Treatment Fidelity as a Tool to Improve Child Welfare Permanency Outcomes

Treatment fidelity refers to methodological strategies aimed at ensuring programs are implemented as intended. As component of process evaluation, treatment fidelity is critical to the advancement of evidenced-based practice, particularly in professional fields concerned with supporting the well-being of individuals, groups, and communities. This poster presentation shows how treatment fidelity is being used to evaluate the complex, multi-site Nebraska Adoption Project. This federally funded research project is aimed at improving permanency outcomes for children in care. The project seeks to meet this objective by integrating intensive child-focused adoptive parent recruitment strategies into the adoption process. A randomized experimental research design is being utilized to assess the effectiveness of these intensive strategies as compared to ‘treatment as usual”. Process evaluation, with a focus on adherence to treatment fidelity, will aid in the evaluation of the effectiveness of these interventions. The discussion portion of this poster presents the components, barriers, and benefits of monitoring and measuring treatment fidelity that are applicable across disciplines and contexts. The poster concludes by outlining the development of the treatment fidelity system being used to evaluate the implementation of this project’s experimental child welfare intervention. This outline highlights the planning and development process, barriers, adaptations, and resulting fidelity system