In all states, child welfare agencies are increasingly challenged to find ways to support staff evidence use so as to improve service delivery and child and family outcomes.1-4 In the U.S., an increasing number of state and local governments now link research evidence regarding ‘effective’ programs and practices to funding decisions or service reimbursement.5 These pressures parallel federal efforts to promote evidence-based policymaking. Yet, currently little is known about strategies for fostering evidence uptake by staff.
The Improving Performance with Evidence (IPWE) study was intended to understand how evidence uptake happens at different levels of practice, including the frontline, programmatic, and administrative levels. Another goal of the IPWE study was to provide examples of how agencies use evidence to improve service delivery, innovate, and respond to governmental requirements. This report focuses specifically on staff evidence use.
