Elsevier

Child Abuse & Neglect

Volume 35, Issue 9, September 2011, Pages 753-756
Child Abuse & Neglect

Practical strategies
Bridge over troubled water: Using implementation science to facilitate effective services in child welfare

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2011.07.001Get rights and content

Abstract

To maximize benefits to children and their families, effective practices need to be used competently in child welfare settings. Since the 1990s, researchers and policy makers have focused attention on empirically supported interventions (ESIs). Much less attention has been paid to what is needed to implement these in a range of real-world settings. Without proper implementation, which includes an evaluation strategy from feasibility to fidelity to on-going work on moderators and mediators of program effects, established effective programs can be rendered ineffective in practical application. The paper will touch on progress, to date, of implementation science, its application to child welfare programs and practices, and will highlight a set of practical strategies for implementing empirically supported interventions in child welfare.

References (30)

  • G.J. August et al.

    Maintenance effects of an evidence based prevention innovation for aggressive children living in culturally diverse urban neighborhoods: The Early Risers effectiveness study

    Journal of Emotional and Behavioral Disorders

    (2004)
  • G.J. August et al.

    An integrated components preventive intervention for aggressive elementary school children: The Early Risers program

    Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology

    (2001)
  • G.A. Bernfeld et al.

    Offender rehabilitation in practice: Implementing and evaluating effective programs

    (2001)
  • G. Bond et al.

    Strategies for improving fidelity in the national evidence-based practices project

    Research on Social Work Practice

    (2009)
  • L. Damschroder et al.

    Fostering implementation of health services research findings into practice: A consolidated framework for advancing implementation science

    Implementation Science

    (2009)
  • Cited by (53)

    • Practitioners’ experience of implementing therapeutic residential care: A multi-perspective study

      2021, Children and Youth Services Review
      Citation Excerpt :

      This reflects that implementation of services that aim to protect vulnerable children and young people is a complex endeavor, requiring collective and sustained efforts from multiple stakeholders across different service systems (Mildon & Shlonsky, 2011). Within this context, practice-based research to capture the experiences of those who are directly involved in implementing new service programs is recommended (Mildon & Shlonsky, 2011). This article draws on the first-hand experiences of residential care practitioners who were in the process of implementing therapeutic care to examine in greater depth what barriers exist in implementation and their implications for policy and practice.

    • Fidelity and influencing factors in the Systemic Practice Model of children's social care in Finland

      2020, Children and Youth Services Review
      Citation Excerpt :

      To ensure that this happens, those in charge of developing and disseminating practice models should list the resources that are generally required for their implementation. It is also necessary to formulate a comprehensive implementation strategy, including long-term maintenance support (Mildon & Shlonsky, 2011). These measures will also help to avoid unintentional harmful implementation effects such as practitioner frustration and opportunity costs.

    View all citing articles on Scopus
    View full text