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For more than 20 years, ICF International has been a national leader in providing clearinghouse (or resource center) services to government and nonprofit agencies. Our clients have turned to ICF to connect their target audiences to information and resources that help build public awareness, influence behavior change, and improve performance. Customers for these information services include federal, state, and local agencies, professionals, administrators, grantees, researchers, policymakers, and the general public. Technical assistance centers frequently turn to ICF clearinghouses to support their knowledge management and dissemination needs.
Our Services
ICF’s clearinghouse services are scalable to fit the client needs and budget. We partner closely with our clients to identify the content (information and resources) that will be central to the clearinghouse collection. We also work closely with the client and target audience to create a dynamic resource that will increase knowledge in the field, establish and improve best practices, and accomplish common goals. Our services include:
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Library
ICF has managed libraries with records ranging from 2,000 to more than 50,000 documents. We employ reference and technical librarians who scan, identify, select, catalog, and digitize information resources based on the customers’ information needs using a state-of-the-art, on-line document and record management system.
Information and Referral
While most resources are available on-line, ICF customer service staff support toll-free hotlines and e-mail accounts to provide one-on-one service to customers. ICF staff members research and respond to tens of thousands of requests yearly for several clearinghouses.
Web Sites
Using the power of the Internet, ICF creates dynamic Web sites, search engines, databases, and information sharing tools on the World Wide Web. Customers can order on-line and download materials, view resources, and access our librarians and information specialists—all through specially designed and maintained Web sites.
Communities of Practice (CoP)
These on-line communities allow requesters, experts, and peers to exchange and generate knowledge in support of a common goal through on-line discussions, work groups, and resource sharing. ICF staff works closely with each client to determine the best way to support dynamic information sharing of best practices, resources, and research to benefit the client and its customers.
Product Development
ICF content experts add value to available literature by creating publications (e.g., issue or research briefs, fact sheets, newsletters) to meet client and customer needs. These customer-driven products respond to busy consumers’ demands for short, synthesized materials that include links to additional information.
Outreach and Conference Support
ICF project staff includes skilled communications experts who create appropriate materials and opportunities to share the abundance of knowledge housed in the clearinghouses. We seek opportunities to connect with targeted audiences through attendance and presentations at conferences, targeted advertising in trade publications, and published articles in newsletters and listservs.
Warehousing and Distribution
While many clearinghouses are increasingly digitizing resources and becoming electronic repositories of information, ICF recognizes that for many agencies (and for many of their customers), “hard copy” and paper resources are still valued. As needed by the client, our staff can store publications and resources at an off-site warehouse, make them available for widespread distribution, and track that distribution as directed.
Technical Assistance
As a knowledge hub, clearinghouses are ideal for supporting technical assistance (TA) activities for our clients who are striving to build organizational capacity and create systemic change for improved results. Because ICF operates both clearinghouses and TA programs, we are experts in designing clearinghouses that can provide maximum support to TA efforts.
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SELECTED PROJECTS |
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- Child Welfare Information Gateway
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, Children's Bureau
- Early Childhood Learning and Knowledge Center (ECLKC)
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Head Start Bureau
- National Child Care Information Center (NCCIC)
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Child Care Bureau
- Systems of Care National Technical Assistance and Evaluation Center
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, Children's Bureau
- National Healthy Marriage Resource Center
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, Office of Family Assistance (OFA)
- National Responsible Fatherhood Clearinghouse
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families’ (ACF) Office of Family Assistance
- What Works Clearinghouse (WWC)
U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences
Child Welfare Information Gateway
U. S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, Children's Bureau
ICF has partnered with the Children’s Bureau on behalf of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) for more than 17 years to bring information clearinghouse services related to child welfare to the general public, state and local agencies, grantees, professionals, and researchers. We began in 1990 with the National Clearinghouse on Child Abuse and Neglect Information project and added the National Adoption Information Clearinghouse in 1996. The two clearinghouses were consolidated into the Child Welfare Information Gateway in 2006. ICF manages this award-winning clearinghouse with a focus on a particular audience—child welfare and related professionals—and offers information across the spectrum of child welfare topics. Annually, the clearinghouse responds to more than 14,000 individual telephone or e-mail requests for information, sends more than 173,000 publications to customers from our warehouse, and receives more than 6 million visits to its Web sites. We also provide on-site staff support to the Children’s Bureau, develop and maintain more than 160 publications, and provide extensive information and management technology services.
