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Policy emerges from the legislative, agency, and practice levels and from several pathways, including litigation; high profile or tragic events; community-based service provision and practice innovations; and research evidence. This commentary places an emphasis throughout on discussions of the articles included in this issue. It explores pathways that influenced the development of housing policy targeting child and family well being and provides examples to illustrate each pathway. The article further highlights how research on housing and child well being has influenced policy and practice and notes gaps for further research. It concludes with suggestions for structuring research to more effectively assist policymakers to make informed decisions that achieve positive change for children, youth, and families.

In their critique of differential response (DR), Hughes and colleagues raise a number of important issues that are central to broader efforts at the Administration on Children, Youth, and Families (ACYF) including the need for greater reliance on evidence-based practice in child welfare, more rigorous evaluation methodologies, and a robust set of measures and instruments to guide practice and evaluation. ACYF is pursuing these goals with projects to increase focus on child well-being, improve associated measures, promote the use of evidence-based programs, and expand the evidence base. We believe that DR is a promising practice and expect forthcoming results from an ACYF-sponsored multisite evaluation of DR to significantly enhance the evidence base. Future efforts can build on these results by focusing on social and emotional well-being in addition to safety and permanency, using demonstrated assessments to monitor outcomes, and offering families in both alternative and investigative pathways evidence-based services.

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