People
Debra J. Rog
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Affiliate, Evaluation Studies
Founder and CEO, Evaluation Thought Partners LLC
Dr. Debra Rog, an internationally respected evaluator and research methodologist, is the Founder and CEO of Evaluation Thought Partners LLC, a recent Vice President at Westat, and President of its nonprofit affiliate, the Rockville Institute.
- PhD, Vanderbilt University, Social Psychology
- MA, Kent State University, Social Psychology
- BS, American International College, Psychology
- Mixed-methods evaluation and research methodology
- Evaluation of homelessness, housing, and mental health interventions
- Social policy and systems-level program evaluation
- Building evaluation capacity within government, nonprofit, and academic settings
Dr. Debra Rog is Founder and CEO of Evaluation Thought Partners LLC and a recent Vice President at Westat and President of its nonprofit affiliate, the Rockville Institute. She is an internationally respected evaluator and research methodologist with over 40 years of experience evaluating programs, systems, and initiatives for federal, state, and local governments; foundations, and private entities. Beginning her career as an evaluation methodologist for the state of Virginia’s Joint Legislative and Review Commission, she has held leadership positions in the Federal government, university research offices, and private industry.
Prior to joining Westat in January 2007, Dr. Rog was director of the Washington office of Vanderbilt University’s Center for Evaluation and Program Improvement (CEPI) for 17 years, and between 1987 and 1989, she was Associate Director of the Office of Programs for the Homeless Mentally Ill, National Institute of Mental Health where she developed the nation’s first evaluation and research agenda for homeless mental health interventions.
Dr. Rog has conducted quantitative, qualitative, and mixed-methods evaluations in a wide range of intervention areas, including homelessness and housing, foster care, mental health, health, among others. Dr. Rog serves as the associate director for faculty of The Evaluators’ Institute, has edited numerous handbooks and textbooks in evaluation and research methods, and has authored approximately 100 articles and chapters. She was the 2009 president of the American Evaluation Association and currently serves on the editorial board for New Directions in Evaluation and on the Research Council for the National Alliance to End Homelessness.
Rog, D. J. (2025). Making the most of evaluations: Strategies for assessing program evaluability and evaluation feasibility. In D. J. Rog and L. Bickman (2025). The Evaluation Handbook: An Evaluator's Companion, NY: Guilford Press.
Rog, D. J. and Bickman, L. (Eds) (2025). The Evaluation Handbook: An Evaluator's Companion, NY: Guilford Press.
Rog, D. J and Bickman, L. (2025). Setting the stage: Supporting the diverse knowledge and skills evaluators need in an ever-changing context. In D. J. Rog and L. Bickman (2025). The Evaluation Handbook: An Evaluator's Companion, NY: Guilford Press.
Henderson, K., Rog, D. J., Orduna, A., Gale, K., Glendening, Z., & Silveira, G. (2023). Evaluation of the Hilton Foundation S25 Homelessness Initiative: 2022 annual report. Hilton Foundation.
Henderson, K., Rog, D., & Jorge, E. (2022). Understanding racial inequities in youth homelessness: Learning from HUD’s Youth Homelessness Demonstration Program. U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Rockville, MD, Westat.
Rog, D., Gilbert-Mongelli, A., Henderson, K., & Jorge, E. (2022). Housing models for serving youth experiencing homelessness: Learning from HUD’s Youth Homelessness Demonstration Program (for HUD). Rockville, MD, Westat.
Gilbert-Mongelli, A., Henderson, K., Rog, D., Jorge, E., & Metcalfe, J. (2022). Changes in youth homelessness service and housing systems: A national picture (for HUD). Rockville, MD, Westat.
Henderson, K., Rog, D., Bhattarai, H., Gilbert-Mongelli, A., Silveira, B., & Jorge, E. (2022). Evaluation of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Youth Homelessness Demonstration Program: Final Report (for HUD). Rockville, MD, Westat.
Rog, D. J., Reidy, M. C., Manian, N., Daley, T. C., & Lieberman, L. (2021). Opportunities for psychologists to enact community change through adverse childhood experiences, trauma, and resilience networks. American Psychologist, 76(2), 379-390.
Manian, N., Rog, D. J., Lieberman, L., & Kerr, E. M. (2022). The organizational trauma-informed practices tool (O-TIPs): Development and preliminary validation. Journal of Community Psychology, 50(1), 515-540.
Rog, D. J., Reidy, M. C., Manian, N., Daley, T. C., & Lieberman, L. (2021). Opportunities for psychologists to enact community change through adverse childhood experiences, trauma, and resilience networks. American Psychologist, 76(2), 379-390.
