Evaluating federally-funded child welfare training partnerships: a worthwhile challenge.

This article assesses the state of evaluation research on federally-funded child welfare training, including both Section 426 and Title IV-E partnerships. The article discusses the need for stronger evaluations of child welfare training and describes some factors which may have impeded past evaluation efforts. It recommends strengthening evaluations of federally-funded child welfare training through well-targeted questions, strong research designs, strong research methods, innovative methods, and theory-driven studies. The article concludes by promoting the development of child welfare research and training centers.