Scope and Contents: Files consist of documentation submitted for research projects involving children and families served by the Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) which must be approved by the department’s Institutional Review Board. Variously included in the files are general information forms that include the project title, researchers’ names and contact information, research locations, and statements on the project’s inclusion of DCFS clients; research plans and designs (e.g., purpose, background, objectives, risks, benefits, methodology, confidentiality); evaluation criteria; copies of data collection instruments to be used in the project (e.g., surveys, questionnaires, life skills assessments); checklists indicating the types of interviews, clients, and records necessary for project completion (e.g., DCFS wards and families, client records); legal and voluntary consent forms; research approval and support letters submitted by other entities (e.g., university institutional review boards, pharmaceutical companies); and other related memoranda and correspondence. If a research project was completed, occasionally included are copies of journal articles or academic papers comprising the final report.
Research topics include child abuse and neglect; domestic violence; youth violence; children’s health issues (e.g., HIV/AIDS; emotional or behavioral disorders; mental illness); “at-risk” families; adoption and guardianship issues (e.g., Independent Living Programs for foster teens transitioning to adulthood, educational services for foster children, reunification of foster children with biological parents); juvenile justice; teen parents; issues affecting child welfare services (e.g., caseworker job satisfaction, agency staffing, federal welfare reform); child safety; child endangerment; “special-needs” children; and substance abuse.
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