Child Welfare Partnership for Research and Training: A Title IV-E University/Community Collaborative Research Model

Abstract

University-community partnerships are increasingly recognized as valuable in educating students and bridging the gap between research and practice. This article describes the evolution and design of a university-community partnership between a School of Social Work in one urban university and local child welfare agencies: the Child Welfare Partnership for Research and Training (CW-PART). The article describes 1) the community-engaged framework used to inform the overall approach and partner roles; 2) evolution of the model from early partnered research successes and core elements of the CW-PART university-community partnered research model; and 3) preliminary lessons learned from the pilot phase of model.