The Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation (OPRE) in the Administration for Children and Families (ACF), U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, is pleased to announce that the 17th Annual Welfare Research and Evaluation Conference (WREC) will be held May 28 – 30, 2014 at the Grand Hyatt Washington in Washington, DC.
GOALS OF THE CONFERENCE
For more than 15 years, this conference has been a leading forum for researchers, practitioners, program operators, State and local administrators, Federal officials and policymakers to discuss family self-sufficiency programs and policies. Conference presentations highlight the latest findings in family self-sufficiency research, ways to incorporate findings into research design, and implementation of programs, policies and strategies for future evaluations.
The conference will focus on Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) and related programs, policies and services that support low-income and vulnerable families on the path to economic self-sufficiency. This year’s conference will feature presentations on topics including:
TANF
Education, Training and Success in the Labor Market
Child and Youth Well-Being
Fatherhood, Relationships and Strengthening Families
Evaluating Social Programs: Building and Using Evidence
Approaches to Alleviate Poverty and Strengthen the Safety Net
Conference presentations will feature both basic and applied research with an audience that includes researchers, practitioners, State and local administrators and policymakers.
CALL FOR PROPOSALS
OPRE invites proposals for individual presentations and for entire conference sessions. OPRE will consider the following criteria for proposals:
Relevance to family self-sufficiency policy or program design and administration
Methodological rigor, especially through the use of experimental designs
Innovative approaches or new contributions to the field
Clarity of description
OPRE has a strong preference for presentations that highlight recent findings in empirical research, particularly research based on rigorous, experimental designs, although we will consider discussions of work in progress. Presentations that combine research findings with input from State and local practitioners are especially welcome.
OPRE may request a draft presentation or paper prior to making a final decision.
Conference sessions will be 75 minutes in length, and may consist of three presentations, two presentations and one prepared commentary or some other format. All sessions will reserve time at the end for audience questions and discussion.
EMERGING SCHOLARS
OPRE is particularly interested in fostering the work of new and emerging scholars in the family self-sufficiency field. To support this effort, ACF will once again feature work from emerging scholars at the 2014 conference. Emerging scholars include those who are currently in graduate school or are only a few years past completing a degree. ACF will host specific opportunities to feature the work of emerging scholars, which may include paper presentations or a special poster session. Individuals who are early in their careers are strongly encouraged to submit proposals for the conference. You will denote whether you are an emerging scholar on the online proposal submission form.
SPEAKER TRAVEL
OPRE may be able to sponsor travel and lodging for a limited number of speakers, including emerging scholars. The proposal submission site includes an application for travel sponsorship. You must complete this application to be considered for travel sponsorship. OPRE cannot consider requests for travel sponsorship without a completed application. OPRE has limited travel funds and will not be able to cover travel costs for all speakers.
PROPOSAL GUIDELINES
All proposals must be in English. Proposals should be no more than one page in length (approximately 500 words), exclusive of biographical sketches, and should summarize the content of the presentation. If you are proposing an entire conference session, please include a title for the session along with a general description/rationale and then submit a separate proposal for each presentation to be included in the session (limit three presentations per conference session).
The deadline for proposals is November 15, 2013.
Proposals should include:
Presentation title
As appropriate, detail on research, such as:
research questions addressed
research design implemented (e.g. experimental, quasi-experimental, econometric analysis)
data sources used (including the response rate for new survey data)
analysis methods
findings, including non-significant findings as appropriate
Relevance to conference themes
Completion date or estimated completion date of the study
When and where else the presentation has been or will be presented
A biographical sketch for each of the proposed presenters/discussants (no more than 150 words each)
Contact information for each of the proposed presenters/discussants
Please note: If research was conducted under a grant or contract with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services or another part of the Federal government then proposals must include the date funded and stated purpose of the grant or contract as described in the Federal Register or other announcement under which the research was funded.
