Using Web-Based Technologies to Increase Evaluation Capacity in Organizations Providing Child and Youth Mental Health Services

Given today's climate of economic uncertainty and fiscal restraint, organizations providing child and youth mental health services are required to do so with limited resources. Within this context, service providers face added pressure to deliver evidence-based programs and demonstrate program effectiveness. The Ontario Centre of Excellence for Child and Youth Mental Health works with organizations to meet these demands by building capacity in program evaluation. While personal instruction and mentoring are important ways of providing support, face-to-face consultations are not always cost-effective. In this article we describe the use of interactive technology and computer-based learning as an alternative and/or complementary (to face-to-face) means of delivering evaluation information and training. We discuss the process of developing these tools and share findings from our preliminary evaluation of their effectiveness in enhancing the evaluation-related supports we offer to providers of child and youth mental health services. (Contains 5 notes.)