Helen Ward

Helen Ward, J.D., is a Research Associate at the Institute for Child and Family Policy at the Edmund S. Muskie School of Public Service, University of Southern Maine. Ms. Ward’s work in child and family policy has focused primarily on early care and education; the implications of welfare policies for families and children; and the coordination of services for children with special needs. She is particularly interested in using research to affect decision making by policy makers at the state level. She joined the Institute in 2000 after working as a consultant conducting research, policy analysis and evaluation work on children’s issues. For over thirteen years, Ms. Ward served as Deputy Director for Program at the Connecticut Association for Human Services (CAHS) and authored a number of publications, including a report on low birth weight and infant mortality and a comprehensive study of Connecticut’s child care system. At the Institute she is Project Director for Muskie’s involvement in an effort at the Ford Foundation to address the needs of children of the working poor. This work has involved conducting a series of parent focus groups in Virginia and authoring the report, A Little Help to Help Us Along, writing a manual for Ford grantees and others working at the state level on how to do focus groups of low income parents and serving on the Learning Team established by Ford to provide resources and support to those grantees. She is Project Director and Co-Principal Investigator for a new project, funded by the Child Care Bureau at DHHS, to learn more about the experiences of low income families with children with special needs in accessing child care and balancing work and family. She earned her college degree from Oberlin College and her law degree from the Antioch School of Law.