Implementation Science and Prevention in Action: Application in a Post-Permanency World

ABSTRACT

This article describes how implementation science and intervention research guided the process of selecting and implementing an evidence-informed intervention (Tuning in to Teens; TINT). TINT was provided as a selective prevention effort offered to families with youth aged 10 to 13 years old, with characteristics that suggest an elevated risk for post-permanency discontinuity. Usability testing findings: Contact was made with 54% of families, and 12% participated in the intervention. Multivariate results found no statistically significant differences between families who responded to outreach efforts and those who did not; families who participated in TINT and those who did not. Implications: Large public child welfare systems wanting to implement evidence-informed interventions can follow the steps detailed in this paper for selecting, adapting and implementing an intervention. Further, providers that seek to offer post adoption and guardianship services, a growing service need, may gain some insights into activities that promote service usage with this population.

KEYWORDS:

• Adoption
• implementation
• intervention research
• science selective prevention
• Tuning in to Teens

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank the New Jersey Department of Children and Families (DCF) for their research partnership, and the Office of Adoption Operations for their assistance with understanding the data provided.

Additional information

Funding

The QIC-AG is funded through a five-year cooperative agreement between the Children’s Bureau, Spaulding for Children, and its partners the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, the University of Texas at Austin and the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Funded through the Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, Children's Bureau, Grant #90CO1122. The contents of this study does not necessarily reflect the views or policies of the funders, nor does mention of trade names, commercial products or organizations imply endorsement by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. This information is in the public domain. Readers are encouraged to copy and share it, but please credit the National Quality Improvement Center for Adoption and Guardianship Support and Preservation (QIC-AG).