WRI Solutions' mission is to maximize your impact on improving the lives of individuals and families.
WRI Solutions partners with mission-driven agencies to thoughtfully and efficiently meet your objectives. Known to be flexible and responsive, WRI helps your organization creatively seize opportunities and overcome obstacles. Both a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit and a quasi-governmental agency, our status allows us a wide capacity to meet your needs. By contracting with WRI Solutions, you will exponentially add to your capacity to produce quality results.
Since our founding in 1967, WRI has been dedicated to helping New York State human services agencies and organizations strengthen their impact. Over the decades, our work has evolved through deeper partnerships, broader reach, and a sustained commitment to accessibility and equity. As we have expanded the scale and range of our services, we have remained grounded in our mission: to support human services systems across New York State through data-driven, person-centered solutions that elevate community voices and drive meaningful change.
WRI was founded in 1967 under New York State law and incorporated as both a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit and a state affiliated agency. Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, WRI focused its work on research, evaluation, conference and training coordination, and technical assistance.
WRI evaluated the implementation and effectiveness of the New York State Child Welfare Reform Act of 1979 for the NYS Division of the Budget, as well as the New York State Child Abuse Prevention Act of 1985 for the New York State Council on Children and Families. In cooperation with the New York City Board of Education Office of Education Assessment, WRI also evaluated the expansion of the School Health Demonstration Program.
During this period, WRI formed the Public Employment Research Institute and the Labor-Management Relations Training Institute to conduct research, provide support services to public employers, and deliver training in labor-management relations for public employees.
During the 1990s, WRI continued to demonstrate its strength in writing, editing, and designing informational and promotional materials. During this time, WRI also expanded its research areas to include services for minority populations, individuals living with HIV/AIDS, and youth and children in foster care.
WRI developed manuals for public child welfare agencies, including Child Protective Services Field Operations Manual, Foster Care Services Manual, and Adoption Services Manual for the Administration for Children's Services (ACS), and the Institutional Abuse Program Manual for New York State Department of Social Services. These publications supported frontline practice and strengthened system-wide standards across child welfare programs.
Over multiple years, WRI provided training and technical assistance to minority community-based organizations to support their efforts to secure public funding and meet complex government reporting and fiscal requirements.
WRI evaluated anadult literacy grant program for the Gannett Foundation to identify and document best practices among grantees. WRI also reported on workplace literacy programs for the Governor’s Office of Employee Relations and the Civil Service Employees Association.
WRI compiled a comprehensive directory of funding sources for AIDS-related initiatives and then conducted technical assistance workshops to help community-based organizations use the directory.
WRI administered a grant that supported coordination and collaboration among multiple agencies providing services to children with emotional disabilities and their families in the Mott Haven section of the South Bronx.
In the early 2000s, WRI remained rooted in its longstanding partnerships with New York City and New York State, relationships that continued to anchor its work throughout the decade. Its contract with the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, in place since 1993, focused primarily on supporting out stationed staff while also providing procurement assistance as needed.
At the state level, WRI supported the New York State Office of Children and Family Services by facilitating out stationed staff, managing procurements, and assisting the Youth Advisory Board, while also collaborating on the development of critical training manuals and system user guides that strengthened child welfare practice statewide. These resources included the Home Finding Practice Guide; Foster Care Practice Guide; Foster Parent Manual; Having a Voice and a Choice: New York State Handbook for Relatives Raising Children; Working Together: Health Services for Children in Foster Care; and the New York State Child Protective Services Manual.
The 2010s marked an important period of growth and transformation for the organization. In 2012, WRI entered a new chapter of leadership following the retirement of its longtime Executive Director and Chief Financial Officer. Throughout the decade, WRI continued to broaden its funding base, securing support from federal, state, county, foundation, and not-for-profit partners.
During this period, WRI expanded its reach through new initiatives and partnerships at both the state and national levels. WRI assisted the New York State Office of Children and Family Services in securing an Innovations in Family Recruitment demonstration grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and was subsequently contracted to implement a five year initiative focused on the recruitment of foster, adoptive, and kinship homes. This work included providing technical assistance to seven New York counties and developing resource materials for national use, as well as consulting with local departments of social services through grants from the Redlich Horwitz Foundation.
