Epstein makes a strong argument for the value of clinical data mining (CDM), although he minimizes some of the potential limitations in that methodology, such as attrition. Epstein's portrayal of evidence-based practice (EBP) as practitioner-bashing and treasuring intervention manuals overlooks the emphasis in the EBP process on the need for…

Social work is increasingly embracing evidence-based practice (EBP) as a decision-making process that incorporates the best available evidence about effective treatments given client values and preferences, in addition to social worker expertise. Yet, social work practitioners have typically encountered challenges with the application of…

Challenging the "bridge metaphor" theme of this conference, this article contends that current practice-research integration strategies are more like research-to-practice "pipelines." The purpose of this article is to demonstrate the potential of clinical data-mining studies conducted by practitioners, practitioner-oriented PhD…

For many years, schools of social work have engaged in partnerships, especially with public child welfare agencies, to prepare a competent and professional child welfare workforce through the mechanism of Title IV-E training. In 2008 the National Child Welfare Workforce Institute (NCWWI) established an additional resource for preparing students in…

Evidence-based practice (EBP) has emerged as an alternative to traditional social work practice and has ignited a new round in the decades-old debate about the relationship between knowledge and practice in the field. This article identifies several limitations inherent in the EBP perspective and argues that it would be unfortunate if EBP were to…

Evidence-based assessment in intimate partner violence (IPV) is critical to the accurate understanding of risk and to the development of interventions that increase safety. In this study standardized clients (actors) were used to train Army civilian social workers in evidence-based assessment of IPV and in the evaluation of the curriculum's…

Evidence-based research relevant to social work practice has grown dramatically. This article describes a method that was implemented to teach master's and doctoral social work students how to synthesize and evaluate evidence-based interventions for social work-related problems and populations. The method includes eight steps: conceptualize the…

The research reports by Boyd et al. and Herman et al. provide insights about intervention research with vulnerable populations that highlight often-neglected standards of evidence. This commentary describes linkages of nonspecific therapeutic factors critical to these outcome studies as illustrative of research to practice standards we must…

Despite scholarly calls for school social work (SSW) practice to orient more toward systems within and around schools, evidence indicates that individual and small-group interventions continue to dominate practice as well as the research that informs it. In response, the authors propose a more thorough consideration of educational and sociological…

The move toward evidence-based practice has fortified, and continues to strengthen, the social work profession through accountability, greater support for social interventions, and linking research and practice. This article considers potential limitations in exclusively promoting evidence-based practice in social work programs and advocates for…

This article reviews the use of several valuation methods as they relate to drug abuse and places them within the context of U.S. policy. First, cost-of-illness (COI) studies are reviewed and their limitations discussed. Second, three additional economic methods of valuing drug abuse are reviewed, including cost-effectiveness analysis (CEA),…

In recent years, evidence-based practice (EBP) has been a major focus in the social work profession. Concern has been expressed regarding licensed clinical social workers (LCSWs) using novel unsupported interventions, especially those that made claims of efficacy in the absence of empirical evidence. The present exploratory study surveyed 191…

No Child Left Behind (NCLB) legislation is an important policy intervention aimed at changing school, district, and state department of education policies and practices to improve student outcomes. These efforts are compromised because NCLB does not prioritize the conditions necessary for improving academic outcomes. One such necessary condition…

This article describes the use of problem-based learning to teach the scope and consequences of evidence-based practices in mental health through an innovative assignment that integrates classroom and field learning. The authors illustrate the planning and implementation of the Evidence-Based Practice: Integrating Classroom Curriculum and Field…

One key step in the evidence-based practice process directs practitioners to pose client-oriented, practical, evidence-search questions (COPES), seeking the truth about what will help their client (Gibbs, 2003) and inform policy (Gambrill, 2006) and not to take a "one method fits all" position. Literature focusing on providing services to minority…