Improvements in implementation research are making it more possible to connect science to services. Here we collect sample articles on the subject, focusing on the work of US National Implementation Research Network, one of the new storehouses of current expertise and knowledge. Bridges, computer operating systems, irrigation systems – these analogies and more find a place in the new language.

For over a decade “evidence based practice” has been part of the jargon of children’s services. At the outset, the phrase acknowledged what had been a grievous lack of determination to prove that the medicine of social care was working. These days, by contrast, everyone concerned professes an interest but there is startlingly little agreement on standards of evidence. This selection of stories attempts to bring order to buzzword chaos.

What happened when the Social Research Unit, publishers of Prevention Action, took a group of UK policymakers from local and national government and charities to investigate prevention and early intervention initiatives in Washington State.

A week of reports from Japan, where Prevention Action Executive Editor Michael Little met child development and prevention experts to find out about conditions and potential connections in a country performing well against UNICEF measures and where prevention scientists and activists are playing an increasingly important role.

How important is the role of parents?

How much of an influence are parents on the lives of their children? And how far is it possible to harmonize this with prevention efforts?

US National Academies get their man

The cause of prevention science was given a boost in March 2009 by the publication of the US National Academies report Preventing Mental, Emotional and Behavioral Disorders Among Young People, and accompanying indications that it was likely to shape the policies of the incoming Obama administration. Its central recommendations about the value, social and economic, of long-term thinking were also echoed in UK policy discussions.

The randomized controlled trial is the 'gold standard' research design for assessing the impact of prevention programs. Drawing on articles from a special edition of the UK-based Journal of Children's Services, a series of stories explores the ins and outs of experimental evaluation.

Functional Family Therapy

Since its successful first trial back in the early 1970s, FFT has been acquiring an impressive reputation for consistently improving the prospects of young people with behavior problems.

Efforts to improve the healthy development of children are often considered the realm of developed countries. However, there is an increasing amount that rich nations can learn from the Global South, and vice versa.

Birmingham, the UK's second city, welcomes two experts from Washington State as part of their conference for Brighter Futures, a city-wide strategy to overhaul children's services using evidence-based prevention programs. David Hawkins from the University of Washington and Steve Aos from the Washington State Institute for Public Policy give their counsel on why early intervention makes sense.

The Incredible Years, developed by Caroline Webster Stratton at the University of Washington, is one of the most heavily evidence backed interventions on the market. The implementation of the program in Ireland provides a starting point for a week of stories.

Blueprints for Violence Prevention is a database of prevention programs that meet the most stringent standards of effectiveness. Reporting from the initiative's biennial conference in Colorado, we look at a selection of the proven programs and talk to the project director, Delbert Elliott.

Services designed to help experienced mothers support new ones is an attractive idea that owes plenty to social and community work theories about empowerment and social resources. They have also shown promising results in evaluations. What can be learnt from this collaborative approach?

Based at the University of York, the Institute for Effective Education develops, evaluates, and disseminates effective education programmes, and promotes evidence-based policies. Back in 2007 Prevention Action spent a week looking at their achievements.

Triple P

Teaching parents simple positive parenting strategies can help improve children's behavior and have knock on effects on their general well-being. The Triple P parenting program is backed up by a stock of evidence from various contexts around the world.

A selection of reports from the Australian Conference on Child Abuse and Neglect includes a discussion of the damaging effects of overdeveloped materialism, childhood anxiety and parenting program Triple P.

A series of reports looking at the ground-breaking work of the Prevention Research Center for the Promotion of Human Development at Penn State University, concluding with coverage of a lecture there given by Tom Dishion, founder of the Child and Family Center at the University of Oregon.