Fred Wulczyn
Senior Research Fellow and Director, Center for State Child Welfare Data
Dr. Fred Wulczyn is a social scientist whose work has shaped how child welfare systems use data, research evidence, and improvement science to strengthen outcomes for children and families. He serves as Director of the Center for State Child Welfare Data and Senior Research Fellow at Chapin Hall, where, for more than four decades, he has led the development of longitudinal data systems and evidence-to-practice frameworks now used by states across the country. In addition, he has held academic appointments at Columbia University and the University of Chicago.
Trained at the University of Chicago’s Crown School (PhD), with earlier degrees from Marywood University (MSW), and Juniata College, Wulczyn began his career in public service with the New York State Department of Social Services before returning to academia. His work bridges scholarship and operations: he is known for translating rigorous quantitative methods into practical decision-support tools that help agencies manage performance, plan capacity, and improve child and family well-being.
In 2004, he founded the Center for State Child Welfare Data to expand the scientific use of administrative data in child protection. Under his leadership, the Center built the nation’s largest longitudinal foster care archive, pioneered online analytic platforms for state leaders, and advanced system science approaches to capacity planning, fiscal alignment, and performance management. The Center’s EDGE (Evidence-Driven Growth & Excellence) curriculum and related tools have helped agencies integrate research evidence into everyday decision making, with links to improved permanency outcomes for children.
Wulczyn’s scholarship spans foster care dynamics, racial and economic disparities, causal inference, system simulation, improvement science, and the economics of child welfare. He has authored or coauthored hundreds of peer-reviewed articles, books, reports, and technical studies that have influenced federal policy, state reform efforts, and international child protection initiatives. His work has contributed directly to changes in how outcomes are monitored nationally and how states structure contracts, reimbursement, and capacity strategies.
He is a Fellow and board member of the American Academy of Social Work and Social Welfare, the recipient of the James E. Flynn Prize for Research, and the Peter A. Forsythe Award for Leadership in Child Welfare, among other honors. Throughout his career, he has focused on one central aim: Helping public systems use science responsibly and effectively so that children and families experience safer, more stable, and more equitable outcomes.
Ph.D., School of Social Service Administration at the University of Chicago
Master of Social Work, Marywood University
Bachelor of Science in Psychology and Sociology, Juniata College
Selected Presentations, 2017
Wulczyn, F. (2017, December). Child Welfare and Child Protection: Federal Perspectives. Presented at the International Symposium on Child Welfare and Protection, Haikou City, Hainan Province, China.
Wulczyn, F. (2017, December). Child Protection Systems: State and Local Perspectives. Presented at the International Symposium on Child Welfare and Protection, Haikou City, Hainan Province, China.
Wulczyn, F. (2017, November). The Black / White Placement Gap. Presented at the ADRF Network Inaugural Conference, Washington, D.C.
Wulczyn, F. (2017, July). The Value-Added Effects of Fast Track Adoption Policy. Presented at the 35th International Congress on Law and Mental Health, Prague, Czech Republic.
Wulczyn, F. & Swisher, D. (2017, June). Using resources to promote program flexibility beyond the waiver. Presented at the 19th Annual Waiver Demonstration meeting, Arlington, VA.
Wulczyn, F., Dreyfus, S., Fitzsimmons, K., Cristalli, M. (2017, May). The Evidence for Using Evidence: Public, Private, and Philanthropic Perspectives. Presented at APHSA, Baltimore, MD.
Wulczyn, F. & Feldman, S. (2017, April). Approaches to evaluating systems outcomes. Presented at the Casey Family Programs Waiver Evaluator Meeting, Seattle, WA.
Wulczyn, F. & Halloran, J. (2017, April). Modeling Complexity in Human-Built Systems: New Approaches, New Findings in Foster Care. Presented at the CAPS Meeting, Washington, D.C.
Wulczyn, F., Wagner, A. & Hummel, J. (2017, January). OSPEDALE: An Agent-based Simulation system for Child Welfare Analytics. Presented at the Informs Computing Society Conference, Austin, TX.
Lopez Lopez, M., Wulczyn, F. H., Bouma, H., Van Santen, E. & Grietens, H. (2017, January). Child Protection Across Borders: Comparing Policy and Systems. Presented at SSWR, New Orleans, LA.
Wulczyn, F. H., Price, K. M. & Alpert, L. (2017, January). Research Evidence Use and Outcomes in the Child Welfare System. Presented at SSWR, New Orleans, LA.
