Grant Program for Support of Dissertation Research in the Field of Child Welfare

The New York Foundling and the Vincent J. Fontana Center for Child Protection recognize the ongoing need for research that promotes and supports best practice in the field of child welfare. The Foundling and the Fontana Center seek to expand its capacity to support practice-related and academic research by awarding small grants to doctoral students whose dissertations examine issues that will have a significant impact upon service delivery and innovative practice in child welfare.

MISSION

The purpose of the grant program is to encourage doctoral students to make a commitment to conduct research that helps build evidence-based knowledge in the child welfare field and improves the lives of children, families and communities in the Tri-State area.

The Foundling/Fontana Center Grant Program offers grants to help cover dissertation research-related expenses. Consideration will also be given to applicants who require financial assistance to pay for and complete their graduate education. The grants do not have to be directly utilized for research-related expenses. Doctoral candidates whose dissertations contribute to the expansion of knowledge and best practice in the field of child welfare may request grant awards of up to $7,500 per year for no more than two years.

The Foundling/Fontana Center supports research in a number of broad areas that address social, clinical, educational and medical issues related to child welfare. The Foundling/Fontana Center is especially interested in supporting research that is consistent with efforts to strengthen and expand evidence-based treatment and prevention services to children and adolescents in child welfare in the Tri-State area. Priority areas identified are:

Prevention Strategies

The Foundling/Fontana Center is interested in supporting research that addresses innovative prevention strategies that offer hope that we can end the cycle of interpersonal violence before it begins by strengthening families and reducing stresses that can result from poor parenting skills, mental illness, economic hardships, and drug and alcohol dependence. Funding will be provided to conduct research that identifies the effectiveness of prevention programs or practices.

Etiology of Child Maltreatment

The Foundling/Fontana Center will support epidemiological studies on the causes and consequences of foster care placement and the etiology of child maltreatment and resiliency among children and families. Studies may focus on the risk and protective factors and/or service needs of subpopulations of children and families such as children with disabilities, teen mothers, children with attention deficit disorders or children exhibiting problematic sexualized behaviors.

Assessment and Service Planning

The Foundling/Fontana Center recognizes the critical need to create assessment, monitoring and tracking mechanisms to ensure that needed health, developmental and mental health services are provided to children and families in the child welfare system. Research will be supported that develop or evaluate services that address how child or family factors are associated to service planning, delivery and compliance will be encouraged, as well as studies that examine for disparities in reporting, removal and reunification with families of origin.

Evidence-based Services and Child Welfare Practices

The Foundling/Fontana Center supports the promotion of evidence-based practices and treatment services for children and families in foster care, including cognitive behavioral approaches for victims of child abuse, family intervention, and subsidized guardianship. In particular, the Foundling/Fontana Center is interested in supporting research on strategies to reduce the time that children remain in foster care and to stabilize permanent placements for children.

SELECTION CRITERIA

Grant awards will be based upon the relevance, quality and feasibility of the proposed research and to its significance and applicability to practice in the field of child welfare in the Tri-State area. The most successful proposals are likely to be for research that includes pertinent analysis of topics as they related to or inform child welfare practice or programming.

Research proposals will be evaluated by the Foundling/Fontana Center Research Advisory Committee in terms of the following selection and weighting criteria (Research proposals will be scored on the basis of 100 points. The research proposals with the highest scores will be selected):

• The importance of significance of the research to the New York Foundling/Fontana Center and to the field of child welfare and the relevance of the research to the mission and research priorities (see above priority areas of research) of the New York Foundling/Fontana Center. (30 points)
• The importance or value of the research to the care and treatment of maltreated children and child welfare clients. (20 points)
• The likelihood that the research can be successfully implemented in light of research design and methodology as well as staffing requirements and cooperation and whether state or governmental approval is required. (10 points)
• The adequacy of the procedures for protecting human subjects and the degree of risk to which subjects will be exposed. (10 points)
• The scientific quality and methodological soundness of the research study. Research proposals must include a description of the research design, statistical evaluation of results and methods with explicitly stated hypotheses. (30 points)

Eligibility Requirements

To apply for a grant applicants must demonstrate the following:

• Matriculation at an accredited doctoral program in Social Work, Psychology, Schools of Public Health, Medical Schools , Allied Health, Criminal Justice and other related fields.
• Demonstrated interest in the field of child welfare/ child maltreatment.
• Letter of recommendation from their dissertation sponsor.
• Documentation that dissertation committee has approved dissertation project.

ACCEPTANCE AND REPORTING REQUIREMENTS FOR GRANTEES

Grantees must submit quarterly written progress reports to Foundling/Fontana Center Research Advisory Committee outlining the progress of the research, divergence from the origin design, any problems that have developed and projections for completion of the research. The grantees dissertation sponsor must sign all reports. At the completion of research the grantee will draft a final report that will be submitted to the Foundling/Fontana Center. The grantee will be required to present the study findings at the Annual Foundling/Fontana Center Research Conference. All presentations regardless of media based on data supported with Foundling/Fontana Center funds will be required to acknowledge the Foundling/Fontana Center. Payments will be made on a quarterly basis contingent upon acceptance of quarterly reports.

Noncompliance with the reporting requirements at any point of time will result in the suspension of the grant award and the Foundling/Fontana Center will consider all monies previously awarded a loan requiring any amount dispensed to be repaid to the Foundling/Fontana Center.

HOW TO APPLY

Submission Requirements and Deadlines

Applicants applying for grants must submit the following information:

• Letter of interest and statement of how research proposal is applicable to field of child welfare/child maltreatment
• Graduate school transcript
• Budget and amount of grant request up to $7,500 a year (Budget may include non research-related expenses including living expenses).
• A letter of recommendation from applicant's dissertation sponsor
• Letter stating that dissertation committee has approved the dissertation
• Full-length description of dissertation project including abstract, a statement of the specific research question being examined, a review of literature, a description of the research design, a plan for the statistical evaluation of results and methods with explicitly stated hypotheses, a description of the kind and number of subjects to be included in the study, procedures for informed consent and risk and benefits of the study to both subjects and the Foundling/Fontana Center and procedures to protect the privacy of research subjects.

Research proposals and accompanied application information must be submitted in hard copy (7 completed proposals) by 5:00pm Friday, July 7, 2006. Award letters will be in the mail by August 1, 2006.

Questions and Inquiries Should be Directed To:

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