The roles and objectives of the evaluation & informatics working group are four fold:

• Provide technical & expert resources on methodology, clinical science, socioeconomic factors and the policy environment which will assist the respective cores in the evaluation of their programs and objectives.
• Provide peer review of program evaluations conducted by the COE and oversee the evaluation of core objectives.
• Identify and facilitate the evaluation of cross-cutting objectives and programs that extend beyond the boundaries of any single core. In this role, the evaluation working group will integrate Center objectives across core areas.
• Provide feedback on performance and outcomes to the respective core programs, the members of the COE, and to the community it serves.
• In this capacity, the evaluation work group will work closely with the Informatics Group in enhancing data access, feedback and communication efforts.

Central to meeting these goals and sustaining the evaluation program beyond the funded contract is the integration of the evaluation program and plan within all CoE components and activities and within health and academic systems. For example the evaluation group co-chairs have worked with the CoE staff to recognize and translate the data for the monthly reports into formative and summative evaluation data.

Co-Chair:
Arden Handler, DrPH is Associate Professor of Community Health Sciences at the UIC School of Public Health. She is Co-PI of the Maternal and Child Health Bureau (MCHB), funded the Maternal and Child Health Training Program and teaches courses on Maternal and Child Health Policy and Advocacy, and Reproductive and Perinatal Health. She currently is PI of an MCHB funded grant on The Effect of Welfare Reform on Women's Insurance Status and Prenatal Care Use and Co-PI on an RWJ funded grant, PRWORA and Low Income Women's Insurance and Prenatal Care Use. She is the President of the Association of Teachers of Maternal and Child Health and serves on numerous local, state and national advisory panels and committees related to the health of women, children and families.

Co-Chair:
Sarah Shirk, MPH is project coordinator at the Center for Research on Women and Gender where her research focuses on health outcomes for seniors with chronic conditions, especially senior women. Ms. Shirk is also actively involved in community groups and serves as Co-Chair of the Senior Services Committee, Oak Park/ River Forest League of Women Voters and the Oak Park Board of Health. Her involvement with the CoE includes evaluation research utilizing both quantitative and qualitative research methods.