Research Reports

The Utah Division of Child and Family Services (DCFS) partnered with the University of Utah Social Research Institute (SRI) to conduct a comprehensive needs assessment to guide strategic planning, resource allocation, and service improvements aimed at preventing child maltreatment and supporting vulnerable families. Conducted from October 2022 through March 2024, this mixed-methods evaluation included a quantitative analysis of DCFS administrative data on over 429,000 children from 2015–2023 and qualitative feedback from 289 Utahns gathered through provider surveys, stakeholder interviews, and community engagement sessions. The findings were synthesized into a strategic planning framework, identifying priority needs, service gaps, and actionable strategies to enhance prevention and intervention.

Under the direction of the Utah Courts and the Division of Child and Family Services, the Social Research Institute evaluated the quality of child welfare court hearings before and after the implementation of a judicial bench card statewide. The goals of this evaluation were to 1) assess indicators of the level of bench card utilization and provide feedback to improve fidelity, 2) analyze parent and youth experience, 3) analyze the impact of the bench card on hearing quality after implementation, and 4) evaluate bench card impact on child outcomes.

In fall 2011, the Social Research Institute (SRI) of the University of Utah’s College of Social Work partnered with Utah’s Department of Workforce Services (DWS) to conduct a longitudinal study of new FEP participants beginning their experience with cash assistance, following a significant redesign of the FEP program.

The state of Utah has been successful in their implementation of WIOA. While many WIOA outcomes reflect program success, DWS strives to further improve service delivery and program outcomes. To this end, Utah’s WIOA program leaders contracted with the Social Research Institute (SRI), University of Utah to conduct a program evaluation.

In June 2012, Utah’s Department of Workforce Services (DWS), in partnership with Montana’s Department of Labor, was awarded a Workforce Innovation Fund Grant from the U.S. Department of Labor to carry out the consortium’s “Next Generation Labor Exchange (GenLEX)” initiative. The University of Utah’s Social Research Institute (SRI) was awarded the contract to serve as the third-party evaluator. This included providing a research design and statistical analysis for the evaluation of three sets of LEX test components introduced through the GenLEX project.