I worked for the public child welfare system in Washington State for 26 years as a social worker, unit supervisor, middle manager and (for seven years) regional administrator. I was also the child welfare agency's training director for a couple of years. I began sending out interesting research articles to various child welfare staff and other community professionals many years ago only to find that the recipients of the articles frequently did not read them. In 1999 I began to summarise research which I thought contained practically important findings and recommendations; and I have continued doing this since I joined the Northwest Institute for Children and Families (NICF) at the University of Washington School of Social Work in the fall of 2004. I have found that recipients of these summaries are far more likely to read them than the articles or books on which they are based and often forward them to friends and colleagues.

I make every effort to write summaries which are accurate, fair and balanced, as well as reasonably concise. My main child welfare interests are neglect and related topics, for example, co - occurring disorders, placement instability and other out of home care issues, work force improvements, evidence based practice and the social determinants of health and mental health. I frequently return to these topics but I also summarise research on other topics when I believe it has clear practical significance.

One of NICF's committments is to bring knowledge to bear on practice and to forge a link between the world of research and services to children and families. These research summaries are one means of making this connection.

Click on the menu above to read and/or download documents.