EBPI & WSIPP - September 2017

The 2012 Legislature passed E2SHB 2536 with the intention that “prevention and intervention services delivered to children and juveniles in the areas of mental health, child welfare, and juvenile justice be primarily evidence-based and research-based, and it is anticipated that such services will be provided in a manner that is culturally competent.”

The bill directs the Washington State Institute for Public Policy (WSIPP) and the University of Washington Evidence-Based Practice Institute (UW) to publish descriptive definitions and prepare an inventory of evidence-based, research-based, and promising practices and services, and to periodically update the inventory as more practices are identified. This is the seventh update to the September 30, 2012 publication. The accompanying report describes the inventory update process, as well as the ongoing technical assistance process by UW.

Jim Mayfield, Stephanie Lee - April 2009

In 2007, by legislative direction, the Washington State Department of Social and Health Services’ Mental Health Division established the Thurston-Mason Children’s Mental Health Evidence-Based Practice Pilot Project (the Pilot) to provide evidence-based mental health services to children. Multi-Systemic Therapy (MST) is the first evidence-based practice chosen for the Pilot. The Pilot enrolled 114 youth in MST between April 2007 and December 2008. The majority of these children (69 percent) were referred from the juvenile justice and public mental health systems; 14 percent were referred from the state’s child welfare system; the remaining referrals were from schools or other local partner agencies. The Legislature also directed the Institute to study the Pilot. Using linked administrative data from multiple state agencies, we produced a profile of the first 103 youth served by the program.

We found that 96 percent of youth enrolled in MST had prior involvement in at least one state system associated with juvenile justice, child welfare, or mental health; 70 percent of youth enrolled in MST had felony or misdemeanor convictions (50 percent had a history of detention); and 30 percent of enrolled youth had referrals to Child Protective Services that were accepted for investigation. Most (89 percent) youth enrolled in MST were previously enrolled in the public mental health system; the Pilot’s MST program is serving its target population. Subject to funding, a report on outcomes associated with enrollment in MST will be published in December 2009.

EBPI & WSIPP - December 2019

The 2012 Legislature passed E2SHB 2536 with the intention that “prevention and intervention services delivered to children and juveniles in the areas of mental health, child welfare, and juvenile justice be primarily evidence-based and research-based, and it is anticipated that such services will be provided in a manner that is culturally competent.”

The bill directed the Washington State Institute for Public Policy (WSIPP) and the University of Washington Evidence-Based Practice Institute (UW) to publish descriptive definitions and prepare an inventory of evidence-based, research-based, and promising practices and services, and to periodically update the inventory as more practices are identified. This is the ninth update to the initial inventory published in 2012.

The accompanying report describes our standard process for evaluating and classifying research evidence, the process for adding new programs to the inventory, and the reasons that program classifications may change. Programs that are new to the inventory or have a revised classification based on current evidence are identified in the report.

EBPI & WSIPP - December 2018

The 2012 Legislature passed E2SHB 2536 with the intention that “prevention and intervention services delivered to children and juveniles in the areas of mental health, child welfare, and juvenile justice be primarily evidence-based and research-based, and it is anticipated that such services will be provided in a manner that is culturally competent.”
The bill directed the Washington State Institute for Public Policy (WSIPP) and the University of Washington Evidence-Based Practice Institute (UW) to publish descriptive definitions and prepare an inventory of evidence-based, research-based, and promising practices and services, and to periodically update the inventory as more practices are identified. This eighth update to the September 30, 2012 publication includes recent reviews of children’s mental health interventions on the inventory. The accompanying report describes the inventory update process, as well as the ongoing technical assistance process by UW. Programs that are new to the inventory, or have a revised classification based on current evidence, are identified in the report.

EBPI & WSIPP - September 2020

The 2012 Legislature passed E2SHB 2536 with the intention that “prevention and intervention services delivered to children and juveniles in the areas of mental health, child welfare, and juvenile justice be primarily evidence-based and research-based, and it is anticipated that such services will be provided in a manner that is culturally competent.”

