What Human Service Leaders Need to Know about Supporting Staff to Implement Evidence-Informed Programs

ABSTRACT

Policy and funding mandates are increasingly requiring that human service organizations demonstrate they are implementing services with fidelity, and system leaders are looking for guidance on how to do that effectively. Although there are several well-known implementation frameworks, a research-and-practice gap exists concerning how to apply frameworks to specific practices. The purpose of this Learning from the Field case study is to illustrate how one initiative operationalized the implementation drivers from the well-known National Implementation Research Network (NIRN) framework. NIRN’s implementation drivers were used to monitor and increase the quality of staff delivery of an intervention aimed at improving child welfare services for youth who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning. This case study provides system leaders with an example of effectively using a common framework for implementing evidence-based and evidence-informed programs by describing strategies used to apply the implementation competency drivers, as well as challenges, successes, and lessons learned. We conclude by identifying several questions that are designed to help human service leaders and program implementers support their organizations and experiences.

KEYWORDS:

• Human services
• social services
• management
• implementation science
• implementation frameworks
• implementation strategies
• evidence-informed programs
• fidelity
• continuous quality improvement

Acknowledgments

We would like to dedicate this paper to Lisa Parish, who led the RISE Initiative fiercely and always advocated for her team’s needs in implementing better care for LGBTQ+ youth.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).