What We Do

An Introduction to OPRE by Director Naomi Goldstein

The Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation (OPRE) studies Administration for Children and Families (ACF) programs and the populations they serve through rigorous research and evaluation projects. These include evaluations of existing programs, evaluations of innovative approaches to helping low-income children and families, research syntheses and descriptive and exploratory studies.

We also coordinate performance management for ACF. View examples of Performance Plans and Reports.

We have three divisions:

• The Division of Economic Independence focuses on welfare and employment.
• The Division of Child and Family Development focuses on child care, Head Start and Early Head Start.
• The Division of Family Strengthening focuses on teen pregnancy prevention, youth development, healthy marriage, responsible fatherhood, home visiting, and child abuse and neglect.

A number of audiences use our research to inform their work including:

• ACF program offices
• Federal, state and local policymakers
• Researchers
• Training and technical assistance providers
• Practitioners, such as program directors and state and county administrators