Abstract
Children and families deserve to have confidence that the services and supports they receive are the most effective interventions available. The concept of evidence-based and promising practices has developed as a strategy for achieving improved mental health outcomes for children and families in recent years, and the implementation of evidence-based and promising practices has grown more influential in the United States (Raghavan, Bright, & Shadoin, 2008; Tanenbaum, 2003). The term evidence-based practices (sometimes called EBPs) refers to prevention or treatment approaches that are supported by documented scientific evidence (e.g., research results from randomized or quasi-experimental designs). Promising practices are those which, although lacking a rigorous base of research evidence, show promising field-based or theoretical support. These might include locally developed services and supports intended to meet the specific strengths and needs of local populations.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.
Buying options
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Learn about institutional subscriptionsNotes
- 1.
The Sustainable Infrastructure Project was established as a collaboration between a university research team from the Department of Child and Family Studies at the University of South Florida and a group of local intervention partners that included funders, administrative authorities, provider agencies, and families for the purpose of developing local policy to support, improve and sustain best practice in local programs. The levels and domains of the policy framework were identified through interview and observational data collected and analyzed over a 3-year period.
References
Adelman, H., & Taylor, L. (2002). Safe and secure: Guides to creating safer schools—Guide 7: Fostering school, family and community involvement. Portland, OR: Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory.
Center for Mental Health in Schools at UCLA. (2004). An introductory packet on working together: From school-based collaborative teams to school-community higher education connections. Los Angeles, CA: Author.
Durlak, J. A. (1998). Why program implementation is important. Journal of Prevention & Intervention in the Community, 17, 5–18.
Fagan, A. A., & Mihalic, S. (2003). Strategies for enhancing the adoption of school-based prevention programs: Lessons learned from the Blueprints for Violence Prevention replications of the Life Skills Training program. Journal of Community Psychology, 31(3), 235–253.
Fixsen, D. L., Naoom, S. F., Blase, K. A., Friedman, R. M., & Wallace, F. (2005). Implementation research: A synthesis of the literature. Tampa, FL: University of South Florida, Louis de la Parte Florida Mental Health Institute, The National Implementation Research Network (FMHI Publication #231).
Gottfredson, D. C., & Gottfredson, G. D. (2002). Quality of school-based prevention programs: Results from a national survey. Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency, 39, 3–35.
Harachi, T. W., Abbott, R. D., Catalano, R. F., Haggerty, K. P., & Fleming, C. B. (1999). Opening the black box: Using process evaluation measures to assess implementation and theory building. American Journal of Community Psychology, 27, 711–731.
Hernandez, M., & Hodges, S. (2001). Theory-based accountability. In M. Hernandez & S. Hodges (Eds.), Developing outcome strategies in children’s mental health (pp. 21–40). Baltimore, MD: Paul H. Brookes Publishing.
Hernandez, M., & Hodges, S. (2003). Building upon a theory of change for systems of care. Journal of Emotional and Behavioral Disorders, 11(1), 19–26.
Hodges, S., Ferreira, K., & Israel, N. (2012). “If we’re going to change things, it has to be systemic:” systems change in children’s mental health. American Journal of Community Psychology, 49(3–4), 526–37. doi:10.1007/s10464-012-9491-0.
Hodges, S., Ferreira, K., Mazza, J., Vaughn, B., Van Dyke, M., Mowery, D., et al. (2007). Phase I report (Developing sustainable infrastructure in support of quality field-based practice series, FMHI # 248–2). Tampa, FL: University of South Florida, Louis de la Parte Florida Mental Health Institute, Department of Child and Family Studies.
IP-RISP. (2006). Interventions and practice research infrastructure program. National Institute of Mental Health. Retrieved May 8, 2012, from: http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/pa-files/PAR-06-441.html.
Kubisch, A. C., Fulbright-Anderson, K., & Connell, J. P. (1998). Evaluating community initiatives: A progress report. In A. C. Kubisch, K. Fulbright-Anderson, & J. P. Connell (Eds.), New approaches to evaluating community initiatives: Theory, measurement and analysis (Vol. 2, pp. 1–13). Washington, DC: The Aspen Institute.
Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting Program. (2010). Health Resources and Service Administration. Retrieved May 8, 2012, from: http://mchb.hrsa.gov/programs/homevisiting/
Mihalic, S. F., & Irwin, K. (2003). Blueprints for violence prevention: From research to real-world settings—factors influencing the successful replication of model programs. Youth Violence and Juvenile Justice, 1(4), 307–329.
Moseley, J. L., & Hastings, N. B. (2005). Implementation: The forgotten link on the intervention chain. Performance Improvement, 44(4), 8–14.
NREPP. (2012). National Registry of Evidence-Based Programs and Practices. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. Retrieved May 8, 2012, from: http://www.nrepp.samhsa.gov/
O’Toole, L., & Montjoy, R. (1984). Interorganizational policy implementation: A theoretical perspective. Public Administration Review, 44(6), 491–503.
Patton, M. Q. (2008). Utilization-focused evaluation. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Percival, G. (2009). Exploring the influence of local policy networks on the implementation of drug policy reform: The case of California’s Substance Abuse and Crime Prevention Act. Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, 19(4), 795–815.
Ploeg, J., Davies, B., Edwards, N., Gifford, W., & Miller, P. E. (2007). Factors influencing best-practice guideline implementation: Lessons learned from administrators, nursing staff, and project leaders. Wordviews on Evidence-Based Nursing, 4(4), 210–219.
Proctor, E. (2004). Leverage points for the implementaion of evidencce-based practice. Brief Treatment and Crisis Intervention, 4(3), 227–242.
Raghavan, R., Bright, C. L., & Shadoin, A. L. (2008). Toward a policy ecology of implementation of evidence-based practices in public mental health settings. Implementation Science, 3, 26.
Science of Dissemination and Implementation: Research at the Crossroads. (2012). Conference sponsored by the National Institutes of Health, March 19–20, 2012. Retrieved May 8, 2012, from: http://conferences.thehillgroup.com/obssr/di2012/about.html
Sustainable Infrastructure Project. (2007). Developing sustainable infrastructure in support of quality field-based practice. Tampa, FL: University of South Florida, College of Behavioral and Community Sciences, Louis de la Parte Florida Mental Health Institute, Department of Child and Family Studies. Retrieved May 8, 2012, from: http://cfs.cbcs.usf.edu/projects-research/detail.cfm?id=375
Tanenbaum, S. (2003). Evidence-based practice in mental health: Practical weaknesses meet political strengths. Journal of Evaluation in Clinical Practice, 2, 287–301.
Weiss, C. (1995). Nothing as practical as good theory. In J. P. Connell (Ed.), New approaches to evaluating community initiatives: Concepts, methods and contexts (Vol. 1). Washington, DC: Aspen Institute.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2013 Springer Science+Business Media New York
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Hodges, S., Ferreira, K. (2013). A Multilevel Framework for Local Policy Development and Implementation. In: Culp, A. (eds) Child and Family Advocacy. Issues in Clinical Child Psychology. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-7456-2_14
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-7456-2_14
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY
Print ISBN: 978-1-4614-7455-5
Online ISBN: 978-1-4614-7456-2
eBook Packages: Behavioral ScienceBehavioral Science and Psychology (R0)