At the request of the Supreme Court of Ohio and in partnership with the Ohio Department of Children and Youth (formerly the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services), Action Research is conducting a four-year evaluation of pilot programs in six Ohio counties that provide multidisciplinary legal representation to parents involved or at risk of involvement with the child welfare system. Each multidisciplinary team includes at least one lawyer, social worker, and parent advocate who work together to address family issues, including child safety issues, and help prevent families’ avoidable involvement with the child welfare system.
In Year 1, Action Research conducted a process evaluation to understand how these programs work, the challenges in implementation faced by the Ohio pilots, and the solutions pilot programs used to address these challenges. Should Ohio choose to replicate these programs in the future, this process evaluation can inform the Supreme Court of Ohio and Ohio counties on how best to scale the initiative. This report is based on six focus groups and one interview involving a total of 36 stakeholders, a review of program proposals, analysis of program reports, observations of technical assistance sessions, and analysis of aggregate program data.