong interest in using linked human services administrative data to inform policy and research, from the public sector and academia alike.
2019
News
Chapin Hall Releases Three-Year Strategic Plan with Focus on Child Welfare, Community Capacity and Youth Homelessness
Chapin Hall's strategic plan covers projected work from 2019 through 2022.
November 13, 2019
Report
After Training, Home Visitors Maintain and Improve their Skills
This study examines whether, at 6 and 12 months after training, home visitors have maintained their new skills in engaging families.
2019
Report
Even with Shortened Training, Home Visitors can Improve Skills
Home visiting programs face a number of challenges in engaging and serving families in high-risk communities while also developing and retaining skilled home...
2019
Report
Evaluation of Neighborhood Library Redesign Showed Significant Usability Improvements
This report documents usability improvements at the Free Library of Philadelphia to physically and programmatically transform the libraries.
2019
Report
Data Use in Afterschool Systems Requires Investments in People and Process
Afterschool systems and their funders are looking to data to answer questions about effectiveness and quality improvement. However, in this field, meaningful...
2019
Report
Use of Infant Crying Screening Tool Improves Family Support
In this pilot study, we analyzed the utility of the Infant Crying and Parent Well-being screening tool in a pediatric clinical setting.
2019
Report
Trauma a Contributing Factor to Youth Moving From Child Welfare System to Juvenile Justice System
This study explores the role of trauma, child welfare involvement, and other factors among youth who crossed over from the child welfare system into the...
2018
Research Collection
Early Home Visiting
Since the early 1970s, home visiting programs have proliferated in the United States. They have been promoted as a strategy to engage parents in their young...
July 19, 2018
Report
Community Building Contributes to Children’s Transition from Preschool to Kindergarten
The Pre-Kindergarten to Kindergarten Transition Project (PKTP) is a teacher co-designed, community-wide approach to strengthening early educational transitions...
2018
News
Library After-School Program Serves Students in Need
Chapin Hall evaluation shows Chicago's Teacher in the Library program serves students who need the most help.
June 18, 2018
News
Joint Research Fund Awards Announced
Three family-centered research projects for 2018-2019 funded by Chapin Hall and University of Chicago.
March 2, 2018
Report
Community Schools Positively Impact Student Outcomes
This report examines the effect of student and family use of out-of-school time, school-based health center, and family supports provided by the Elev8 Baltimore...
2018
Report
Early Learning Coalition and Parenting Program Provide Crucial Supports to Promote Healthy Child Development on Chicago’s Far Southside
This report details Chapin Hall's evaluation of the Altgeld-Riverdale Early Learning Initiative and its two main components.
2018
Report
Measuring the Impact of Early Home Visiting Programs
Early home visiting programs aim to promote maternal well-being and healthy child development. However, different home visiting models measure different...
2017
Report
Parent Perspectives Key to Measuring Effectiveness of Early Home Visiting
Strengthening parental capacity and promoting optimal child development are central to the early home visiting mission. How home visiting programs assess...
2017
Report
Restorative Justice Reduces Use of In-School Suspensions
Over the past two decades, policymakers, educators, and others have increasingly proposed restorative justice practices as an alternative to "zero tolerance"...
2017
News
Study Explores Success of the Becoming a Man Program
A qualitative study exploring why the Becoming a Man (BAM) program has shown such strong impacts on young men from at-risk communities was released by Chapin...
October 10, 2016
Report
What Makes the Becoming a Man Program Successful?
This qualitative study looks at the Becoming a Man (BAM) program, an in-school group-process intervention designed to help young men navigate difficult...
2016
Report
Relationship-Based Approach to Early Home Visiting Impacts Staff, Family Perspectives
The Facilitating Attuned Interactions (FAN) approach, developed by Erikson Institute’s Fussy Baby Network®, aims to build parenting capacity and self-efficacy...
2016
Report
Youth Re-entry after Incarceration: From Services to Social Capital
Youth who have been incarcerated face many challenges when they return to their communities. Collaboration between the juvenile justice system and community...
2015
Report
Fathers Play Key Role in Improving Birth Outcomes
This brief discusses findings relevant to the topic of parenting, particularly the role of fathers in children's development.
2015
Report
Designing Education Programs to Meet the Needs of Young Adults in Care
The Administration for Children and Families contracted with the Urban Institute and Chapin Hall to plan for the next generation of evaluation activities funded...
2014
Report
Building a System of Support for Evidence-Based Home Visiting in Illinois
Illinois received federal funding to study its infrastructure to support evidence-based home visiting programs for the prevention of child...
2014
Report
Low-income Mothers Face Barriers to Accessing Family Planning Services
Researchers evaluated the effectiveness of the early childhood service system in Palm Beach County, studying whether it functioned as expected and achieved its...