Fellow, American Academy of Social Work and Social Welfare
Doctor of Humane Letters, honoris causa, Marywood University
James E. Flynn Prize for Research, University of Southern California School of Social Work
Peter A. Forsythe Award for Leadership in Child Welfare, National Association of Public Child Welfare Administrators
Distinguished Alumni Achievement Award, Juniata College
Distinguished Alumni Award, Marywood University
Books
Haskins, R., Wulczyn, F., & Webb, M. B. (eds). (2007). Child protection: Using research to improve policy and practice. Washington, DC: Brookings Institution Press.
Wulczyn, F., Barth, R., Jones Harden, B., Landsverk, J., & Yuan, Y. Y. (2005). Beyond common sense: Child welfare, child well-being, and the evidence for policy reform. New York, NY: Aldine Transaction, Inc.
Peer-Reviewed Articles
Wulczyn, F., & Halloran, J. (2017). Foster care dynamics and system science: Implications for research and Policy. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 14(10), 1181.
Wulczyn, F., Vesneski, W., Huhr, S., Monahan-Price, K., Martinez, Z., Verhulst, C. & Weiss, A. (2016). The Value-Added Impact of Fast-Track Adoption Policy on Adoption Rates. Global Social Welfare, 3(2), 97-106.
Wulczyn, F., Alpert, L., Monahan-Price, K., Huhr, S., Palinkas, & Pinsoneault, L. (2015). Research Evidence Use in the Child Welfare System. Child Welfare, 94(2), 141-165.
Chamberlain, P., Feldman, S. W., Wulczyn, F., Saldana, L., & Forgatch, M. (2015). Implementation and Evaluation of Linked Parenting Models in a Large Urban Child Welfare System. Child Abuse & Neglect, 53, 27-39.
Goldhaber-Fiebert, J. D., Babiarz, K. S., Garfield, R. L., Wulczyn, F., Landsverk, J., & Horwitz, S. M. (2014). Explaining variations in state foster care maintenance rates and the implications for implementing new evidence-based programs. Children and Youth Services Review, 39, 183–206.
Holmes, L., Landsverk, J., Ward, H., Rolls-Reutz, J., Saldana, L., Wulczyn, F., & Chamberlain, P. (2014). Cost calculator methods for estimating casework time in child welfare services: A promising approach for use in implementation of evidence-based practices and other service innovations. Children and Youth Services Review, 39, 169–176.
Wulczyn, F., & Landsverk, J. (2014). Research to practice in child welfare systems: Moving forward with implementation research. Children and Youth Services Review, 39, 145–146.
Landsverk, J. A., & Wulczyn, F. H. (2013). Child placement as a response to child abuse and neglect. Washington, DC: Institute of Medicine. (Paper commissioned by the Committee on Child Maltreatment Research, Policy, and Practice for the Next Decade, IOM, Washington, DC). (unpublished)
Wulczyn, F., Gibbons, R., Snowden, L., & Lery, B. (2013). Poverty, Social Disadvantage, and the Black/White Placement Gap. Children and Youth Services Review, 35, 65–74.
Goldhaber-Fiebert, J. D., Snowden, L. R., Wulczyn, F., Landsverk, J., & Horwitz, S. M. (2011). Economic evaluation research in the context of Child Welfare policy: A structured literature review and recommendations. Child Abuse & Neglect, 35(9), 722–740.
Goldhaber-Fiebert, J. D., Bailey, S. L., Hurlburt, M. S., Zhang, J., Snowden, L. R., Wulczyn, F., Landsverk J., & Horwitz, S.M. (2011). Evaluating Child Welfare Policies with Decision-Analytic Simulation Models. Administration and Policy in Mental Health and Mental Health Services Research, 1–12.
Wulczyn, F., Chen, L., & Courtney, M. (2011). Family reunification in a social structural context. Children and Youth Services Review, 33 (3), 424-430.
Wulczyn, F., Chen, L., & Orlebeke, B. (2009). Evaluating contract agency performance in achieving reunification. Children and Youth Services Review, 31 (5), 506-512.
Wulczyn, F. (2009). Epidemiological perspectives on maltreatment prevention. The Future of Children, 19(2), 39-66.
Wulczyn, F., Smithgall, C., & Chen, L. (2009). Child well-being: The intersection of schools and child welfare. Review of Research in Education, 33(1), 35-62.
Wulczyn, F., Chen, L., & Hislop, K. (2006). Adoption dynamics and the Adoption and Safe Families Act. Social Service Review, 80(4), 585-608.
