Blueprints for Europe: Promoting Evidence-Based Programmes in Children's Services

This article describes the Blueprints database of evidence-based programs (EBPs) and its potential application in children's services in European countries. It outlines relevant aspects of the European context, including a tendency to be skeptical about programs imported from the US, and the need for a pan-European source of information about EBPs across multiple outcome areas. It then describes the standards of evidence used by Blueprints, which cover intervention specificity, evaluation quality, intervention impact, and system readiness. The criteria for determining that a program is "Model" and "Promising" are outlined. The article then summarizes the process by which the standards were developed and some of the issues that were harder to resolve. It also sketches the process by which a program reaches the Blueprints database, and provides three examples of programs approved by Blueprints and implemented in Europe: a home-visiting program for mothers of infants; a parent skills training program; and a therapeutic intervention for families of chronic offenders. A brief indication is also given of how the wider pool of programs reviewed fare against the standards of evidence. Finally, the article summarizes future directions for the work, with a particular emphasis on how Blueprints might become widely used in Europe.