Project Child HANDS
Enhancing Child and Family Research Capacity
in the Commonwealth of Virginia
In partnership with Virginia’s new Office of Early Childhood Development, Dr. Aaron Schroeder (VT Institute for Policy and Governance),
Dr. Isabel Bradburn (Child Development Center, Human Development), and Dr. Mido Chang (Education Leadership), have been awarded a three-year
$645,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to design, develop, and implement an integrated, interagency data system
for the purpose of enhancing Virginia’s child and family research capacity.
Integrating data from governmental agencies at the state and local-level, as well as from child and family related non-profit organizations,
the web-based data system will be used to analyze critical policy questions concerning public program impacts on the promotion of child health,
development and school readiness. In addition to enhancing local and state-wide policy decision-making, it is expected that this project will
provide a rich tool for use by developmental, health, education, and policy scientists.