2014
Report
Improving Data Use in Family Self Sufficiency Efforts
Chapin Hall interviewed program administrators and researchers working on “family self-sufficiency” about the current capacity, challenges, and opportunities...
2014
Report
Making Replication Work for Evidence-Based Early Childhood Home Visiting Programs
Proving a program that works is one challenge. Replicating it is another. The inability to scale-up programs, particularly ones that have been found effective...
2014
Report
Connecting At-Risk Youth to Promising Occupations
Many at-risk youth may need tailored learning programs and additional support, including housing and health services, to succeed.
2013
Report
For Children of Black Immigrant Mothers, Parental Literacy and Center-Based Childcare Improve School Readiness
As part of the Young Children in Black Immigrant Families initiative, Chapin Hall set out to examine the experiences, parenting practices, and characteristics...
2012
Report
Improving School Readiness through Parenting, Maternal Health, and Early Childhood Intervention
The most important factors for children’s development and school readiness are good birth outcomes, positive parenting practices, and access to high quality...
2012
Report
Family Perspectives on Services in Palm Beach County
To be effective, program policies and practices need to be grounded in the circumstances of the low-income families they are intended to serve. Based largely on...
2012
Report
The Big Picture: Illinois Families and Their Use of Multiple Service Systems
The public system that has developed over the past half-century to address social issues - from juvenile delinquency to child maltreatment to mental illness and...
2010
Report
Chicago Youth Have Diverse Educational Paths, Many Face Barriers to Success
Many young Chicagoans from public high schools want to attend and graduate from college or other postsecondary program. But for some, the path to their...
2010
Report
Third Grade Reading Level Predictive of Later Life Outcomes
Chapin Hall researchers looked at school data over time to understand how students’ third-grade reading level relates to four educational outcomes: eighth-grade...
2010
Report
Dramatic Changes in the Chicago Child Population at the Turn of the Century
Chicago is a changing city with changing needs. At the turn of the 21st century, Chapin Hall researchers took the opportunity to look at the demographics of...
2007
Report
Illinois Children Cared for by Grandparents Face Behavioral, Emotional Health Challenges
In this unique study of grandparent-caregiver families, more than two-thirds of grandchildren exhibited symptoms of depression and emotional or behavior...
2006
Report
The Role of After-School Programs in Children’s Literacy Development
This study looks at the potential of after-school programs to foster literacy among low-income children.
2002
Project
Evaluating Youth Deferred Prosecution in Cook County
Preliminary evidence about a pilot project built the foundation for an expanded implementation and outcomes evaluation, which will include five times as many...
February 6, 2023
Project
Kinship Care Leads to Better Outcomes for Children
Chapin Hall policy experts partner with jurisdictions and organizations to develop, implement, and evaluate kinship navigator programs.
June 16, 2022
Project
A Key Connection: Economic Stability and Family Well-being
Providing economic and concrete supports is an important component of preventing child abuse and neglect and reducing involvement with child welfare. This page...
June 1, 2022
Project
Making a Difference in Chicago
Chapin Hall is uniquely committed to applying our expertise, tools, and experience in our home city.
April 14, 2022
Project
Project Provides Benefits of Home Visiting for Families Experiencing Homelessness
Start Early developed a program to provide the benefits of home visiting to families experiencing homelessness. Chapin Hall is evaluating the program.
September 16, 2021
Project
Activate Produces Reproductive Health Resources for Health Care Providers
Chapin Hall, Child Trends, and Healthy Teen Network partner to develop, promote research-based sexual and reproductive health resources.
June 23, 2021
Project
Chapin Hall Builds National Understanding of Pandemic’s Impact on Families
Chapin Hall is providing rigorous research and analysis to assess the impact of the pandemic on families, and we have developed evidence-based policy and...
November 11, 2020
Project
Developing and Implementing a Practice Model at Nexus
Nexus Youth and Family Solutions (Nexus) is a private agency that is working with Chapin Hall to implement a practice model to make a meaningful impact on the...
July 25, 2018
Project
Expanding Trauma-Informed Care
A national collaborative, funded by the U.S. Dept. of Justice, works to reduce the long-term impact of trauma on children.
July 24, 2018
Project
Improving Early Home Visiting Programs
Early home visiting programs aim to promote maternal well-being and healthy child development. To understand whether these programs work, providers, funders,...
March 19, 2018
Project
Informing Decisions in Juvenile Court
Courts around the country drive much of the public’s action on behalf of children who may have been or who are at risk of maltreatment. Chapin Hall has studied...
March 19, 2018
Project
Driving Change for Oak Park Children
Chapin Hall partners with the Oak Park Collaborative for Early Childhood Education. Chapin Hall maintains a database that continuously weaves state and local...
March 19, 2018
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