Early Childhood Learning and Knowledge Center (ECLKC)
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Head Start Bureau
Funded by the Head Start Bureau of HHS, the ECLKC provides a central location for Head Start Programs to find information they can use to help them accomplish their federal mandate—to improve the lives of children and families. In so doing, the ECLKC serves as the gateway to related government information and provides a series of integrated services to collect, connect, and manage information, knowledge, and learning in a systematic way while fostering relationships within communities. As a subcontractor to Trans-Management Systems Corporation, ICF develops, sustains, and supports the Head Start Knowledge Information and Management Services initiative, which is an integral part of the ECLKC. ICF information management services include collaborative community development, database development and maintenance, learning management systems support, customer service and feedback management, content development, and quality assurance.
National Child Care Information and Technical Assistance Center (NCCIC)
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Child Care Bureau
The National Child Care Information Center (NCCIC) helps the Child Care Bureau to enhance the quality, affordability, and availability of child care for all families. Today NCCIC is the largest national resource center of its kind, providing both on-site consulting to states and comprehensive child care information resources through a variety of media to meet the needs of different audiences. Specifically, ICF provides a comprehensive Web site with thousands of child care resources, including the NCCIC Online Library; technical assistance services that include answering thousands of information requests via telephone and e-mail; a library of more than 20,000 volumes and a child care database that are searchable via the Web; an on-line library of more than 10,000 entries, abstracts, and annotated bibliographies for all materials acquired, and links to electronic documents and data of the Child Care Technical Assistance Network (CCTAN) partners, most of which can be accessed through the NCCIC Web site.
Systems of Care National Technical Assistance and Evaluation Center
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, Children's Bureau
The Administration for Children and Families’ (ACF) Children's Bureau (CB) funded nine demonstration grants to improve child welfare outcomes through systems of care. Grantees include U.S. states, cities, counties, and agencies representing federally recognized Native American Tribes. Concurrently, the CB awarded ICF a contract to serve as the National Technical Assistance and Evaluation Center (the Center) for the systems of care grant cluster. The purpose of the Center is to provide technical assistance to grantees on all aspects of program development and implementation, on the design and implementation of local program evaluations—with an emphasis on how they are used to measure system change and program improvement, and to design and conduct a cross-site evaluation of the grant cluster, including process and impact evaluation components.
National Healthy Marriage Resource Center (NHMRC)
U. S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, Office of Family Assistance (OFA)
In support of its Healthy Marriage Initiative, HHS has funded 170 grantees in their efforts to build capacity and provide marriage education. The NHMRC supports these grantees by more broadly disseminating information on healthy marriages and healthy marriage programming. First launched in 2004, the NHMRC is the “first stop shop” for marriage education information, an experienced provider of technical assistance for grantees, and a major catalyst in advancing this emerging field. As a subcontractor to Public Strategies, Inc., since 2006, ICF has supported the redesigned, state-of-the-art NHMRC Web site and other clearinghouse services to support grantees. ICF experts identify, locate, catalog, and disseminate information resources and healthy marriage materials based on OFA priorities; provide information services through telephone, e-mail, and a computer-based inquiry response system; and support on-line library resources, databases, and advanced search capabilities through the Web site.
National Responsible Fatherhood Clearinghouse (NRFC)
U. S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families (ACF), Office of Family Assistance
NRFC is designed to support the Administration for Children and Families, Office of Family Assistance in promoting the economic and emotional well-being of families, children, and individuals, resulting in more well-functioning and economically independent families and stronger communities. The NRFC accomplishes this by harnessing knowledge and disseminating information that promotes and supports the marriage and fatherhood fields. By improving practice through research and education, building and sustaining capacity of the field, fostering coalitions and partnerships, and effectively disseminating information, the NRFC directly supports HHS-funded grantees and others with their responsible fatherhood initiatives. As a subcontractor to the National Fatherhood Initiative (NFI) since 2006, ICF has managed the clearinghouse, call center, NRFC Web site, and technology infrastructure functions for the NRFC. The Web site allows users quick access to on-line resources through advanced search technologies and links users to a call center for more detailed one-on-one support. ICF’s enterprise solutions support effective call center tracking and reporting, on-line resource development and management, and efficient dissemination services.
What Works Clearinghouse (WWC)
U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences
The What Works Clearinghouse was established in 2002 by the U.S. Department of Education's Institute of Education Sciences to provide educators, policymakers, researchers, and the public with a central and trusted source of scientific evidence of “what works” in education. ICF collaborates with a team of research organizations and educational institutions to select appropriate topics for systematic review, and we have developed an evaluator registry of individuals and organizations prepared to conduct evaluations in accordance with WWC standards. Examples of topics selected for review include beginning reading, character education, early childhood education, elementary school math, English language learners, and dropout prevention. The WWC has become a decision-making tool, helping the education community locate and recognize credible and reliable evidence to make informed decisions. |
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