In 2021, the Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation awarded a 5-year cooperative agreement for the Tribal Research Center for Early Childhood Development and Systems (TRC). The TRC will provide leadership and collaboration to promote excellence in community-based participatory research and evaluation of ACF early childhood and family economic well-being initiatives that serve tribal communities. Settings include tribal home visiting programs, early care and education center-based programs, home-based and family child care providers, Head Start and Early Head Start programs, and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) programs.
The TRC will:
- conduct research to identify needs and/or develop effective practices and integrated systems for ACF early childhood and family economic well-being initiatives in tribal communities;
- identify, validate, and/or develop measures of culturally meaningful inputs, implementation processes, and proximal and distal outcomes of those programs;
- establish peer-learning communities for tribal research on areas of shared priority;
- provide training and professional development to facilitate interest and competencies in research relevant to early childhood and family economic well-being in tribal communities;
- provide forums to increase cross-cultural understanding, cultural humility, and to elevate tribal voices in research and evaluation; and
- strategically share and disseminate the work widely.
The cooperative agreement was awarded to the University of Colorado, Centers for American Indian and Alaska Native Health and partners; the Harvard University, Brazelton Touchpoints Center; the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Center for American Indian Health (JHU); the Michigan State University, University Outreach and Engagement; and Child Trends.
To access TRC products, see https://coloradosph.cuanschutz.edu/research-and-practice/centers-programs/caianh/projects/trc
Point(s) of contact: Nicole Denmark, Laura Hoard, and Amelia Popham.