Federal, state, and foundation initiatives around evidence-based practices for child and adolescent mental health

Abstract

This article is a survey of many of the initiatives developed by federal and state agencies and foundations focusing on evidence-based mental health practices for children and adolescents. The article intends to show the tremendous interest in the development, dissemination, and implementation of evidence-based practice in child and adolescent mental health that is held by a wide variety of agencies and organizations. Several "next steps" for the field are suggested that might be developed in a subsequent series of initiatives. These steps include a better understanding of dissemination and implementation processes, increased clarity around definitions and terms, increased efforts to build infrastructure and support policy change, and the potential for an aggregation of data already gathered on the implementation of evidence-based practices.