Overview

Welfare Research, Inc. (WRI) is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization that provides consulting assistance to the human services, health, and education communities.  Since its founding in 1967, WRI has provided research, evaluation, training, technical assistance, materials development, and management consulting to numerous public and private agencies throughout the United States.

Projects are conducted in child welfare, child support, youth services, adolescent pregnancy prevention, aging, health and mental health, HIV services, fundraising and proposal development, employment and training, literacy, corrections, and housing.

Recent statewide projects in New York State include the statewide Eligibility Manual for Child Welfare Programs; New York State Foster Parent Manual; statewide Foster Parent’s Guide to Adoption; materials for the statewide Foster/Adoptive Parent Recruitment Campaign; and assistance with the Integrated County Planning process to improve outcomes for children, youth, and families.  Recent New York City projects include evaluations of youth employment programs; a directory of funding sources for AIDS projects; the NYC Foster Parent’s Guide to Adoption; and administration of an interagency project coordinating the provision of services to emotionally disturbed children and their families.   WRI also conducts projects in other states, such as the recent case record review in Atlanta, for Children’s Rights, Inc.

Representing a broad range of experience and expertise, WRI's professional staff possess skills related to research and program evaluation, writing, editing, graphic design, audiovisual production, financial management, and proposal development.  Additional consultants are hired as needed.

WRI's Board of Directors includes prominent professionals representing human service agencies, foundations, and health and educational institutions.

Facilities and Equipment

WRI's location in Albany, New York provides proximity to state agencies and the legislature as well as to the upstate region and a large number of statewide organizations.  WRI establishes temporary offices in other locations to implement particular projects as needed.

In addition to standard office equipment, WRI maintains a Windows-based network including publishing and database management stations.  The organization also has access to the State University of New York’s mainframe which supports standard statistical research packages such as the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) as well as other current computer languages.

Publication/Production Capabilities

WRI contains resources to provide writing, editorial, graphic design, and reproduction assistance to public and private agencies.  Publication/production support includes consultation regarding format, style, quality, timing, and cost of project deliverables.  Editorial assistance is provided to ensure accuracy, clarity, and readability in accordance with a given project’s audience and goals.