Turning Evidence into Action: New Insights Bridge the Research-Practice Gap

Griffith, A. N., Pryce, J., DuBois, D. L., Brezina, T., Stewart, K. E., & Garringer, M. (2025). Supplementing program profiles in evidence clearinghouses with insights for practice: A qualitative investigation of application to youth mentoring programs in CrimeSolutions. Prevention Science. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11121-025-01841-8

Introduction

Evidence-based repositories (e.g., CrimeSolutions.gov) are designed to help practitioners select effective programs. However, their standard effectiveness ratings (e.g., “effective,” “promising,” “no effects”) often fail to provide translational guidance for enhancing or adapting existing programs. To address this gap, the National Mentoring Resource Center (NMRC) appended “Insights for Mentoring Practitioners” commentaries to 47 youth mentoring program profiles. Griffith and colleagues (2025) qualitatively analyzed these commentaries to identify actionable themes that can inform program development and improvement.

Methods

The authors utilized review data for 47 mentoring programs listed in the CrimeSolutions repository. The primary data source was the “Insights” commentaries developed for each program by the NMRC. These narratives were authored by a senior expert from MENTOR, drawing lessons from both effective and ineffective programs. The researchers conducted a multi-step qualitative thematic analysis to identify recurring concepts and core themes across all 47 commentaries.

Results

The analysis revealed four core themes across the practitioner “Insights”. (1) Ensuring alignment across goals, design, implementation, and evaluation: “Effective” and “promising” programs demonstrated greater intentionality in aligning these facets. (2) Connecting the intervention to mentees’ home, parents, and larger environment: Successful programs intentionally engaged a network of support (e.g., family, peers, clinicians). (3) Tailoring mentor engagement and support: This included deliberate recruitment, selection, and training tailored to specific youth needs. (4) Optimizing the role of mentoring within multi-component programs: Effective programs clearly delineated mentoring’s function relative to other components.

Discussion

The findings demonstrate that practitioner-focused commentaries provide crucial implementation context that quantitative ratings lack. The themes move beyond “what works” to explore the “how and why” of program operations, revealing that valuable lessons can be learned even from programs rated “no effects”. This synthesized qualitative data offers practitioners a practical framework for program assessment and continuous improvement that is not available from standard repository profiles.

Implications for Mentoring Programs

These themes provide a diagnostic tool for practitioners. First, programs must ensure intentional alignment between their theory of change, mentor activities, and intended outcomes. Second, mentoring should not be an isolated intervention; programs should actively connect with a mentee’s broader ecological system (family, school, community). Third, mentor support (e.g., recruitment, training, supervision) must be deliberately tailored to the specific youth population served.

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