As part of the Center for Child and Family Policy's 25th Anniversary celebration, we are honoring faculty, researchers, and staff who have contributed to the Center's work, culture, and impact.
Nicole Lawrence & Liz Snyder-Fickler are both senior research scientists at the Center. Read on to learn more about how their careers overlap, their favorite CCFP memories, and some surprising fun facts about them.
How did you each become involved with the Center for Child and Family Policy?
Nicole: I was hired in 2006 to work on CCFP’s statewide Multiple Response System (MRS) Evaluation conducted on behalf of the North Carolina Division of Social Services. My family and I had recently relocated from California, and the MRS project was a unique opportunity to learn about my new home state and gain perspective on the challenges and strengths of our child welfare system. The MRS evaluation was a great fit for me because it built upon my prior professional experiences in program development and management serving at-risk children and families. Other projects soon followed and now it's hard to imagine working anywhere else.
Liz: My post-doc at Frank Porter Graham at UNC was a terrific experience and solidified my career goal to conduct research and evaluation with human service agencies that could have an actionable impact on policy and programs. During my time at UNC, my husband and I decided that we wanted to make North Carolina our home. With rather perfect timing, a Research Associate position at CCFP became available near the conclusion of my post-doc. It was for a Children’s Bureau grant with the North Carolina Division of Social Services focused on building a system of care with three Departments of Social Services across the state. That was in 2006, and I’ve been here ever since.
How did the two of you first meet?
There was a lot of overlap in our early work focused on child welfare, which allowed us to share experiences and ideas and eventually collaborate on grant proposals. We discovered early on that as a team we complement each other very well and had a shared interest in working with community agencies and organizations to improve outcomes for vulnerable children and families. Our work eventually expanded from child welfare to children’s mental health, early childhood and K-12 education, domestic violence, and child care.
Together, you have led 20 externally-funded program evaluations while at CCFP. Let’s dive into some of your most recent work.
You have conducted numerous focus groups with parents and providers across NC as part of your work on the Preschool Development Grant. What have you heard from them that highlights the value of doing this type of work?
Over the last 3 years, we have worked in partnership with the North Carolina Division of Child Development and Early Education, the Hunt Institute, and Child Trends to better understand the key drivers behind the child care crisis in our state. We conducted a statewide needs assessment, a feasibility study for new infant/toddler programs/services, and a comprehensive report on child care deserts and family child care homes in our state. As part of this work, we conducted focus groups with different types of child care providers, parents and other stakeholders. While intensive and time consuming, the work resulted in the collection of important information from these diverse groups about the challenges faced by child care providers. Some of these findings have helped to shape policy for the state and provide advocacy tools to those working to improve early care and education in our state.
We developed 6 policy briefs stemming from this work that cover various topics including: 1) Regulatory Challenges Faced in Opening and Operating Family Child Care Homes: Voices from the Field, 2) Home-Based Care and the Challenges to Increasing Family Child Care Homes in North Carolina: Voices from the Field, 3) Family Child Care Homes’ Challenges Participating in the Subsidized Child Care Assistance Program: Voices from the Field, 4) The Seeds of Success: Investing in the Early Childhood Workforce, 5) Family Perspectives on Availability and Affordability: Improving Access to Quality Early Care, and 6) Building Resilience: Nurturing Social and Emotional Health in Young Children.
You’re also currently leading the evaluation of the Responsive Early Access for Durham’s Young Children (READY) Project. Could you share more about this work and the impact of the READY program on Durham families?
The READY project recently wrapped up and we are in the midst of developing a final report for dissemination to the Durham community. The 5-year project was a partnership with the Center for Child and Family Health and a number of other child-serving agencies in Durham focused on improving capacity to screen, assess, and provide evidence-based treatment services to children ages 0 to 8 years old with or at risk for mental, emotional, or behavioral disorders. The project leveraged grant funding along with other funding streams and key partnerships to maximize community impact. Overall, READY was a big success and exceeded grant goals in every category including: 1) 30,000 children/parents screened, 2) 10,000 provided with evidence-based services, 3) 1,800 referred to outside services, and 4) 1,900 professionals trained to serve children and families in Durham.
What is one way you’ve seen your research impact policy at a local, state, or federal level?
Our work on the PDG grants have resulted in two full reports and seven policy briefs that were broadly disseminated to stakeholders and policymakers. The information shared in these briefs contributed to the development of both pilot projects and policy recommendations focused on systemic challenges in the early care and education system.
What is something that you have learned from working with one another for so long?
It’s nearly impossible to survive in the world of soft money for as long as we have without a true partner. We each bring unique and similar skills to the table and have 100% trust and confidence in one another. We can divide and conquer when necessary and collectively collaborate when necessary. It’s the secret to our success.
What are you each most proud of from your career at CCFP?
Nicole: Our work actually impacts practitioners on the ground working with children and families. We create reports and research briefs in “real-time” that inform on issues or challenges happening now and are often more useful to state and local policy makers than traditional forms of research publication.
Liz: I am most proud of the relationships we have collectively built in various communities across the state. It has been an honor to collaborate with the people who are conducting the hard work day in and day out to support children and families in North Carolina. They are so passionate and dedicated, yet so often underappreciated and not part of the larger conversations around evidence and policy decisions. To think that our experience, analysis, and interpretation of data and recommendations can assist them in ways big and small is what I am most proud of. And I am grateful that CCFP allows so many of us to engage in this kind of work.
What is one of your favorite stories or memories from your years at CCFP?
The infamous and coveted white elephant photo collage. While Liz did come up with the concept, Nicole was the first person to see it before it made its unsuspecting appearance at the 2009 or 2010 holiday party. It would have never succeeded had we not known that we had so many humble and humorous co-workers who would laugh at their own terrible professional photographs. CCFP truly is made up of some of the hardest workers with the best personalities, and the annual holiday party is often the best time to see that displayed.
What is something people might not know about you?
Nicole: I am not a big sports fan. I always enjoyed watching my kids compete in their respective sports (swimming and lacrosse) but am not particularly interested in watching people I don’t know compete in sport. There is one exception to this: Boxing. I love to watch boxing, particularly in person. I don’t like mixed-martial arts, or anything like it, but I do really enjoy watching the “Sweet Science.”
Liz: I have a photographic memory but not necessarily for facts or things you learn in school. I can remember things said in a meeting verbatim, even years later; I can remember exactly what people wore, the setting, etc. If I experienced it, I remember just about every detail of it.
What is something that the two of you have in common that people might not expect?
At heart, I think we are both “closet” introverts. Each of us do a really good job of stepping out of that comfort zone as a situation may require which is why most people would probably describe both of us as extroverts.
What is your favorite genre of music, tv, books and/or film? What are you currently listening to, reading, or watching?
Nicole: I am currently reading the God of the Woods by Liz Moore and really like it so far. Some of my past favorite reads include The Golden Finch and Where the Crawdads Sing. I am not a TV watcher; I would much rather be outside. My parents did not let us watch TV much as children, so it just isn’t a big part of my routine. If I do, I tend to watch whatever my husband has on.
Liz: I just finished reading Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver and can’t recommend it enough. As a native Kentuckian, I am a fan of country music, especially Kentucky artists like Sturgill Simpson, Tyler Childers, and Chris Stapleton. Favorite TV shows include Shrinking and Only Murders in the Building.