CEBC Frequently Asked Questions

We appreciate your suggestion for inclusion of the program. In cooperation with the Scientific Panel, we review all suggestions for programs to be included. If a decision is made that the program meets the inclusion criteria (see FAQ #4 below) for the CEBC, we will send the developer (or a designated person who is able to answer detailed questions about the program) an invitation for the program to be included on the CEBC. If they agree to participate, we will ask them to fill out a questionnaire about their program. Please note, at this time, we are only adding new programs into existing areas that are able to be rated on the Scientific Rating Scale. This also includes only adding new screening or assessment tools that are able to be rated on the Assessments Ratings scale.

The CEBC's statewide Advisory Committee selects all topic areas. We appreciate your input on possible topic areas to explore. The Advisory Committee will review all suggestions.

The CEBC reviews existing programs in the areas selected by the Advisory Committee and examines the scientific evidence for programs and interventions that can be used by Child Welfare. The CEBC does not examine the issues that these practices address. For instance, we do not examine the effects of abuse on children, but we do look at programs that can be used to treat trauma in children. The CEBC also does not endorse any of the programs on the website, the purpose of the CEBC is to list and rate programs for informational purposes.

Please click here for an overview of the CEBC Review Process.

There are two rating scales used on the CEBC website: the Scientific Rating Scale and the Child Welfare Relevance Rating Scale.

Provisional Rating:

After the programs have been reviewed and rated, a provisional rating will be provided for 60 days. If you would like to provide feedback for any of the identified programs, you can find a feedback form on that program's detailed report or use our general contact form.

Yes, every six months we contact all of the programs currently on the site to ask for updated contact information as well as any updates on research that has been published. In addition, we periodically review programs to see if new research has been published. We also ask that our Scientific Panel, Topic Experts, and Advisory Committee alert us to any new research on the existing programs that may come to their attention. Consumers can also provide information on new research. All new peer-reviewed, published literature will be reviewed.

The CEBC website provides information on areas where research has been strong and where it has been weak. For instance, if you go to the "Youth Transitioning in Adulthood" topic area, you will see that all of these programs were reviewed and given the "NR - Not able to be Rated" classification on the scientific rating scale. This is an area that has almost no research, and yet it is a critical area for child welfare. Thus, the CEBC can be used to help determine areas in which research needs to be pursued.

If you go to a practice that is rated a "1" on the scientific rating scale and look at the relevant research section, you can learn more about the existing research that established the practice to be well-supported by research evidence. For students in both graduate and undergraduate programs, this is a good way to learn more about research in an easy-to-read format. The citations are provided to allow for more in-depth review.

Students can also use the scientific rating scale developed by the CEBC to assist them in reviewing practices in related areas such as aging or mental illness, as well as those in child welfare that are not currently on the CEBC website. This provides the student with a structure to learn how to evaluate the evidence-base of a wide range of practices.

If you work in an area such as "Youth Transitioning into Adulthood" where the research is limited, it is important to be aware that limited research exists in the area. Knowing that there is a lack of research in a given area should point out the need to expand the effort to try and secure funding that will allow your program to be evaluated. If you are working in the area of policy, then you could use this information to try to influence funding sources to create Request for Proposals (RFPs) that focus on research in areas with limited or non-existent research, such as Youth Transitioning into Adulthood.

As an administrator, you might also use the CEBC to try to implement programs that have a high level of evidence in your agency. The CEBC eliminates that need for you to do exhaustive literature reviews as we have compiled the critical research studies for your review. The website provides information about training, provider qualification, etc., that are critical to making decisions about which practices are a good fit for your agency.

While the CEBC does not extensively address implementation for each program, it does provide the information that is needed for agencies to strategize implementation and training contact information to allow replication of the programs highlighted on the CEBC.

Evidence-Based Practices (EBPs) can impact funding sources for your clients. For instance, as funding sources become more aware of EBPs it becomes more likely that the RFPs that they release will have specific EBPs attached to them. If you are working for an agency, you may find that they have secured a new grant that requires the use of a specific EBP. You will then be required to learn this EBP in order to provide services to clients under the grant.

As more information about EBPs becomes available, clients may also specifically request treatments that they have read are effective. If you are in private practice, then managed care companies may also push for EBPs as they decide how to spend their dollars and are more likely to pay for time-limited services that have been shown to have effective and sustainable results. Using the CEBC gives you an easy way to learn more about the different EBPs, and provides links to further information about manuals and training opportunities.

Please click here for the rationale behind revising the Scientific Rating Scale in January 2009. Please click here for the current Scientific Rating Scale.

To avoid confusion over rating categories, the CEBC does not rate a program on the Relevance to Child Welfare Scale unless it has adequate research evidence to be rated on the CEBC Scientific Rating Scale. This is true even if a program has been designed for, or is currently being used with, a child welfare population. All programs that are classified "NR - Not able to be Rated" on the Scientific Rating Scale are also classified "NR - Not able to be rated" on the Child Welfare Relevance Rating Scale.

In order for information to print, it must be expanded. While in the detailed summary, click on all of the hyperlinked titles that include the word "Show..." to allow the information to drop down. This may include the essential components, relevant published peer-reviewed research, and reference sections. This applies to any page where clicking on the link will have new text appear below it, like this FAQ page.

There is a feature in Internet Explorer 8 called Compatibility View. To turn this feature on, following these steps:
- Open your browser.
- Click on "Tools".
- Scroll down and click on "Compatibility View" to turn it on.
- Then click on "Compatibility View Settings" in that menu and add www.cachildwelfareclearinghouse.org to the list of websites you want viewed in Compatibility View.

Information presented on the CEBC website is considered public information and may be distributed or copied. When using information obtained from the CEBC, we ask that you please use the following acknowledgement: Material/Image/Information obtained from the California Evidence-Based Clearinghouse for Child Welfare (CEBC) at www.cebc4cw.org.