The Clearinghouse for Military Family Readiness at Penn State was recently recognized by a review published by the Journal of Youth Development (JYD) as a critical resource for youth-serving professionals.
According to the review, the Clearinghouse delivers “a trusted, easy-to-navigate source of evidence-based and evidence-informed resources, technical assistance, and support that helps professionals who support military families do that work more effectively.”
One of the ways the Clearinghouse offers support is by providing a searchable database of over 1,300 systematically-vetted programs with the aim of aiding professionals working with military and civilian families. The authors described the Clearinghouse’s database of programs as “robust.” The database offers a broad selection of programs across 44 different topic areas and includes easy-to-read summaries of the research behind each program.
The Clearinghouse provides live help to professionals through a team of Technical Assistance Specialists, who are available free of charge 9 a.m. – 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, to answer questions by phone (877) 382-9185, email, or live chat.
In 2020, Technical Assistance Specialists responded to almost 400 requests related to topics such as how to identify the best fitting evidence-based program(s) for specific community needs, what best practices would help a program reach positive outcomes, and how to develop a plan for program evaluation.
Another valuable resource highlighted in the JYD article included the Clearinghouse’s website, which houses a wide variety of user-friendly programs, tools, and resources. The author encouraged JYD readership to use the Clearinghouse’s free online learning modules, ready-to-use programs, resources, blogs, and social media to build their skills and abilities to work with military and veteran families. Over 64,000 new users in 2020 accessed the Clearinghouse’s online evidence-informed resources, such as Thrive, a free online parenting program for parents of children from birth through age 18.
In addition to JYD, the Clearinghouse has been recognized by a number of institutions for its contributions to the field, including the Kellogg Foundation, Heinz Endowments, Henry M. Jackson Foundation, and Penn State. A number of publications have also noted the important work being done at the Clearinghouse, including Military Times.
“We at the Clearinghouse are most appreciative of the designation of being a trusted resource,” said Daniel Perkins, principal scientist at the Clearinghouse, professor of family and youth resiliency and policy within the College of Agricultural Sciences who is co-funded by the Social Science Research Institute at Penn State. “All of the staff and faculty at the Clearinghouse work hard to translate research into practice that has a meaningful impact on the lives of Service members, veterans, and their families.”
About the Clearinghouse for Military Family Readiness
The Clearinghouse is an applied research center committed to advancing the health and well-being of service members and their families. The Clearinghouse takes a solution-oriented approach that includes conducting applied research studies, building workforce expertise through training and resource provision, implementing and evaluating evidence-informed programs and practices, and delivering objective data and policy-relevant findings so that decisions are based on the best science and evidence available. The Clearinghouse is located within Penn State’s Social Science Research Institute.