Welfare Research and Evaluation Conference
Call for Proposals

The Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation (OPRE) invites proposals for individual presentations and for entire conference sessions. Proposals will be considered based on:

• Relevance to welfare and family self-sufficiency policy or program design and administration
• Methodological rigor, especially through the use of experimental designs
• Innovative approaches or new contributions to the field
• Clarity of description

Presentations that combine research findings with input from State and local practitioners are especially welcome. OPRE may request a draft presentation or paper prior to making a final decision.

Conference sessions will be 75 minutes in length, and may consist of three presentations, two presentations and one prepared commentary, or some other format. All sessions will reserve time at the end for audience questions and discussion.

EMERGING SCHOLARS

OPRE is particularly interested in fostering the work of new and emerging scholars in the welfare and family self-sufficiency field. To support this effort, the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) will once again feature work from emerging scholars in the 2012 conference. Emerging scholars include those who are currently in graduate school or are only a few years past completing a degree. ACF will host specific opportunities to feature the work of emerging scholars, which may include paper presentations or a special poster session. Individuals who are early in their careers are strongly encouraged to submit proposals for the conference. You will be asked to denote whether you are an emerging scholar on the online proposal submission form.

PROPOSAL GUIDELINES

All proposals must be in English. Proposals should be no more than one page in length (approximately 500 words), exclusive of biographical sketches, and should summarize the content of the presentation. If you are proposing an entire conference session, please include a title for the session along with a general description/rationale and then upload a separate proposal for each presentation to be included in the session (limit three presentations per conference session).

The deadline for proposals is November 14, 2011.

Proposals should include:

• Presentation title
• As appropriate, detail on research, such as:
• research questions addressed
• research design implemented (e.g. experimental, quasi-experimental, econometric analysis)
• data sources used (including the response rate for new survey data)
• analysis methods utilized
• findings, including non-significant findings as appropriate
• Relevance to conference themes
• Completion date or estimated completion date of the study
• When and where else the presentation has been or will be presented
• A biographical sketch for each of the proposed presenters/discussants (no more than 150 words each)

Please note: If research was conducted under a grant or contract with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services or another part of the Federal government then proposals must include the date funded and stated purpose of the grant or contract as described in the Federal Register or other announcement under which the research was funded.

OPRE may be able to sponsor travel and lodging for a limited number of speakers, including Emerging Scholars. Please indicate whether you would like to be considered for sponsorship by checking the appropriate box during the online proposal submission process. Your response to this question will have no impact on the evaluation of your proposal.

QUESTIONS?

Please direct questions about conference content Erica Zielewski at Erica.Zielewski@acf.hhs.gov or Emily Schmitt at Emily.Schmitt@acf.hhs.gov.

Please direct any technical questions about using the online proposal submission site or any general questions about conference logistics to wrec@esi-dc.com.