News
Wed, 06/10/2026
How Strengthening Family Well-Being Prevents Need for Foster Care
A growing body of research shows these separations are preventable. A study from the University of Kansas Center for Public Partnerships and Research highlights that early childhood services remain underused tools for keeping families intact — and reducing long-term costs to the state.
Mon, 06/08/2026
Reducing Child Removals Strengthens Family Integrity and Well-Being
By swiftly identifying the underlying needs of children, youth, and families served by child welfare, the comprehensive array of Family First services was systemically responsive in connecting families to appropriate supports, such as mental health, parental skill-building, kinship navigation, and substance use disorder treatment.
Wed, 06/03/2026
Kansas Early Childhood Leaders Contribute to National Governance Study
CPPR staff contributed to a national case study on early childhood governance conducted by the Prenatal-to-3 Policy Impact Center at Vanderbilt University.
Tue, 06/02/2026
Elevating Community Voice in Child Welfare
CPPR featured in national video series on participatory evaluation. Produced by James Bell Associates on behalf of the Children's Bureau, the series showcases innovative approaches used by federally funded projects to strengthen families and communities.
Mon, 06/01/2026
CPPR and IRIS Celebrate Another 100,000 Referral Milestone
What began as a promising pilot with the All Our Kids (AOK) Networks has become a statewide collaborative effort. An effort that has reached a defining milestone of over 100,000 referrals.
Tue, 04/21/2026
Partnering for Impact: How CPPR is Helping Strengthen First Responder Mental Health in Rural Kansas
Horizons Mental Health Center launched an initiative to bring Mental Health First Aid to first responders across its five-county service area.
Thu, 03/12/2026
CPPR Launches Kansas Future Fellows Fifth Cohort, Deepening Statewide Futures Work
The nine-month fellowship brings together leaders from across sectors who are ready to think beyond immediate challenges and design long-term solutions grounded in collaboration and systems change.
Thu, 03/05/2026
Informing Action Through Community Voice
CPPR shares Douglas County Thrives Findings with county leaders highlighting the structural challenges families face and identifying practical, system-level opportunities to improve economic stability.
Fri, 02/13/2026
A New Pathway for Strengthening Child & Family Well-Being in Kansas
CPPR researcher introduces the Kansas Child & Family Well-Being Pathway, an interactive, community-informed tool helping Kansans use shared data and insights to strengthen child and family well-being statewide.
Wed, 01/14/2026
CPPR Brings Community Voices and Data Together to Support Douglas County Families
Project staff facilitated a community sensemaking workshop that brought data and lived experiences together.
Thu, 12/11/2025
CPPR Brings Kansas County Data to Life with Innovative Mapping Tool
CPPR has developed a powerful new mapping tool that transforms complex substance use disorder (SUD) data into clear, actionable insights for every Kansas county. Featuring interactive maps, county-level profiles, and a data-driven SUD Risks and Resilience Index, the tool helps communities understand local vulnerabilities, identify protective factors, and plan targeted interventions.
Mon, 11/24/2025
United to Transform: The Power of Kansas Collaborations
Through conversations with more than 2,000 Kansans—from people with lived experience to local leaders—one truth became clear: no single organization can fix a complex system alone. Communities thrive when partners come together, share power, and build solutions
Mon, 09/15/2025
CPPR Speaks with Kansas Reflector About United to Transform
Project staff from the University of Kansas Center for Public Partnerships and Research joined the Kansas Reflector Podcast to discuss United to Transform.
Wed, 09/10/2025
How to Grow an IRIS Network
IRIS is more than technology—it’s a movement powered by partnerships. Across Kansas, Illinois, and other states, IRIS helps communities plant the seeds of collaboration, grow trust among partners, and harvest real results for families.
Thu, 08/14/2025
Local Voices, Comprehensive Data, and Bold Ideas: New Report Clears a Path for Kansas’ Response to Substance Use
Following 15 months of statewide research and community input, the United to Transform report, released by KU's Center for Public Partnerships and Research, delivers the most comprehensive analysis yet of the state’s substance use disorder system. Combining insights from more than 2,000 Kansans with analysis of over 70 datasets, the report recommends practical, person-centered strategies to expand access, strengthen collaboration and create a more sustainable system.
Wed, 08/06/2025
A Million Moments, One Shared Mission: Preventing Maternal Death in Kansas
With support from CPPR and Kansas Connecting Communities, KDHE is convening the first Million Moments for Maternal Mortality Prevention Conference to spotlight the urgent need for collaboration, intervention, and system change to save mothers' lives across Kansas.
