title: Evidence Use in Mental Health Policy Making for Children in Foster Care.
abstract: Considerable attention is being given to the use of research evidence to inform public policy making. Building upon Weiss's model of research utilization, we examined the types and uses of evidence that child welfare administrators used in response to federal policy reforms requiring psychotropic medications oversight for children in foster care. Participants relied on a range of "global" and "local" evidence types throughout the policy development phase. Global research evidence was used to raise awareness about problems associated with psychotropic medication use. Local evidence helped to contextualize concerns and had problem-solving and political uses. In most states, policy actions were informed by a combination of evidence types.
authors.affiliation: Institute for Community Health, 163 Gore Street, Cambridge, MA, 02141, USA. jhyde@challiance.org.
authors.forename: Justeen K
authors.initials: JK
authors.lastname: Hyde
authors.affiliation: Tufts University School of Medicine, Boston, MA, USA.
authors.forename: Thomas I
authors.initials: TI
authors.lastname: Mackie
authors.affiliation: School of Social Work, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Lawrence A
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: Palinkas
authors.affiliation: Tufts University School of Medicine, Boston, MA, USA.
authors.forename: Emily
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Niemi
authors.affiliation: Tufts University School of Medicine, Boston, MA, USA.
authors.forename: Laurel K
authors.initials: LK
authors.lastname: Leslie
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D000068216:Child Protective Services; D002675:Child, Preschool; D055317:Evidence-Based Practice; D005581:Foster Home Care; D006291:Health Policy; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008605:Mental Health Services; D011050:Policy Making; D011619:Psychotropic Drugs / Q000627:therapeutic use; D014481:United States
chemical_list: D011619:Psychotropic Drugs
keywords: Evidence; Foster care; Mental health; Policy; Psychotropic medications