Provider Agency Practices as a Source of Social Work EBP

Through this article the authors propose that agency service provider systems may be a source of evidence-based practices (EBP). One agency's design and implementation of a program entitled Community Treatment and Rehabilitation is presented as an example. The elements of this program conform to the creation of EBPs. It was formulated with consideration of clients' values and judgments through their participation at every step in the assessment and treatment process. Staff clinicians were trained in established EBP interventions, such as cognitive therapy, embedded in a system of ordered assessment, treatment, and outcome evaluation. A controlled research design was used to gather outcome data to inform clinicians' decisions about interventions that were then systematically applied with clients. The delivery system was organized for clinical supervisors to guide staff clinical practices so that all were operating on the same set of guidelines allowing for similar outcomes to occur with similar interventions. This method of developing EBPs makes them available for application immediately and successfully eliminates the delay between development and implementation that usually occurs with other sources of EBPs.