Leveraging a State-level Intermediary Organization to Support System Improvement: Developing Capacity for Scale in a Decentralized System

• In Event: Connecting Research to Practice Using the Standardized Program Evaluation Protocol (SPEP™): The Road to Reform

Abstract

Pennsylvania’s Juvenile Justice System Enhancement Strategy (JJSES) is a comprehensive and broad-reaching reform effort currently underway in the Commonwealth. With JJSES’s emphasis on using evidence-based approaches and data-driven strategies for continuous improvement, the PA operationalization of the SPEP™ embodies the core principles of the statewide strategy for reform. In 2012, the Evidence-based Prevention and Intervention Support Center (EPISCenter) was tasked with developing statewide technical assistance and training to support the implementation, quality, and sustainability of the SPEP™ initiative. Leveraging this intermediary organization focused on translating research to practice has provided robust resources for implementing SPEP™ and fostered the development of in-state capacity for SPEP™. In 2014, seven juvenile justice professionals in PA were officially certified by Vanderbilt as SPEP™ trainers, the first in the world, and since then multiple trainings have been delivered by PA trainers to PA juvenile justice professionals. This panel session will focus on the role an intermediary organization can play in supporting initiatives for reform and will discuss challenges and next steps for PA and beyond.

Authors

• Stephanie Bradley, Evidence-based Prevention and Intervention Support Center (EPISCenter)

• Brian Bumbarger, Pennsylvania State University