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HomeEvidence-Based Practices (EBPs)
In the field of mental health, the term evidence-based practices (EBPs) refers to interventions that have been rigorously tested, have yielded consistent, replicable results, and have proven safe, beneficial, and effective for most people diagnosed with mental illness. Five EBPs identified by CMHS as being potentially adaptable to criminal justice settings were each the subject of a one-day expert panel meeting. Prior to each meeting, one or more experts in the field produced a discussion paper that summarized the research supporting each intervention as an evidence-based practice, and described its potential applications for justice-involved mental health consumers. These papers were then discussed during the expert panel meetings, with input from the group leading to revisions of the papers. The GAINS Center has turned the results of these meetings into factsheets that address the following:
- Assertive Community Treatment (ACT) (PDF 170kb)
- Supported Employment (PDF 169kb)
- Illness Self-Management and Recovery (PDF 180kb)
- Integrated Treatment for Co-Occurring Mental Health and Substance Use Disorders (PDF 145kb)
- Housing (PDF 253kb)
- Trauma Specific Interventions (PDF 304kb)
Factsheets that address:
were produced by the GAINS Center following a 2008 expert panel meeting on emerging evidence-based practices. Identifying “what works” and applying the evidence-based knowledge to program development is critically important to the field to assure the use of best practices in mental health service provision. Too few people with serious mental illness who are justice involved receive comprehensive and appropriate services. The EBP initiative is intended to help close this treatment gap by promoting the use of EBPs with those that are justice-involved.
SAMHSA's GAINS Center for Behavioral Health and Justice Transformation and the Council of State Governments Justice Center have prepared this easy-to-use checklist to help behavioral health agencies assess their utilization of EBPs associated with positive public safety and public health outcomes: