FPG People
Karen Blase, Ph.D.
Senior Scientist, Co-Director, NIRN
karen.blase@unc.edu
PH: 919.966.9050
FAX: 919.966.7463
Mailing Address:
Campus Box 8040
The University of North Carolina
Chapel Hill, NC 27599-8040
Web Site(s):
nirn.fpg.unc.edu/
Karen A. Blase, Ph.D. is currently a senior scientist at the FPG Child Development Institute. She has been a program developer, researcher, trainer, program evaluator and published author in the human service field for over 30 years. She received her doctorate in Developmental and Child Psychology from the University of Kansas with a focus on applied behavior analysis and school-based interventions and community-based services for children and youth involved with juvenile justice and child welfare. Her professional career involved establishing a network of community-based group homes for youth involved with the juvenile justice system in rural North Carolina. Her work at Father Flanagan’s Boys Home (now Girls and Boys Town) included working extensively with agencies and governments in 13 states and 2 provinces to establish community-based human service programs with a strong evidence base. While at the University of South Florida’s, Florida Mental Health Institute, she was involved in evaluation and research related to children’s mental health, systems of care and, with Dean Fixsen, established the National Implementation Research Network.
A major interest has been the development, implementation, adaptation and quality improvement of exemplary service models, evidence-based programs and practices, and strategies for effective scale-up and systems change. As part of a research team, Dr. Blase was involved in completing a major review and synthesis of the implementation literature in 2005 with the publication of Implementation Research: A Synthesis of the Literature. This extensive review of implementation strategies and proposed frameworks is providing guidance for the adoption and utilization of evidence-based programs and practices for federal, state, and local governments, service providers, program developers and researchers.
At FPG, Blase is currently involved in research, evaluation, technical assistance and policy initiatives related to the emerging practice and science of implementation, organizational change and systems transformation. Her current initiatives include serving as PI and Co-Director of an OSEP Technical Assistance Center for State Implementation and Scaling of Evidence-Based Practices (SISEP) as well as Co-Directing the National Implementation Research Network. She is also a team member of the OSEP TA Center on Social Emotional Intervention for Young Children (TACSEI). Other projects include providing TA support to evidence-based programs and practices and assisting in scaling-up designs and evaluations.
