Supporting & Expanding Evidence Based Practices in Washington State

A Survey of Public and Private Children's Mental Health Practices

Executive Summary: In early 2010, the Evidence Based Practice Institute (EBPI) at the University of Washington was tasked by the Washington State Legislature to identify strategies and incentives to expand the implementation of effective intervention for children, youth, and families who experience behavioral health challenges and are served by public and private providers. In order to inform next steps in the process of expanding effective services, the Institute prepared a web-based survey to determine characterstics of provider organizations and private practitioners providing mental health services in Washington State.

The survey was implemented between May 6th and July 22nd of 2010 and collected responses from 125 provider agencies and individual providers representing 25 of 39 counties across the state.

Major findings from the survey revealed:

• There is wide interest by providers in Washington State for training in a variety of evidence-based practices for children's mental health
  • Particular interest was noted for EBPs designed to treat anxiety (including trauma), depression, and youth with complex needs
  • There were differences between training desired by public providers and private providers:
    • Public providers were more likely to indicate interest in the Motivational Interviewing and wraparound approaches
    • Private providers were more likely to indicate interest in Triple P, Parent Empowerment Program, MATCH-ADC, and Dialectical Behavior Therapy
• Both public and private providers expressed a willingness to contribute to the financial costs associated with receiving training, although the amount of contribution was rarely commensurate with the estimated cost for most training. This finding indicates a need to identify additional resources to supplement provider contributions if wide-spread dissemination of one or more evidence-based practice if desired.
  

Download the full report, Supporting and Expanding Evidence Based Practices in Washington State, and appendicies below:

Downloads - Supporting & Expanding EBP in Washington
Full Report with Appendicies (.pdf)
Full Report without Appendicies (.doc)
Appendix A - Acronyms
Appendix B - Survey Instrument
Appendix C - Full Data Tables
Appendix D - Open-ended Responses

Return to the list of all Projects and Grants.