Evidence-based interventions integrate clinical expertise; family and youth involvement; and solid research evidence into the process of choosing an appropriate approach to care for each individual. These interventions may offer a more comprehensive means of addressing the behavioral health and social challenges experienced by children and youth in foster care, as well as other children with significant behavioral health challenges.

Evidence-based interventions are typically piloted for a specific population with a certain set of concerns. Thus, they are not “one size fits all,” and many have not been tested with diverse groups of children to ensure efficacy in varied, real-world settings. The needs of children change during the course of treatment, so an approach to care that marries the appropriate intervention to the needs of the child, recognizing that these will change over time, is the most effective way to employ evidence-based interventions.

Customizing evidence-based interventions is one way to approach their limited applicability and ongoing fidelity monitoring. One tool developed to meet the unique needs of individual children – while still delivering evidence-based practices – is Managing and Adapting Practices (MAP).

MAP is a system that supports collaborative care planning by youth, families, providers, and case managers, rather than a specific treatment or evidence-based intervention. It allows a provider to match key components of evidence-based interventions to the specific needs of a given child, rather than having to choose a particular intervention in its entirety. Providers have access to process and practice guides to help them implement each aspect of an individual’s care, as well as to progress reports and dashboards for tracking the practices utilized for a child and their outcomes.

This webinar highlighted MAP, as well as the wraparound approach, and how utilizing these two approaches together may address the evolving needs of children and youth served by public systems and reduce the inappropriate use of psychotropic medications.

Presenters

  • Eric J. Bruns, PhD, clinical psychologist and associate professor in the department of psychiatry and behavioral sciences, University of Washington School of Medicine
  • Bruce Chorpita, PhD, professor of psychology at UCLA and president of PracticeWise, LLC
  • Sheila Pires, founding partner of the Human Service Collaborative, and senior consultant to the Children in Managed Care Program at the Center for Health Care Strategies