Welcome to the Evidence Based Practice and Policy (EBPP) Online Resource Training Center. Sponsored by the Willma and Albert Musher Program at the Columbia University School of Social Work (CUSSW), the EBPP Online Center’s broad goal is to promote evidence based practice and policy in social work. The EBPP Online Center provides training materials, publications, and other resources to aid practitioners from a variety of helping professions in the process of formulating sound professional judgments that necessarily precede, shape, and direct thoughtfully selected assessments and interventions. 

 

EBPP is a priority focus for the Willma & Albert Musher Program. The Musher Program is directed by the Willma & Albert Musher Chair Professor, Edward J Mullen, whose recent work has examined aspects of EBPP including issues pertaining to implementation and training. In particular, the EBPP Online Center is an outgrowth and extension of the BEST Project, a recent initiative of the Musher Program led by Dr. Mullen and a team of former and current doctoral students, Dr. Jennifer Bellamy, Ms. Sarah Bledsoe, Dr. Lin Fang, and Ms. Jennifer Manuel. The BEST Project is a four-phase study aimed at facilitating the use of evidence based practice in social work. The training materials and resources that were developed for the BEST Project have been made available through this website. The development of the training materials and resources are attributed to the work of Dr. Bellamy, Ms. Bledsoe, and Dr. Fang, who were key players from the beginning in the design, implementation, and analysis of the BEST Project. Ms. Jennifer Manuel, a recent addition to the team, assisted with the analysis of qualitative findings and developed the EBPP Online Center website. More information about the BEST Project, including the training curriculum and preliminary study findings, can be found on this website. Please note that the BEST training materials are currently undergoing revisions based on feedback from participating agencies.  Please check back regularly for updates and additions.

 

EBP is a multidisciplinary framework that involves conscientious and judicious decision making based on existing evidence, practice expertise, and client situations, preferences and values. The framework can be used at all levels of social work practice including policy, management, community practice and direct services. The BEST Project examines the application of EBP in direct services within social agencies.

 

We hope you find this website useful and beneficial to your practice. We welcome any suggestions, comments, and/or questions through the website’s feedback page. 

 

For more information, please contact:

 

Edward J. Mullen, DSW

Willma & Albert Musher Chair Professor for Life Betterment through Science & Technology

Columbia University School of Social Work

1255 Amsterdam Avenue

New York, New York, 10027

Telephone: 212-851-2413

E-mail: ejm3@columbia.edu