About Us

Our faculty and staff have nationally recognized expertise, education, and leadership in the fields of early childhood development; children’s mental health; clinical practice; care management; Medicaid, managed care and financing; child welfare and juvenile justice; substance use; housing and homelessness; LGBTQ+ youth; sexual reproductive health; domestic minor trafficking; and transition-age young adults. We provide training, technical assistance, facilitation, analysis, consulting, implementation support, and research and evaluation to support workforce development, systems design and financing, data-driven strategic planning, and quality improvement. Our work is grounded in research, a commitment to social justice, experience and expertise from the field, adult learning theory, and implementation science.

The Institute for Innovation & Implementation (the Institute), founded in 2005, is a part of the University of Maryland School of Social Work. The Institute is committed to building research-based, inclusive, culturally responsive, and transformative child-, youth-and family-serving systems and services, and to developing the capacity of the workforce within these systems. We do this work in partnership with government agencies, health care providers, youth and their families, and community-based organizations in order to improve outcomes for and with children, youth, and their families.

With more than 50 contracts, worth approximately $20 million annually with the federal government, multiple state governments, foundations, and private organizations, the Institute is a leader in building effective services to improve the well-being and ensure vibrant futures for children, youth, and their families. Institute programs touch nearly every state and territory in the nation and, through online and in person training, the Institute has trained over 40,000 practitioners in child welfare, children’s behavioral health, and other child-serving systems. The impact of this work is improved quality and effectiveness of services that are responsive to unique needs of children, youth, young adults, and their families from diverse communities, cultural backgrounds, races, genders, and experiences.