Organizational and Systems Factors Impacting the Adaptation of a Child Welfare Practice Model from the UK to Finland

The study focuses on a government-initiated project designed to implement the Systemic Practice Model (SPM) in Finland. The SPM is an adaptation of the UK Reclaiming Social Work (RSW) model, which aims to deliver systemic practice in children's services. Interviews with key change agents were used to examine how and why the RSW model was adapted to Finland and the potential factors influencing its implementation at system and organizational levels. The findings indicate that challenges associated with central government's adaptation and dissemination of the model percolated down to implementing agencies. The results emphasize careful preparation and academic-practice-collaboration in future initiatives. Careful preparation, including identifying potential barriers to change, and high-quality implementation support are crucial for achieving the desired change in practice.Considering the need for adaptation before implementing new innovations is important; more specifically, it is necessary to identify which components can be altered and which should never be modified.Active collaboration between intervention developers, practice stakeholders, and researchers can improve the quality of implementation processes.Change efforts should begin with small-scale testing and proceed to wider implementation only if supported by evaluation results.Identifying outer context factors, such as large service reforms, that might impede change in local settings is important.