Chapin Hall Appoints Matthew W. Stagner as New Director
Research and Policy Expert to Lead Center at University of Chicago

Chicago, IL, June 29, 2006 - Chapin Hall Center for Children at the University of Chicago, a research center focused on child and family policy, has named Matthew W. Stagner its new Director, effective September 1, 2006.

A nationally recognized expert on public policies affecting children and families, Stagner currently serves as Director of the Center on Labor, Human Services and Population at the Urban Institute in Washington, D.C. His large body of research includes work on children aging out of foster care, programs that support healthy marriages, and social services.

"Chapin Hall has long enjoyed a reputation for independent and innovative thinking," Stagner said. "I am honored to be asked by one of the world's great research universities to lead an institution that legislators, agency administrators, courts, and social service professionals depend on to help them understand whether their investments in children's well-being are paying off."

Dr. Stagner has worked as Director of the Division of Children and Youth Policy in the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. His new position marks a return to Chapin Hall, where he worked as Assistant Director and Research Fellow from 1986-1991.

"Matthew Stagner has established not only an exceptional track record in policy research but a distinguished career in the public sector," said Frank Beidler, chair of the board of directors. "His success in connecting the worlds of university-based research, public policy, and social service is a tremendous asset as Chapin Hall enters its third decade."

Stagner will succeed Mark E. Courtney, who has served as Director of Chapin Hall since 2001 and is stepping down as director to devote more time to ongoing research projects on child welfare and welfare reform. Courtney is widely acknowledged as an expert on the child welfare system and his studies of youth aging out of foster care have been used extensively by legislators, agency administrators and courts around the country. He will continue to work as a Faculty Associate at Chapin Hall and as a professor at the University's School of Social Service Administration.

Stagner earned his doctorate at the Harris School of Public Policy Studies at the University of Chicago, where he will become a Senior Lecturer.

Chapin Hall Center for Children is a nonpartisan policy research center dedicated to bringing rigorous research and innovative ideas to policymakers, service providers, and funders working to improve the well-being of children. Located at the University of Chicago, Chapin Hall now celebrates twenty years as a leading source of research and expertise about the needs of children and the service systems designed to meet those needs.

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