Statewide Implementation of Evidence-Based Programs

Evidence-based programs will be useful to the extent they produce benefits to individuals on a socially significant scale. It appears the combination of effective programs and effective implementation methods is required to assure consistent uses of programs and reliable benefits to children and families. To date, focus has been placed primarily on generating evidence and determining degrees of rigor required to qualify practices and programs as “evidence-based.” To be useful to society, the focus needs to shift to defining “programs” and to developing state-level infrastructures for statewide implementation of evidence-based programs and other innovations in human services. In this article, the authors explicate a framework for accomplishing these goals and discuss examples of the framework in use.