CENTER FOR POLICY RESEARCH AND ANALYSIS
Translating Research into Policy Solutions
Director: Mady Chalk, Ph.D.
The Center for Policy Research and Analysis is the coordinating hub for TRI’s policy initiatives. The Center is an “incubator” where state agency directors, fiscal managers, elected officials, and other policy makers exchange ideas and develop testable strategies. It is also a consultative body within TRI, where investigators from other sections and Centers turn for assistance when their work has taken on policy relevance at the federal, state or local levels.
MAPS, or the Mutual Assistance Program for States, is the Center’s signature project and embodies its defining principle: evidence-based transformation of government practices can advance quality improvement in addiction care. Launched November of 2006, MAPS is a group of states whose single state agency directors work with Center investigators to design projects that change some aspect of their purchasing, regulatory, administrative and/or financing practices. TRI plays host to the group, arranging for expert speakers and providing technical expertise, evaluation and analytical support. Eventually TRI will evaluate the results of the projects, producing “evidence” of practices and policies that can be disseminated widely.
Spurred by Congressional enactment of parity legislation and the 2010 healthcare reform legislation, the Center is at the forefront of efforts to promote medical involvement in issues of substance use, a TRI priority. TRI’s educational work with State legislators and other policy makers is also coordinated through the Center. Other projects include a Medicated Assisted Treatment initiative, dissemination and widespread incorporation of quality-improving substance abuse treatment standards issued by NQF, and Advancing Recovery, a quality improvement in treatment initiative funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
The Center for Policy Research and Analysis was formed at TRI in November 2005 under the leadership of former SAMHSA official Mady Chalk, Ph.D. Chalk’s appointment brought visibility and substantial experience in federal policy, health services research, and administration, complementing the research and evaluation strengths of TRI.
