The Office of Strategic Development (OSD) was created in 2015 and given the charge of modernizing the overall service array within the Department of Children and Families. OSD serves as a hub within the Department for the development, adaptation, and implementation of evidence supported, innovative and impactful programming that will result in better outcomes for children and families.

OSD initiatives include:

• Keeping Families Together – statewide implementation of a evidence informed supportive housing model for child welfare involved families confronted with a range of co-occurring challenges and homelessness.
  
  
• Supportive Visitation Services- development and implementation of a continuum of visitation services for children in out-of-home placement to support safe reunification and reduce repeat maltreatment and reentry into care.
  
  
• Trauma Treatment and Supportive Services – select county implementation of evidence based Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT) to support child victims of domestic violence who have been exposed to trauma and require treatment.

• Family Preservation Services - strengthening implementation of the statewide network of Family Preservation Services (FPS) programs which provide intensive, in-home crisis intervention and family education program for families whose children are at imminent risk of out-of-home placement and for a sub-set of families preparing to be reunified with their children.

• NJ Family Success Centers (FSC) – providing leadership for the development of the NJ FSC Practice Profile, an evidence-informed primary prevention strategy, and aligning infrastructure to support quality implementation across the statewide network of 56 FSCs.

• Blueprint for Integrating Evidence-Based/Evidence-Informed Practices - consists of recommendations for state child welfare agencies, systems partners and/or service providers/practitioners to support the effective integration of evidence based/evidence informed practices into a service array.
  
  
• DCF Research Committee – coordinates activities and communications with prospective researchers and builds positive working relationships with scholars interested in building research practice partnerships.