Sustaining program implementation: A co-constructed technical assistance process to support continuous high-quality implementation of the Therapeutic Crisis Intervention program.

Strategies for sustaining a program beyond initial implementation remain one of the most poorly understood aspects of high-quality program implementation. This paper describes the Quality Improvement and Fidelity Assessment Process (QIFAP), a program purveyor-agency partnership that uses a unique, multi-step method for supporting sustained implementation of the Therapeutic Crisis Intervention (TCI) system to manage crises in child serving organizations. It outlines the steps of the process and highlights how specific activities are linked to current knowledge and principles from implementation science. The QIFAP occurs over a period of about three months, during which time program developers and agency representatives conduct staff surveys, a two-day site visit, and fidelity assessments in order to gather information, discuss findings, and plan steps for improving the TCI system in the organization. The process is guided by principles that emphasize the importance of organization leadership, building relationships, co-learning, using an individualized approach, data informed decision making, acknowledging risk, and congruence. We describe ways in which the strategies and approaches within the QIFAP are rooted in implementation science literature. Thus, the model represents an illustration of how research-based knowledge can work in practice to support long-term, high-quality program implementation.

With a little help from my friends?: Self-regulation in groups of young children.

This study examined self-regulation in preschool children (mean age=51 months; 47% boys) using three situational assessments tapping delay of gratification and motor control. Assessments represented a novel adaptation for use with both individual (N=116) and groups (N=44) of four familiar peers in ecologically valid settings. Results suggest that preschoolers demonstrate an increasing ability to self-regulate with age, as well as some evidence for girls performing better than boys on the Gift Wrap situational assessment. Children were less able to demonstrate self-regulation in the peer group context as compared to individual assessments. Differences between age groups and gender were not significant when children were assessed with their peers. The influence of peers on self-regulation behavior is a complex relationship with no clear patterns identified in this research. Implications for future research and assessment efforts are discussed.