Mon, 08/04/2025
Community Behavioral Health Clinics Improve Rural Access to Mental Health Services in Kansas
With support from CPPR, Crawford County Mental Health Center was certified as a community behavioral health clinic, a new model of behavioral health service delivery that has been implemented in Kansas and across the county.
Thu, 07/31/2025
Building Capacity Through Fund Development: CPPR Shares Tools for Systems Change at Kansas Health Foundation Summit
CPPR researchers' "A Practical Guide to Fund Development" presentation was delivered to Kansas Health Foundation (KHF) partners on July 17 during the KHF 2025 Partner Summit.
Tue, 07/29/2025
When communities make sense of the data, needs are truly understood
Researchers at the Achievement & Assessment Institute's Center for Public Partnerships and Research (CPPR) use sensemaking, a mixed method research approach to data collection and storytelling, to help communities better understand their own needs and challenges.
Wed, 07/23/2025
CPPR Announces Fourth Cohort of Kansas Future Fellows
The 2025-2026 Future Fellows met on July 21 to begin their focus on the state's early childhood system through the critical and creative lens of futures thinking.
Tue, 07/22/2025
Insight from KU Center for Public Partnerships and Research helps Michigan reimagine anti-poverty strategies
A recent partnership between the Achievement & Assessment Institute’s Center for Public Partnerships and Research (CPPR) and the state of Michigan has led to new insights about how Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) funding is used — and how it might be refined to better serve families facing economic insecurity.
Mon, 02/03/2025
Civic Foresight Group Reflects on Shaping the Gateway to a Futurist Mindset
After engaging nearly 2,000 Kansans, Civic Foresight Group members Kate Van Steenhuyse, Logan Stenseng, and Jennifer Keomany shared reflections on how they introduced the concepts and practice of futures thinking and how they showed the discipline of foresight can be applicable, relevant, and critical to every community.
Mon, 09/09/2024
CPPR’s Integrated Referral and Intake System Reaches 100,000th Referral Milestone
Today, CPPR’s Integrated Referral and Intake System (IRIS) celebrates its 100,000th referral. Now with 36 IRIS community networks, which has grown from six counties in southeast Kansas to 82 counties across six states, IRIS provides the below services for families seeking support: ...
Thu, 08/08/2024
Using Foresight to Build a Future-ready Heartland
CPPR’s Executive Director Jackie Counts was the featured speaker for Institute for the Future (IFTF)’s Foresight Talks webinar on August 8.
Mon, 06/03/2024
New Study Co-Authored by CPPR Leaders Highlights Preventative Legal Services for Kinship Families
CPPR's Associate Director Kaela Byers and Assistant Director Meghan Cizek published as co-authors in a study examining the implementation of preventative legal services for kinship families within the Kansas Family First Prevention Services Act service array
Tue, 05/21/2024
CPPR hosts futures thinking workshop for middle school students
On May 3, 2024, CPPR hosted a second Alternatives Futures for Kansas workshop, this time for middle school students in Lawrence, Kansas.
Tue, 12/19/2023
CPPR Needs Assessment for Kansas Fights Addiction Board
TOPEKA, Kan. – Sunflower Foundation is pleased to announce that it has selected the University of Kansas Center for Public Partnerships and Research (CPPR) to conduct a year-long, comprehensive statewide needs assessment of substance use disorder (SUD) systems and related work in Kansas that will be used to guide the future, long-term investment strategies of the Kansas Fights Addiction Grant Review Board.
Thu, 10/05/2023
AAI features CPPR's approach to futures thinking
Executive Director Jackie Counts and Associate Director Janine Hron recently sat down with the Achievement and Assessment Institute for a featured interview on CPPR’s approach to futures thinking.
Wed, 08/09/2023
CPPR directors write blog series on the researcher-policymaker relationship
Executive Director Jackie Counts and Assistant Director Jessica Sprague-Jones recently published a blog series with Emerald Group Publishing on the strategies researchers can use to approach policymakers and disseminate their research. Counts and Sprague-Jones, who each have experience as researchers engaging those who influence and make policies, share how to...
Fri, 07/21/2023
How community-based organizations helped create a referral process to better serve communities
Community-based organizations provide critical social infrastructure by knowing the needs of their communities and then raising the needed connections and resources. Community-based organizations provide a variety of social services, including early childhood education, developmental disabilities, supporting basic needs like housing and food, mental health and substance abuse treatment, maternal and...