Moving Implementation of Evidence-Based Practice Forward: A Practitioner's View

• Author: Geraldine Nagy
• Published date: 01 June 2013
• Date: 01 June 2013
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.3818/JRP.15.1.2013.159
• Subject Matter: Toward Evidence-Based Decision Making in Community Corrections: Research and Strategies for Successful Implementation

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Moving Implementation of Evidence-Based Practice

Forward: A Practitioner’s View

Geraldine Nagy

Travis County Community Supervision and Corrections Department

Austin, TX

JUSTICE RESEARCH AND POLICY, Vol. 15, No. 1, 2013

© 2013 Justice Research and Statistics Association

DOI: 10.3818/JRP.15.1.2013.159

* Abstract

There is a gap between science and practice in community corrections. Until recently,

most community corrections practitioners have faced the challenge of implementing

evidence-based practice (EBP) by simply f‌iguring it out on their own. But as the articles

in this issue illustrate, the tide has begun to shift toward a more balanced approach that

embraces the science of implementation and engages in the deliberate study of specif‌ic

implementation methods that can bring EBP to scale and achieve the results that com-

munity supervision agencies have promised. From a practitioner’s point of view, achiev-

ing this goal must involve coordinated and deliberate discussion among correctional

researchers and practitioners. Implementing EBP is a complex endeavor that involves

multiple players and multiple layers within organizations and across components of a

system. Building a framework that recognizes interdependent levels will make it pos-

sible to def‌ine key decisions at each level, identify implementation strategies attuned

to interdependencies within a complex system that might otherwise be missed, and

develop a structure for evidence-based decision making. In building this framework,

it is critical that we embrace research on decision making and cognitive biases, which

might help explain common roadblocks that practitioners have faced in their efforts to

implement EBPs.

To w a r d Ev i d E n c E -Ba s E d dEc i s i o n Ma k i n g i n co M M u n i T y co r r E c T i o n s :

rE s E a r c h a n d sT r a T E g i E s f o r su c c E s s f u l iM p l E M E n Ta T i o n

P

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While the f‌ield of probation has theoretically embraced the concept of evidence-

based practices (EBP), there are concerns that what we say we do is not what we

actually do. A major gap exists between the science of changing behavior and the

practice at the front line and across organizational levels of community supervi-

sion agencies. This gap between what is known and what is done is not unique to

corrections. Scientif‌ic innovations typically languish 15–20 years before they are

incorporated into usual practice (Boren & Balas, 1999). As several of our contrib-

uting authors have pointed out, however, the f‌ield of corrections and probation

is at a critical juncture. We are in the midst of a dramatic shift in policy from a

“get tough” approach to one aimed at reintegrating offenders into the community.

Legislatures across the nation have begun to invest in probation interventions with

the expectation that community corrections agencies deliver on the promise of

reducing recidivism and, thereby, averting the need for new prison beds. The con-

cept of “Justice Reinvestment” builds on this promise with the hope that savings

in incarceration costs can be reinvested in local communities and help to close the

“revolving door” between the community and prison.

At the heart of this policy change is the ability of community corrections

agencies to close the gap between science and practice before the correctional

pendulum swings back once again. As a practitioner I have come to believe that

this gap cannot be closed by simply doing more of the same. Our ability to move

forward will largely depend on the ability of correctional researchers and practi-

tioners to come together to build a framework that goes beyond traditional meth-

ods of managing change.

Building this framework will require identifying and coordinating implemen-

tation strategies within the context of criminal justice systems. Historically, both

criminal justice practitioners and correctional researchers have focused on build-

ing our “toolbox” of practices (EBPs) that have a known impact on measures of

recidivism. Much less attention has been aimed at identifying those processes that

can be used to effectively move EBPs into system routine. As a consequence, practi-

tioners have responded to the challenge of implementation by simply f‌iguring it out

on their own, and some have been very successful. However, the scope of success

within the f‌ield of criminal justice as a whole has been limited.

Moving evidence-based practices into the routine operations of community su-

pervision agencies with f‌idelity and on a suff‌icient scale to impact client and public

well-being is a multifaceted and long-term endeavor and some may argue that we

simply need to be patient. However, unless we make a critical course correction

now our success will continue to fall short. Such a correction can only be achieved

through deliberate discussion among correctional researchers and practitioners

to build a framework that embraces implementation science and the experience

of practitioners who have, over the past decade, faced the ongoing challenge of

changing complex systems.

The intent of this paper is to provide some food for thought as both correc-

tional researchers and practitioners turn their attention towards implementation.