Dr. Richard McCowan Director, Research and Evaluation Group

As director of the Research and Evaluation Group (REG), Richard McCowan, Ph.D., supervises staff responsible for research and evaluation activities related to CDHS training endeavors. The REG has conducted numerous large-scale evaluations, surveys, and needs assessments involving human services agencies and schools throughout the state, including statewide surveys of foster parents, health care providers, and Erie County DSS clients. REG staff performed an outcome-based assessment of an enrichment program for high-risk elementary school children and assessed the impact of STRIDE, a program comparing the effectiveness of case management to traditional casework. In 1997 the REG completed a risk assessment program involving 8,000 NYC caseworkers and supervisors and in 2006 surveyed more than 70,000 NYC caseworkers regarding family engagement practices.

Dick, who joined CDHS in 1979, also served nearly two decades as a graduate professor at Buffalo State College, where he taught advanced techniques of counseling, research, statistics, and computer applications. A Professor Emeritus, he also served as director of the Campus Laboratory School, the Child Study Center, and the Research and Development Complex, where he was the principal investigator for more than $2 million in competitively awarded grants. Previously he served as chief of the NYS Education Department Bureau of School and Cultural Research, was a director of guidance, and taught English. The author of over 120 publications, he has been editor of two scholarly journals and has made over 200 professional presentations.