Rog, D. J., Henderson, K. A., Wagner, C. A., & Abbruzzi, E. L. (2021). Housing matters, services might: Findings from the High Needs Families Program Evaluation. Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 693(1), 209–229. https://doi.org/
Daley, T., Rog, D. J., Manian, N., Reidy, C., & Lieberman, L. (2021). Strengthening ACEs, trauma, and resilience networks.
Rog, D. J., Manian, N., Daley, T., Reidy, C., & Lieberman, L. (2021). Do-it-yourself strategies for network reflection and evaluation (Toolkit). The Health Federation of Philadelphia.
Manian, N., Daley, T., Rog, D. J., Reidy, C., & Lieberman, L. (2021). Making change happen: Roles played by ACEs, trauma and resilience networks (for The Health Federation of Philadelphia).
Rog, D. J., Henderson, K. A., Wagner, C. A., Kerr, E. M., & Bhattarai, H. (2021). Evaluation of the Family Homelessness Systems Initiative: Examining the Effects of systems reform on 18-month housing stability and related outcomes. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
Rog, D. J., Wagner, C. A., Henderson, K. A., Kerr, E. M., & Bhattarai, H. (2021). Evaluation of the Family Homelessness Systems Initiative: 30-Month exploratory evaluation findings. Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
Rog, D. J., & Orwin, R. (2020). Evaluation of the effectiveness of homelessness prevention for at-risk families in Washington, DC Executive Summary. DC Department of Human Services.
Rog, D. J., Orwin, R., Abbruzzi, E., & Wagner, C. (2020). Evaluation of the effectiveness of homelessness prevention for at-risk families in Washington, DC. Department of Human Services, Washington, DC.
Manian, N., Wagner, C., Placzek, H., Darby, B. A., Kaiser, T. J., & Rog, D. J. (2020). Relationship between intervention dosage and success of resource connections in a social needs intervention. Public Health, 185, 324-341.
Henderson, K. A., Rog, D. J., Bernadette, B. V., Wagner, C. A., Kerr, E. M., & Bhattarai, H. (2020). Evaluation of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Youth Homelessness Demonstration Program: Early Implementation Report (for U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development).
Manian, N., Rog, D., Frechtling, J., Wells, J., Flynn, J., Feldman, J., Kerr, E., & Lipshie, N. (2020). Baseline Outcome Assessment Volume 2: District report. Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
Rog, D. J., Henderson, K. A., & Kerr, E. M. (2020). Understanding the status of homeless housing and services for youth (for HUD). Rockville, MD: Westat.
Rog, D., Frechtling, J., Manian, N., Wells, J., Flynn, J., Feldman, J., Kerr, E., & Lipshie, N. (2020). Baseline Outcome Assessment Volume 1: State report. The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
Rog, D. J., & Abbruzzi, E. (2020). Culture of Health progress report: Phase 2 findings and conclusions. The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
Rog, D. J. (October 2024). Elevating the voice of individuals with lived expertise in evaluation: An example from the Hilton Foundation Homelessness Initiative. Annual meeting of the American Evaluation Association, Portland, Oregon.
Rog, D. J. (August 2024). Combining quantitative and qualitative approaches to facilitate evidencebased decision-making. Joint Statistical Meetings, Portland, OR
Rog, D. J. (May 2024). Assessing effectiveness in nontraditional ways: The hopes and challenges of the Chafee SOTA evaluation. RECS, Washington, D.C.
Rog, D. J., Henderson, K., Krentel, J., and Thundershield, R. (March 2024). Housing is the solution: Learning from the Hilton S25 Homelessness Initiative. Housing First Partners Conference, Atlanta, GA.
Robison, E., Henderson, K., Manian, N., Rog, D., Al-Abdulmunem, M., and Jorge, E. (June 2023). Addressing Homelessness Among Older Adults: Characteristics and Needs of Two Distinct Populations (poster). AcademyHealth Annual Research Meeting, Seattle, WA.
Rog, D., and Henderson, K. (April 2022). Changing systems to put housing first: Fostering housing stability for homeless families (workshop presenter). Housing First Partners Conference, Seattle, WA.
Henderson, K., and Rog, D. J. (April 2022). Housing first for youth: Lessons learned from HUD’s YHDP (workshop). Housing First Partners Conference, Seattle, WA.
Henderson, K., Rog, D.J., Blanchfield, B., Lipshie, N., and Kerr, E. (May 2021). The pluses and minuses of virtual focus groups with vulnerable youth: A systematic assessment (panel presentation presenter). American Association for Public Opinion Research.