Building on this effort, WRI was asked to implement a pilot program to provide practical support to foster parents through trained volunteer teams drawn largely from faith based and community organizations. The program, Fostering Futures New York, was transitioned to Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Capital Region in 2020. During this time, WRI also expanded its evaluation work with partners including the New York State Unified Court System, the Mental Health Association in New York State, the New York State CASA Association, and Casey Family Programs, and began providing administrative and publication support to New York State’s Citizen Review Panels for Child Protective Services.
2020 marked a time of growth and momentum for WRI. We took on a greater role in planning and supporting events across the state, expanded our work with MHANYS through multiple evaluation projects in mental health and wellness, and expanded our publication and web design work to ensure our work is accessible, engaging, and widely shared. The agency also underwent a professionally led rebranding to better reflect our values, partnerships, and the breadth of work we lead across New York State.
The early 2020s marked a period of growth, momentum, and innovation for WRI. During this time, the organization expanded its role in planning and supporting events across New York State, including online summits,trainings, and facilitated meetings for partners such as the New York State Unified Court System (UCS), the New York State Office of Children and Family Services (OCFS), the Permanent Judicial Commission on Justice for Children, the Justice Center for the Protection of People With Special Needs, and Lifespan of Greater Rochester. WRI also broadened its publication and web design work to ensure its projects and resources wereaccessible, engaging, and widely shared.
WRI’s collaboration with the Mental Health Association in New York State (MHANYS) continued to grow, with the organization leading multiple evaluation projects focused on mental health and wellness. These efforts included evaluations of the School Mental Health Resource and Training Center, MHANYS CarePath™, Mental Health Community Partners, and Mental Health First Aid trainings. Across these initiatives, WRI designed and administered surveys, conducted qualitative and quantitative analyses, facilitated focus groups, and collected testimonials to support continuous improvement and statewide impact.
During this period, WRI took on several new statewide administrative roles. OCFS selected WRI as the administrator of New York State’s Education and Training Voucher (ETV) program (https://etv-nys.smapply.org/), supporting current and former foster youth pursuing post secondary education, and awarded WRI additional contracts to administer pandemic related funding streams. UCS also contracted with WRI to provide administrative support to the New York State Agricultural Mediation Program (NYSAMP) and to support evaluation and event coordination for its implicit bias initiative.
WRI continued its longstanding support of New York State’s Citizen Review Panels for Child Protective Services, providing administrative services, producing annual reports, and leading a comprehensive website redesign to strengthen transparency, advocacy, and collaboration through early 2025. As of 2024, WRI also began leading a multi year, statewide evaluation of AHRC Nassau’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion initiative, funded by the New York State Council on Developmental Disabilities and conducted in partnership with the New York Alliance for Inclusion and Innovation and the National Alliance for Direct Support Professionals.
In addition to evaluation and administrative work, WRI expanded its focus on accessible communications. Through contracts with the Councilon Developmental Disabilities and the New York Alliance for Inclusionand Innovation, WRI developed plain‑language publications and interactive tools designed to promote independence and informed decision‑making for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
Internally, WRI launched a professionally led organizational rebrand, including a redesigned website that reflects its evolving mission, values, and statewide impact. The new site features expanded resources, including an IDD Resource Center that houses plain‑language guides and training materials, reinforcing WRI’s commitment to accessibility, partnership, and innovation.
WRI Solutions’ staff represent a range of skills and experience across many fields, working hard as a team to be creative, nimble, and productive partners in your important work. The staff share a deep commitment to treating colleagues and the public with respect and humility.
Meet our TEAMWRI Solutions’ Board of Directors bring backgrounds in child welfare, social sciences, mental health, addictions treatment, developmental disabilities, education, not-for-profit management, strategic development, human resources management, housing, domestic violence, public administration, finance and marketing. The board meets quarterly to provide oversight to WRI’s work.
Meet our board membersWRI continually seeks to improve the opportunities it provides its staff to learn from and incorporate varied perspectives, and to amplify the voices of those with lived experience. We aim to be an organization where all feel they have agency and are valued and safe to be themselves authentically.WRI and our partners actively strive to promote a just and fair society, now and in the future.
A multiplicity of shared and different individual and group experiences, values, beliefs, and characteristics among people.
The idea that everyone should have access to the resources and opportunities needed to succeed, while taking into account the unique circumstances and needs of individuals or groups.
The practice or policy of providing equal access to opportunities and resources for people who might otherwise be excluded or marginalized, such as individuals with physical or intellectual disabilities and members of other minority groups.
The establishment or determination of rights according to rules of law and standards of equity; the process or result of using laws to judge crimes and criminality fairly.
