Research Program Specialist - School of Social Work

Research Program Specialist - School of Social Work

Center for Prevention Research and Development (CPRD), School of Social Work

The Center for Prevention Research and Development (CPRD), within the University of Illinois’ School of Social Work is a vibrant applied research center that has been in operation for 30 years. CPRD has a stable $3.5 million‑dollar annual portfolio of grants in youth substance use prevention, maternal and early childhood health, healthcare for vulnerable populations, juvenile justice reform, and teen pregnancy prevention.

We work with meaningful data that has applications for the field and for impacting policy. CPRD invests in its staff with actions and policies to support professional development and ongoing learning and growth opportunities.

For the Center for Prevention Research and Development (CPRD) within the University of Illinois' School of Social Work, work on teams to develop continuous quality improvement (CQI) processes and provide training and technical assistance to Illinois 55+ home visiting agencies receiving state or federal funding to support pregnant people or parents with young children. Provide training on CQI processes and tools, and convening, organizing, and planning the use of data and related information for process and program improvement.

This is an entry‑level role that requires strong attention to detail, the ability to communicate clearly with diverse audiences virtually or in‑person, and comfort learning new data systems. Candidates should expect to balance independent tasks with frequent collaboration on a supportive team.

• Assists with developing and delivering a CQI approach for Illinois Home Visiting programs.
• Helps create strategies and tools to promote high quality services and program improvement.
• Summarizes CQI processes and develops quarterly and annual reports.
• Contributes to managing CQI project timelines for meeting deliverables.

• Forms mutually beneficial partnerships with funders and state-level administrators around data collection, interpretation, and use of findings.
• Reviews and interprets data results, and trains others to review and interpret data results using various adult learning techniques.
• Communicates data findings to a variety of home visiting audiences including state, project leadership, and home visitors.
• Uses databases and/or spreadsheets to manage and present data results and to inform the design of new CQI processes.
• Monitors and analyzes home visiting service data to find trends and improvement opportunities.

• Works closely with research and project staff to develop and deliver CQI materials, tools, and presentations.
• Develops and delivers adult professional development activities to promote collection and use of data, consistent with best practices in adult education and theories underlying instructional design.
• Provides CQI training and technical assistance virtual or in‑person, to a diverse group of Illinois Home Visiting programs.
• Demonstrates exceptional customer service skills to multiple audiences.

• Communicates with CPRD project staff about status and progress of CQI activities.
• Partners with team members to achieve project goals and objectives.
• Travels to state or federal level CQI meetings as needed.
• Other duties and responsibilities as suitable.

Travel as needed.

• Bachelor’s degree in social work, community psychology, sociology, human development, health services research, epidemiology, education, public health, or a related field.
• Experience in an applied research setting.
• Demonstrated interpersonal, time management, organizational, and solution‑focused skills.
• Experience with providing training and technical assistance.

• Advanced writing and editing skills.
• Experience with Continuous Quality Improvement.
• Master’s degree or advanced degree in related field.
• One to two years of experience with CQI, data collection…