Richard James Gelles, PhD

Dean
The Joanne and Raymond Welsh Chair of Child Welfare and Family Violence

Research

Current Projects

Department of Justice, National Institute of Justice
"Evaluation of the Transfer of Responsibility for Child Protective Investigators to Law Enforcement Agencies"
9/1/99 - 8/31/02
This project evaluates the consequences of transferring the responsibility for child abuse and neglect investigations from a child welfare agency to law enforcement agencies. In 1998 the Florida legislature enacted legislation requiring three counties (Pinellas, Pasco, and Manatee) to transfer responsibility for investigating reports of child maltreatment from District Child Protective Service offices to the county sheriffs. The current evaluation includes a process and outcome evaluation of the transfer of responsibility by comparing the three counties to three comparison counties. The project is funded by the National Institute of Justice and the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention.

Jessie Ball duPont Fund
"Improving the Decision-Making Capacity of State and County Child Welfare Agencies through CCPPR"
1/1/01 - 12/31/04
The Center for Children's Policy, Practice and Research is working to develop a decision-making template for the Florida Department of Children and Families that articulates the factors to be considered at each stage of the decision-making process in addressing child welfare issues. Once refined, this template could be used throughout the state of Florida and, ultimately, on a national scale. This project is funded by the Jesse Ball DuPont Fund.

Violence Against Family Caregivers by Adults with Severe Mental Illness, Co-Principal Investigator [more]