Resources

This website hosts a range of research and publications relating to how evidence can be used to improve public health outcomes, including introductions to 'standards of evidence'.

This discussion paper talks about the value of developing a coherent, manageable and principled practice framework for co-constructing the child’s personal life story archive. It also includes considerations around trauma, record-keeping, confidentiality,and information technology. Systems and collaborations are essential to translate this into practice.

OPEN organised this Knowledge Building workshop where Dr. Penny Hagen from the Auckland Co-design Lab shared approaches that are participatory, gentle and respectful in order to bring less privileged perspectives to the surface in complex conversations.

A recent review of research studies and evaluations has shown that community schools can be successful in improving school outcomes and childhood learning. This is found to be particularly true in schools with a high level of poverty. This brief, prepared by the Learning Policy Institute and the National Education Policy Center, highlights the benefits of community schools partnering with local agencies and government to provide an integrated and holistic approach to academics, health and community development.

The Annie E. Casey Foundation has produced a case study that examines the role of culture in establishing effective, evidence-based programs in African-American communities. The report suggests ways in which organisations can apply evidence-based practices and introduce innovative approaches and programs that respond to the needs of African-Americans. It emphasises that programs which are effective for one group might not be so for another. Success is dependent upon having a strong understanding of the unique cultural environment and on incorporating this understanding into the design and implementation stages of a program. This will also support community buy-in at the early stages of a community program or intervention.

This study explores the ways in which stakeholders and the wider public can be effectively engaged when developing and communicating violence prevention messages. It emphasises the need for clear and consistent messaging, and evidence informed approach informed by past experiences.

OPEN organised this Knowledge Building Workshop led by Dr. Penny Hagen, from Auckland Co-design Lab and Angie Tangaere, The Southern Initiative, where they talked about privilege and power. Their approach encourages us to flip where the expertise lies and be social innovation agents who need to be ‘in service’ of the change that the families want.

This short video from the Ontario Centre of Excellence for Child and Youth Mental Health provides a general overview of evidence informed practice and its three pillars; research evidence, practice expertise and client experience.

This OPEN Fact sheet provides you with a useful overview of what we mean by Practice Elements.

A useful explainer on how practitioner experience can be used to inform improvements in practice.

Issue 99 of Family Matters builds on the 2016 Australian Institute of Family Services (AIFS) Conference theme of ‘research to results’. It discusses current debates in Australia about the use of evidence to improve policy and practice in child and family services. It explores issues in the sector from different perspectives, providing a voice to all those affected by the pressing debates. In addition to articles from researchers and experts, the edition contains a series of ‘practitioner perspectives’ on the use of evidence, and departmental updates on significant child and families programs.

Australian Catholic University’s Institute for Child Protection Studies (ICPS) has released a qualitative study aimed at identifying new and effective approaches to the recruitment, support and retention of kinship and foster carers. The report identifies some of the key approaches currently being used across Australia’s states and territories. The report shows that there is growing recognition that different approaches are required to find and support kinship carers, opposed to foster carers.

This article, published in Human Service Organizations: Management, Leadership & Governance, explores how leaders in child welfare organisations can best support the implementation of evidence-based approaches to deliver ‘what works’ to improve outcomes for children and families. A systematic review identified 12 articles and finds that leaders achieve this by providing vision, cultivating organisational culture, proactive planning and investment, developing capabilities, and maintaining relationships required to enable implementation.

This toolkit contains practical insight, strategies and resources for the planning phase of implementation. It couples theory and research findings with practical strategies and real-life experiences from the field that may be relevant to your organization.

This Safe and Equal peak body resource details the advantages and challenges for primary prevention family violence practitioners moving to an online environment. This resource demonstrates embedding learning within the practice and is particularly useful for Victorian primary prevention practitioners.

Coffee Talk Session on the Evidence Based Decision Making for Human Services Leaders course Eric Barends, Center for Evidence Based Management at Carnegie Mellon University presentation on the Evidence-based Decision Making for Human Service Leaders’ course. The course is hosted by the Outcomes, Practice and Evidence Network (OPEN) and is co-facilitated by Eric Barends, the Center for Evidence Based Management at Carnegie Mellon University and Dr Lisa . Griffiths, CEO, OzChild.

In this video, keynote speaker Deborah Rubien shares her reflections on implementing evidence-based practices in the New York City's child protection and out-of-home care sectors.

In his keynote address, Chris Vanstone from the the Australian Centre for Social Innovation shares his experiences of collecting and evaluating evidence, to create better outcomes.

In this presentation, MaryAnn Notarianni outlines the journey of the Ontario Centre of Excellence for Child and Youth Mental Health (the Centre) in supporting the child and youth mental health sector to mobilise knowledge and improve quality to meet child and youth mental health needs across the province.

In this presentation, Melanie Ashman and Kerry Brogan from the Victorian Aboriginal Child Care Agency (VACCA) spoke about the development and implementation of a culturally appropriate Evaluation Framework. VACCA’s process is Aboriginal led and privileges the voices of Aboriginal practitioners and clients. Their Evaluation Framework foregrounds culturally specific outcomes to ensure that evaluations measure what is most important to the Aboriginal Community to build an evidence base of effective programs and practices.

Kathy Crouch (MDAS), Nicola Thomson (DHHS) and Jessica Hateley-Browne (CEI) discuss the recent trial of the Common Elements Approach in the Mallee District Aboriginal Services, one of the five trial sites. Presenting wisdom from the frontline, experiences of collaboration, shared learning and joint problem solving from the two participating teams at MDAS reveals how co-design practice is an encouraging learning consideration for community services.

This document developed by the Ontario Centre of Excellence for Child and Youth Mental health outlines a number of principles and practices for engaging with families. These were co-developed with a youth advisory group and seek to ensure a high quality of client engagement and service.

This 'Who Am I?' workshop report talks about the importance of capturing the perspectives of children and young people who are actively involved in the constructing their record while ‘in care’, and the process of collaboration between them and professionals. The idea was to understand the principles underpinning record-keeping and archival programs; and unpack the factors which enable or create barriers to effective practice for front line workers, managers and organisations providing out of home care.

This report brings together learnings from other relevant Menus and repositories and supports the framework for the Menu of evidence-informed practices and programs.

This keynote by Tom McBride was given at an event co-hosted by CFECFW and Berry Street. It discusses the formation of the Early Intervention Foundation in the UK, and gives an overview of their purpose, evidence standards and how they approach early intervention work across a range of areas.

Child Family Community Australia (CFCA) has released this scoping review of local and international evidence examining the factors that influence placement moves for children in out-of-home care. Factors found to increase the risk of a placement move include the age at which a child first enters care and the presence of externalising behaviour. CFCA found kinship care to be a factor that reduces the risk of placement moves. The paper identifies a lack of evidence on factors influencing placement moves relating specifically to Aboriginal children.

ANROWS conducted a study on the WRAP around families project, which aimed to create a framework for addressing adolescent family violence. The study identified practice and system challenges, as well as emerging promising practices in the sector. This research is relevant to practitioners working with families affected by adolescent violence and provides valuable insights for improving interventions and support.