As a result of the colloquium and further discussions with researchers, service practitioners, and policymakers nationwide, the CWLA created the National Council on Research in Child Welfare (NCRCW). Made up of agency-based and university-based researchers, agency executives, and Federal Government and private sector representatives, the first task of the NCRCW was to develop a child welfare research agenda. That agenda seeks to identify critical gaps in empirical knowledge about child welfare and is organized into four basic sections: information technologies, child abuse and neglect prevention, child protection and family reunification, and out-of-home care. The agenda emphasizes building knowledge that strengthens child welfare core competencies, such as child protection, family preservation and reunification, adoption, family foster care, kinship care, treatment foster care, and residential group care services. The agenda also focuses on independent living programs, risk assessment, and the link between child maltreatment and juvenile delinquency. References and figures