Pathways Forward for Embracing Evidence-Based Practice in Group Care Settings

Abstract

Evidence-based practices are often discussed but less easily implemented. Almost all the existing manualized, diagnostic-specific evidence-based practices were neither designed for nor tested in residential programs. However, a recent survey of group care providers found great interest and some success in infusing evidence-based programs and practices in serving youth. This article described four possible pathways for group care programs to pursue to advance the use of evidence-based practices and programs. These examples include using the common elements approach, building a home-grown program and its evidence, adapting an existing manualized practice for a group care setting, and adapting a residential program to incorporate an evidence-based practice. An extended case study is provided to illustrate the process and potential challenges of creating an intervention and testing it in a group care setting.