Whether as clinicians, administrators, or evaluators, psychologists are increasingly involved in efforts to implement evidence-based treatments (EBTs) within clinical practice settings. The state of Texas has undertaken what may be the largest EBT implementation effort to-date. A survey was conducted to understand the experiences of 197 children's service providers working within this effort. Providers' own attitudes toward the EBTs and their perceptions of their colleagues' support for the EBTs were somewhat negative, although they gave positive ratings of the quality of their EBT training and of their agencies' support for the EBTs. Significant, independent predictors of providers' attitudes toward the EBTs included provider views of their colleagues' and their agencies' support for the EBTs, their opinions of the quality of their training in the EBTs, and their perceptions of institutional barriers to EBT use (all ps Ͻ .05). These data suggest that successful implementation may require efforts to obtain buy-in at all organization levels and to provide adequate resources for training in and use of EBTs.

Workshops are a common strategy for fostering the adoption of evidence-based practices (EBP), but workshops alone may not change provider behavior. This study investigates the impact of a two-day training combined with an existing mandate for EBP use. Providers attending regional workshops showed improved attitudes toward the behavioral parent training model, but not EBPs in general. Participants were more accepting of behavioral techniques shortly after training, but the effect was not maintained. Examination of youth served prior to and after the training showed that providers increased their use of the EBP but overall outcomes were not improved.

Clinician generated diagnoses are subject to heuristic biases, and structured diagnostic interviews are useful but costly diagnostic aids. Because dimensional rating scales may hold potential to improve diagnostic practices in community mental health settings, we examined how community clinicians incorporate the results of the Trauma Symptom Checklist for Children (TSCC; Briere 1996) into their diagnostic practices. Results suggest clinicians may attend to the TSCC anxiety and depression scores, but most scales agreed poorly with diagnoses assigned. While dimensional rating scales do hold potential as diagnostic aids, additional work on how to increase their utility to clinicians is needed.

Rating scales are useful for evidence-based assessment of youth psychopathology. However, it is not known whether these scales contribute information beyond that which clinicians gather without them. This study examined agreement between chart diagnoses and the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) for 82 community mental health clinic clients. Agreement was low, suggesting that the CBCL was not redundant with clinicians' clinical impressions. These findings suggest that use of an instrument like the CBCL could potentially improve clinician diagnostic accuracy; future research should examine how best to utilize these scales in the diagnostic process and how to train clinicians in their use.

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