Wulczyn, F., & Zimmerman, E. (2005). Sibling placements in longitudinal perspective. Children and Youth Services Review, 27(7), 741-763.
Wulczyn, F. (2005). From anticipation to evidence: Research on the Adoption and Safe Families Act. Virginia Journal of Social Policy & the Law, 12, 371-399.
Courtney, M., Needell, B., & Wulczyn, F. (2004). Unintended consequences of the push for accountability: The case of national child welfare performance standards. Children and Youth Services Review, 26(12), 1141-1154.
Wulczyn, F. (2004). Family reunification. The Future of Children, 14(1), 94-113.
Wulczyn, F., Kogan, J., & Jones Harden, B. (2003). Placement stability and movement trajectories. Social Service Review, 77(2), 212-236.
Wulczyn, F. (2003). Closing the gap: Are changing exit patterns affecting the time African American children spend in foster care relative to Caucasian children. Children and Youth Services Review, 25(5/6), 431-462.
Baker, A., Wulczyn, F., & Dale, N. (2005). Covariates of length of stay in residential treatment. Child Welfare, 84(3), 363-386.
Wulczyn, F., Brunner Hislop, K., & Jones Harden, B. (2002). The placement of infants in foster care. Infant Mental Health Journal, 23(5), 454-475.
Wulczyn, F., Kogan, J., & Dilts, J. (2001). The effect of population dynamics on performance measurement. Social Service Review, 75(2), 292-317.
Wulczyn, F., & Orlebeke, B. (2000). Fiscal reform and managed care in child welfare services. Policy & Practice of Public Human Services, 58(3).
Wulczyn, F., Orlebeke, B., & Melamid, E. (2000). Measuring contract agency performance with administrative data. Child Welfare, 79(5), 457-474.
Wulczyn, F. (2000). Federal fiscal reform in child welfare services. Children and Youth Services Review, 22(2), 131-159.
Wulczyn, F. (1996). A statistical and methodological framework for analyzing the foster care experiences of children. Social Service Review, 70(2), 318-329.
Goerge, R., Wulczyn, F., & Harden, A. (1997). New comparative insights into states and their foster children. Spectrum: Journal of State Government, 70(1), 30.
Goerge, R., Wulczyn, F., & Fanshel, D. (1994). A foster care research agenda for the ’90S. Child Welfare, 73(5), 525-549.
Wulczyn, F., & Goerge, R. (1992). Foster care in New York and Illinois: The challenge of rapid change. Social Service Review, 66(2), 278-294.
Wulczyn, F. (1991). Caseload dynamics and foster care reentry. Social Service Review, 65(1), 133-156.
Book Chapters
Wulczyn, F., Lery, B., & Snowden, L. Bridgette Lery, & Lonnie Snowden. (2014). Poverty and the black/white placement gap: Using context to understand the role of evidence-based interventions. In A. Shlonksy & R. Benbenishty (Eds.), From evidence to outcomes in child welfare: An international reader (pp. 105-116). New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
Wulczyn F. H., Feldman S., Horwitz S.M., & Alpert, L. (2014) Child maltreatment prevention: The problem of resource allocation. In J. Korbin & R. Krugman (Eds.), Handbook of child maltreatment (pp. 341-350). Dordrecht, Netherlands: Springer.
Goerge, R., Wulczyn, F., & Harden, A. (1999). Foster care dynamics. In P. Curtis, G. Dale, & J. Kendall. (Eds.), The foster care crisis: Translating research into policy and practice (pp. 17-44). Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska Press.
Wulczyn, F. (1997). Methodological considerations in outcomes management in family and child welfare. In E. Mullen & J. Magnabosco (Eds.), Outcomes measurement in the human services (pp. 181-188). Washington, DC: NASW Press.
Wulczyn, F. (1996). Child welfare reform, managed care, and reinvestment. In A. Kahn & S. Kamerman (Eds.), Children and their families in big cities: Strategies for service reform. New York, NY: Columbia University Press.
Wulczyn, F. (1996). HomeRebuilders: A family reunification demonstration. In R. Barth, J. Duerr-Berrick, & N. Gilbert (Eds.), Child welfare research review, Vol. 2 (pp. 252-271). New York, NY: Columbia University Press.
Wulczyn, F. (1994). Birth status and infant foster care placements in New York City. In R. Barth, J. Duerr-Berrick, & N. Gilbert (Eds.), Child welfare research review, Vol. 1 (pp. 146-184). New York, NY: Columbia University Press.
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