The bill directed the Washington State Institute for Public Policy (WSIPP) and the University of Washington Evidence-Based Practice Institute (EBPI) to publish descriptive definitions and prepare an inventory of evidence-based, research-based, and promising practices and services, and to periodically update the inventory as more practices are identified. This is the tenth update to the initial inventory published in 2012.

The accompanying report describes our standard process for evaluating and classifying research evidence, the process for adding new programs to the inventory, and the reasons that program classifications may change in the current iteration of the inventory. Programs that are new to the inventory or re-reviewed with current evidence are identified in the report.

Find previous versions of the Children's inventory with the following links: ninth update, eighth update, seventh update, sixth update, fifth update, fourth update, third update, second update, first update,and initial inventory.

Rebecca Goodvin, Paige Wanner - March 2024

The 2013 Washington State Legislature passed a bill to facilitate the use of evidence-based programs in adult corrections. It also assigned WSIPP to create an inventory of evidence-based and research-based adult corrections programs.

The 2023 Legislature directed WSIPP to update the Adult Corrections Inventory, focusing on programs for incarcerated individuals in prison facilities. This update prioritizes adding programs offered by Washington’s Department of Corrections (DOC).

In this preliminary report, we identify programs currently offered in DOC prison facilities and indicate whether these programs have been evaluated in relation to recidivism. We identified 30 programs offered in one or more DOC facilities between 2014 and 2023 that have been evaluated but have not yet been classified on the Adult Corrections Inventory. We will review these programs for possible inclusion in the updated Inventory to be published in December 2024.

Marna Miller, Rebecca Goodvin - November 2017

The 2012 Washington State Legislature directed DSHS to create a two-track response system for accepted reports to Child Protective Services, where high risk families receive an investigation (formerly the only response) and low- to moderate-risk families receive Family Assessment Response (FAR). FAR provides a comprehensive assessment of child safety, risk of subsequent child abuse or neglect, and family strengths and needs. The assessment determines the need for services to address child safety and the risk of subsequent maltreatment but does not include a determination as to whether child abuse or neglect occurred.

WSIPP was directed to evaluate the effect of FAR on child safety measures, out-of-home placement rates, re-referral rates, and caseload sizes and demographics. In this final report, we evaluate the outcomes directed in the law, comparing outcomes for families who received FAR to those families who were eligible for FAR but who were served in offices where FAR had not yet been implemented. We also estimate the proportion of the caseload assigned to FAR after full implementation and the effect of FAR on receipt of paid in-home services.

A preliminary report was published in December 2014.

Steve Lerch - January 2001

This report examines the bidding process used by the Public Employee Benefits Board to purchase state employee health benefits from managed care organizations. Three options having the potential to improve decision-making and reduce costs are identified: 1) requiring the bidding process to occur before the biennial budget is passed; 2) limiting the number of accepted bids in a geographic area; and 3) requesting annual and multi-year bids.

Eva Westley - June 2019

The 2018 Washington State Legislature directed the Washington State Institute for Public Policy (WSIPP) to conduct evidence reviews on step therapy and step therapy exceptions and to summarize step therapy exceptions codified in other states. One goal of the assignment is to determine whether this type of prescription drug utilization management practice has an effect on health outcomes. In this report, we describe the results of our evidence reviews on step therapy and step therapy exceptions and describe the limitations of the research evidence. We also summarize the step therapy exceptions codified in other states and describe Washington’s codified step therapy exception.

Marna Miller - June 2009

The 2008 Legislature directed the Office of the Family and Children's Ombudsman (OFCO) to analyze referrals of child abuse and neglect to find out whether the source of the referral influenced the response by the Child Protective Services (CPS) at the Department of Social and Health Services (DSHS). OFCO contracted with the Institute to perform the study. We examined a total of 96,000 referrals made between January 2006 and February 2008 and found that educators and social services professionals make more reports to CPS than other types of reporters. Compared with other reporters, referrals from law enforcement were more likely to both be accepted for investigation and result in removal of a child from his or her home.

The study also found variations in the outcomes of referrals from the various types of reporters. The largest variations in outcomes were determined by DSHS region and the risk assignment history of individual intake workers. Intake workers with a history of assigning higher levels of risk than their peers were more likely to continue to assign higher levels of risk.