This blog is a continuation of the EBP Practice Models blog series started by this blog’s author Evan C. Crist, Psy.D. and other industry leading authorities on practice models, Brad Bogue, Matt Moore and Tom O’Connor.

When Brad Bogue first suggested we work on a “practice model” I was embarrassed to admit I had no idea what he was talking about. After a bit of research I realized that, while the term was foreign to me, the concept was not that complicated and was a logical extension of our agency’s evidence-based practices (EBP) training. I learned that practice models structure the use of various EBPs into a logical, coherent process to help practitioners identify the next necessary step in the intervention sequence.

Armed with lots of knowledge about EBP, but without a framework to identify and organize what techniques to use when, we recognized we did, indeed, need a practice model. Since I am writing this blog during the Christmas season, it seemed that we had lots of ornaments and tinsel but no tree on which to hang them. It became clear that without a practice model we would remain knowledgeable about EBP but unskilled in their delivery.

I looked at several of the prepackaged practice models available but found all of them lacking. They were either incongruous with my clinical experience (e.g., the importance of building motivation was essentially ignored) or contradicted my philosophy of the change process (e.g., they followed a manual but left little room for situational flexibility). With Brad at my side challenging my assumptions every step of the way, we decided to develop a practice model in house. We facilitated the process while our capable staff of case managers merged research with their experience and theory with reality.

It was a vital learning experience for me. I thought I needed to teach the case managers to think; turns out, I simply needed to create the space and let them think.

We started with the necessary requirements for the practice model:

1. It must include a variety of interventions.
2. It must include evidence-based, evidence-informed or promising practices.
3. It must be coherent.
4. It must be simple but powerful.
5. It must include situational flexibility.

The Foundational Roles of Technology in Agency EBP Work

For evidence based practices to come alive, we must measure everything… and not using our fingers and toes!

It All Started with Looking For A Better Way…

Ten years ago, there was little reason to focus on the software features needed to design an EBP software system. Early in the EBP movement, agencies’ pursuit of EBP was tied to “validated risk assessments” and new case management disciplines as characterized in Motivational Interviewing.[i] In other words, there was little impact on legacy case management systems. In fact, new automation was centered on the emerging risk assessment tools. 

Today, with rising expectations from funding agencies, courts, and our community stakeholders to show progress in EBP, measure outcomes, and determine what works with our own client populations, the rules have changed. There is fresh impetus and opportunity to reconsider what it means to have a modern-day case management system for the residential and non-residential community corrections field. After all, legislators and community stakeholders have been convinced of the merits of the science and strategy behind investing in offender rehabilitation instead of incarceration. The challenge for the coming decade is to show real results and make meaningful efforts to learn about outcomes, apply new knowledge, and create a system of people, processes and data that brings the promise of EBP to life.

Policy Matters

The often quoted Yogi Berra stated, “In theory there is no difference between theory and practice. In practice there is.” (To be fair, a multitude of quotes have been attributed to Berra, leading him to exclaim, “I didn’t really say everything I said.”) This observation is particularly appropriate for the community corrections professionals amidst this wave of change. The fact is that we know more about principles than about specific practices. In our third blog about the 5 Ps Pyramid, I discuss Policy, the process that begins to define practices. After all, we talk often about implementing principles, but you do not actually implement concepts, you implement practices. Identifying and articulating practices begins with policies.