Bringing Evidence-Based Interventions into the Schools: An Examination of Organizational Factors and Implementation Outcomes

Although schools are one of the largest providers of behavioral health services for youth, many barriers exist to the implementation of evidence-based interventions in schools. This study used the Stages of Implementation Completion (SIC) to examine school-based implementation outcomes for a computer-assisted cognitive behavioral therapy intervention for anxious youth. Organizational factors and predictors of program startup also were examined. Results indicated that the SIC detected implementation variability in schools and suggested that spending more time completing pre-implementation activities may better prepare schools for active implementation of program delivery. Furthermore, proficiency emerged as a potentially important organizational factor to examine in future school-based implementation research.