JBA has been awarded a major contract with the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) to evaluate findings and provide technical assistance for the federally mandated Comparative Effectiveness Research (CER) program. Through HHS allocations AHRQ is funding CER to provide information on the relative strengths and weaknesses of various medical interventions. Such research will give clinicians and patients alike valid data with which to make decisions to improve the overall performance of the U.S. healthcare system. As prime contractor JBA looks forward to working with HHS and AHRQ in facilitating their strategic goals and missions to improve the safety, quality, affordability and accessibility of health care nationwide.

JBA is providing program evaluation and technical assistance for the federal Permanency Innovations Initiative (PII). PII supports projects that address serious barriers to permanence for children in foster care. The Administration for Children and Families (ACF), an agency within HHS, awarded six grants to build demonstrations to improve outcomes for at-risk children of long term stays in foster care. Demonstrations will identify barriers to permanent placement and help implement intervention strategies to mitigate or eliminate these barriers. ACF expects that the PII findings will enhance child welfare practices nationwide. JBA’s role is to develop the cross-site evaluation plan, including cost studies, and to provide technical assistance to grantees as they develop their plans.

JBA won a major contract with HHS and the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality to conduct large-scale evaluation of the groundbreaking Patient Safety and Medical Liability Reform Demonstration Program (PSMLRD). Demonstration grants were awarded to states and healthcare systems nationwide to develop, implement and evaluate projects that: reduce preventable medical errors and avoidable injuries by focusing on patient safety; foster transparency and doctor/patient communication; ensure fair and timely compensation; and reduce malpractice liability. JBA will carry out a 5-year longitudinal evaluation of PSMLRD grants, monitor their progress in accomplishing the program’s intent and objectives, and assess the overall contribution of the PSMLRD program to national healthcare reform.

JBA has assumed a key role in developing evaluation designs for the new, federal Maternal, Infant and Early Childhood Home Visiting Program (HV Program), which responds directly to the needs of children and families in communities at risk, and is critical to the national effort to build quality, comprehensive statewide early childhood service systems. Working for HHS and the Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation, JBA will provide evaluation technical assistance to states, territories and tribes implementing promising and evidence-based home visiting programs. During the five-year project JBA will contribute to the development of evaluation plans both locally and nationally to determine the effectiveness of the HV Program, and how it improves overall health care and system quality, eliminates health disparities and improves efficiencies, and reduces health care costs nationwide.

JBA was awarded a key contract by the Children’s Bureau (CB) to conduct a cross-site evaluation of Child Welfare Technical Assistance Implementation Centers (IC) and National Child Welfare Resource Centers (NCWRC). CB works closely with states, tribes and local agencies to maintain and improve programs that support the safety, permanency, and well-being of children who come to the attention of the nation’s child welfare systems. The agency is embarking on a major initiative to enhance and expand training and technical assistance (T/TA) services in support of child welfare organizational- and system-level change. Using a participatory, utilization-focused approach, JBA will design a new dynamic T/TA tracking system, implement a five-year study to assess the effectiveness of T/TA provided by ICs and NCWRCs, and identify effective practices associated with coordinated T/TA delivery to states and tribes.