Policy for Results
PolicyForResults.org offers policymakers the latest high-quality research and evidence needed to craft policies that make measurable differences for children and families. CSSP developed this website to help governors and state legislators quickly cut through the well-intentioned but highly fragmented information, advice, research papers, issue briefs and reports on child and family policy.
The site offers cogent, clear examples of effective policies, other states’ experiences and guidance on tailoring policy to specific state conditions. In just a few clicks, policymakers can find information that:
- Summarizes the evidence for policies’ impact on the lives of children and families
- Provides state-by-state trend data about how vulnerable children and families are faring, allowing policymakers to compare their states to other states and against national norms
- Shares examples of effective policies from other states, with links to specific legislation, implementation guides, videos of effective policy implementation and other resources
- Suggests financing strategies to sustain proven policy and results
- Offers guidance about accountability and measuring the policy results, including recommended indicators of success
- Links to an array of resources that provide additional assistance.
PolicyForResults.org is organized around four critical results and corresponding indicators:
1. Children are Healthy
2. Children Enter School Ready to Learn and Prepared to Succeed
3. Youth are Prepared to Succeed as Adults
- Increase high school completion
- Reduce juvenile detention
- Reduce teen and unplanned pregnancies
- Support youth transitioning from foster care
- Promote youth civic engagement
- Increase college completion
- Under construction: Reduce adolescent substance abuse; Prevent juvenile delinquency; Ensure quality juvenile justice services
4. Children Grow Up in Safe, Supportive and Economically Successful Families
PolicyforResults.org is “an ideal way for legislators to make smart, budget-conscious decisions that continue to help those who need it most, particularly in difficult budget times. I only wish the site … had been around a decade ago!”
Diana Urban
Connecticut State Representative
One of Governing Magazine’s 2010 Public Officials of the Year
“This website is the dream of people who want to change the culture of state government.”
--Steve Rauschenberger, Former Illinois State Senator, Former President, National Conference of State Legislatures