Juvenile justice agencies are increasingly utilizing evidence-based practices (EBPs), or interventions for which there is substantial empirical support, in an effort to reduce the use of expensive and less-effective out-of-home placement services and reduce recidivism. Implementation of EBPs raises several important issues for state and local systems. For one, agencies must select the appropriate types and quantity of services that will address both their population’s service and supervision needs (adoption, by institutions).
Second, as brokers of EBPs, agencies must ensure that they are organizationally equipped to ensure that target youth are referred to services (adoption, by staff). In addition, agencies must be able to monitor how many eligible youth actually receive these services, or the program’s reach. This presentation examines the Maryland Department of Juvenile Services’ (DJS) efforts to implement EBPs, particularly Multisystemic Therapy and Functional Family Therapy, using the RE-AIM evaluation framework (Glasgow et al., 1999) and highlighting strategies used by DJS and its stakeholders to address implementation challenges.
- Farrell Presentation Oct2012
