Frequently Asked Questions

Do you provide evidence based treatments for adults and children?

PBHJP’s Prime Time program provides clinical services to recently released juvenile offenders with mental health and substance abuse issues through contract with Washington State.

PBHJP provides mental health and psychiatric services and consultation to youth detained at King County Department of Adult and Juvenile Detention.

At Echo Glen Children’s Center, PBHJP faculty provides didactics and supervision for UW Psychiatry Residents as well as psychiatric consultation and services for incarcerated youth.

What types of treatments do you provide, and for what types of problems?

The Prime Time program combines use of MultiSystemic Therapy (MST), Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), Relapse Prevention (RP), and Motivational Interviewing (MI) to treat youth involved with the juvenile justice system and those with serious antisocial behavior.

For youth detained at the King County Department of Adult and Juvenile Detention, PBHJP mental health staff members work with youth to facilitate their adjustment to being detained, provide support as youth go through the court process, and coach skills that promote positive functioning.

At Echo Glen, PBHJP consultants assist in the Juvenile Rehabilitation Administration’s Integrated Treatment Model, which is founded on Behavioral Analysis (BA), Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), and Aggression Replacement Training (ART). Youth receiving these services through the Echo Glen center have been adjudicated to long-term secure detention and may have mental health needs, chemical dependence issues, cognitive impairments, or a combination of these.
What is the time-frame to get a Evidence Based Treatment (EBT) off the ground?
It depends on the strengths of the various teams, how coordinated they are with stakeholders, and the ability to recruit competent staff. It should take approximately 3-6 months to go through various steps at minimum. For example, there are many variables that impact the ability of an agency to implement a program like MultiSystemic Therapy (MST). For an agency with no experience working with evidenced based programs (EBPs), the length of time necessary to educate them will be greater than an agency who has already successfully implemented an EBP. The community's readiness is also a variable, as a community who already has an established group of core stakeholders will be able to move faster than a community without a central focus. Recruitment of qualified staff (especially supervisory) is a critical need and some rural [or urban] areas can have significant barriers in obtaining individuals with the qualifications necessary. MST has a suggested time-frame calendar that can be customized for each community based on their respective strengths or weaknesses.

What is the Partnership Access Line (PAL), and how does it relate to EBP Research?
The PAL line is a hotline for primary care providers to call when they need additional information or tools for treating patients with mental health issues. This hotline connects them to a child psychiatrist at Seattle Children's who provides free expert advice about their concerns, and puts them in touch with the appropriate services. Currently, we are surveying the providers that use the PAL line and the children they treat to see whether this advice changes prescribing practices to provide more appropriate care, and what providers and patients think about the advice they are given.

Why is there a need for the PAL line?
Historically in Washington State, there have been too few child psychiatrists to treat children in Washington state needing psychiatric care. Because it is unlikely that their numbers will increase enough to meet that need any time soon, we developed the PAL line to provide children with better access to mental health services by offering their providers an opportunity for direct phone consultation with experts at Seattle Children's Hospital.

Where can I get information or tools for treating my child patients with mental health issues?
To get more information about the Partnership Access Line, please call the PAL line at 1-866-599-7257 or visit the PAL website at www.palforkids.org.

What is an Evidence Based Practice?
- Evidence Based Practice (EBP) is the use of systematic decision-making processes or provision of services which have been shown, through available scientific evidence, to consistently improve measurable client outcomes. Instead of tradition, gut reaction or single observations as the basis for making decisions, EBP relies on data collected through experimental research and accounts for individual client characteristics and clinician expertise.
- Within the field of mental health, Evidence Based Practice is often discussed in terms of treatments or interventions which are effective. Evidence Based Treatments (EBTs) are interventions which have scientific findings to demonstrate their effectiveness or efficacy in improving client outcomes. Treatments are often placed along a continuum of support based on the rigorousness and amount of supporting research ranging from treatments which have strong support to those which are untested to those which have produced negative outcomes.
- Data sources used to make these evidence determinations include randomized experiments, which compare treatment with a control or placebo group or compare the treatment with another already established treatment; and single case design experiments which compare an individual subject’s baseline with their response to treatment. There are four generally accepted evidence levels along the continuum of research support on which experts attempt to categorize practices, based on the body of evidence and outcomes indicated supporting each treatment method. More information can be found on the Evidence Based Practice Institute front page.

How can I find out if my Mental Health Service Provider’s treatment methods are evidence based?
You can call or email us at 206-685-2085 or pbhjp@u.washington.edu for an opinion on whether the treatment method your service provider is using is evidence based. Other alternatives are to research it online using PBHJP’s list of EBP treatments, SAMHSA’s “Guide to Evidence-Based Practices on the Web”, the National GAINS Center for EBPs, or the National Registry of Evidence-Based Programs and Practices (NREPP).

Do EBPs work for diverse populations?
There is controversy as to the effectiveness of EBPs when working with diverse populations and there is no easy answer. Some experts believe that adaptations based on diversity of the population are no longer adhering to the treatment method and cannot be supported by evidence. Others believe that modifications are appropriate and necessary to treat diverse populations in question. New research indicates that adaptations of EBPs can become best practices, with sufficient data to make them evidence based. The Models for Change project is on the cutting edge of this research.

How are PBHJP and EBPI connected?
Public Behavioral Health and Justice Policy (PBHJP) was founded by Dr. Eric Trupin in 1983 to address issues of mental health care and the juvenile justice system. The Evidence Based Practice Institute (EBPI) was founded in 2007 by direction of the Washington State Legislature to research and report on the effectiveness of methods employed under House Bill 1088. It is housed at the University of Washington within PBHJP, and is also led by Dr. Eric Trupin.

How can PBHJP help me?
PBHP works with many communities to increase access to mental health treatment and the success of that treatment.

When are trainings offered?
Visit our Events and Trainings page for more information.

How can I get notice of events and trainings?
You can sign up to receive emails from us by sending your request to pbhjp@u.washington.edu.

If an EBP training we are interested in is not offered, can PBHJP still help us with implementation?
Yes, we frequently help communities determine what treatment methods best fit their needs and then facilitate the implementation of the EBP chosen by the community. We can present data on proven treatments and then engage the community on the level and needs it requires.

What areas are the faculty experts in?
Faculty at PBHJP and the EBPI have a wide range of expertise, ranging from juvenile justice and child psychiatry to adult treatment and substance abuse recovery. The faculty are experts in certain EBPs that you can find more about here.

Are faculty members available for presenting at our conference, expert testimony, or consultation?
Dependent on the area of interest and time allowing, PBHJP faculty are available for presentations, consultation, and other demonstrations. Please contact the faculty member you are interested in having present or consult with directly.

Who do I contact if I am interested in a certain project?
You may always call PBHJP at 206-685-2085, or email at pbhjp@u.washington.edu. If you are specifically interested in the Prime Time project, please contact Winnie Mann, Program Coordinator at 206-685-3093 or at mannw@u.washington.edu. In addition, each project description on our site is followed by a contact email and/or phone number. You may call or email faculty directly regarding the project you are interested in and they will get back to you promptly. We look forward to hearing from you.