Module 4: Selecting Evidence-Based Policies, Practices, and Programs
Purpose: This module will guide you through tools and activities to locate and choose the most appropriate Evidence Based Program (EBP) for your problem and population. After identifying your priority risk and protective factors, the next step is to identify evidence-based programs, practices and policies that will solve or address the challenges and strengthen your community assets. You will need to select programs, practices, and policies that not only address the risk and protective factors but also ones that are a good fit for your community and ones that you have the resources to implement.
Getting Started: You can pick and choose which areas you need below, look through all tools, or start with ” Module 4 Session 1 & 2 Meeting Agendas” which will guide you through this module.
Best Practices:
- Be sure to look at what may be best for your specific community. Review who the EBPP was tested with and make sure it is similar to your intended population. If not, but you still think it is a good fit, you may want to contact the developer to talk about adaptations.
- There are several different ways to locate EBPPs. There are a number of manuals available online. You can review interventions in Peer Reviewed Journals. You can even look them up on Google Scholar. Each method has its own pros and cons – you can use what works best for you and your team. Utilizing multiple methods may provide better results.
- Different clearinghouses and registries cater to different issues and problems, but they often address the shared risk and protective factors. You will want to explore others, such as those in child welfare or mental health, to determine how they might apply to a juvenile justice population and how they impact the shared risk and protective factors you have prioritized.
- You will want to evaluate the EBPPs after you implement them. You will look into this more in the next Module, but as you are selecting your strategies, ask how you can evaluate their effectiveness.
- Some of the agencies you contract with for services in your community may already be using EBPPs. They may be able to help you with implementation issues or even partner with your team to avoid duplication of services. Additionally, you may want to consider expanding a strategy that is already working in your community, if it is applicable to the areas you have prioritized.