Using Research to Protect and Support Our Community

The Edgewood Institute for the Study of Community-Based Services researches and evaluates the work of Edgewood and other similar programs nationwide. Our goal is to use this knowledge to continuously improve services to children and families in our community and beyond.

Edgewood’s research agenda includes both externally funded research projects and research relevant to Edgewood programs and services. Edgewood also contributes to the development of best practices nationally by sharing data with partner agencies.

What We Do

Edgewood Institute conducts internal evaluations of Edgewood programs. We utilize the CHQ-PF50 and the BERS-2 and compile and interpret these data for staff and stakeholders. We have hosted post-doctoral interns from University of California San Francisco, California School of Professional Psychology, and San Francisco State University.

Since 2000, the Institute’s Director has served as a member of the California Children’s Justice Act Task Force, Office of Emergency Services, State of California.

Our Partners

  • 2000-2001 – Zellerbach Family Fund –  Hearst Foundation ($5,000)
  • 2000-2003 – Kinship Permanency Project, Administration on Children Youth and Families, Children’s Bureau ($892,635)
  • 2001-2004 – AB1193 HealthyKin Project, The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation #038106 ($1.1 million) and The California Endowment #20011022. ($659,000)
  • 2001-2005 – Family Support Services, Bay Area Kinship Legal Services, Abandoned Infants Assistance Program, Children’s Bureau. ($6,000)
  • 2001-2006 – The David and Lucile Packard Foundation, Kinship Support Network. ($50,000)
  • 2002-2005 – Family Support Services of the Bay Area Regional Respite Program for Adoptive Parents, Administration on Children Youth and Families, Children’s Bureau. ($45,000 annually)
  • 2004-2005 – The Stuart Foundation —The Bridge Project. ($15,000)
  • 2004-2007 – The William Randolph Hearst Foundation – ($100,000)
  • 2004-2008 – The Willow Springs Foundation – ($115,000 annually)
  • 2005-2011 – Family Builders by Adoption Federal Project ($60,000 annually).

Manuals

Family Support Services for Grandparents and Other Relatives Providing Care for Children of Women Who Are Substance Abusing and HIV Positive, by the Institute for the Study of Community-Based Services: Don Cohon (Edgewood) and Pat Chambers (Family Support Services of the Bay Area).

Kinship Support Network Intervention Study, by Don Cohon, Lisa Hines, Wendy Packman and Elizabeth Siggins (Edgewood).

Replication Manual for Implementing Medical Foster Care Homes for Drug-Exposed, HIV+ and Medically Fragile Infants and Children, by the Institute for the Study of Community-Based Services: Don Cohon, Monica Brady and Diane Fritz (Edgewood).

Publications

Brown, S., Cohon, D. & Wheeler, R. 2002. “African American Extended Families and Kinship Care: How Relevant Is the Foster Care Model for Kinship Care?” Children and Youth Services Review, Vol. 24 Nos. 1/2, 53-77.

Cohon, D., and Cooper, B. A., 1999. “Edgewood’s Kinship Support Network: Program Model and Client Characteristics,” Children and Youth Services Review, Vol. 21, No 4, 331-338.

Cohon, D., and Cooper, A.B., 1993 “A First Look: Foster Parents of Medically Complex, Drug-Exposed and HIV+ Infants,” Children and Youth Services Review, Vol.15, No. 2,105-131.

Cohon, D., Fritz, D., Brady, M., Cooper, B. A., Needell, B. & Smith, K. 2001 “Specialized Foster Care for Medically Complex, Drug-Exposed, HIV Positive Infants: The Baby Moms Program,” Children and Youth Services Review, Vol. 23, No. 11, 831-863.

Cohon, D., Hines, L., Cooper, B., Packman, W. & Siggins, E. (2003). “A Preliminary Study of an Intervention with Kin Caregivers,” Journal of Intergenerational Relationships, Vol. 1, No 3. 49-72.

Cohon, D., Hines, L., Cooper, B., Packman, W. & Siggins, E. (2005). “Preserving Family: Themes from a Qualitative Study of Kin Caregivers,” Family Preservation Journal, Vol. 8, 43-63.

Rosenthal, M. & Youngblood, D. (In Press) “Creating Relatives You Don’t Have: Kinship Care, Social Services, and Fictive Kin,” Practicing Anthropology.

Youngblood, D. C. (2005). “Missing Mothers in a Mother-Centered World: Adolescent Girls Growing Up in Kinship Care” in Unbecoming Mothers: The Social Production of Maternal Absence. Edited by Diana Gustafson. Haworth Press, New York.