Allison Metz ¹ Todd M Jensen ^1* Lacy Dicharry ² Amanda Farley ¹

• ¹ University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States
• ² Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, United States

Professionals who provide implementation support in human service systems describe relationships as being critical to support evidence use; however, developing trusting relationships and addressing power differentials are not strongly featured in implementation science literature. The aims of this study were to (a) assess the feasibility and acceptability of a theory-driven training and coaching approach for building trusting relationships among members of an implementation team who were supporting the implementation of an evidence-informed program in a public child welfare system in the United States and (b) gauge the initial efficacy of the approach in terms of the development of trusting relationships and subsequent implementation outcomes. Sixteen individuals participated in the program, consisting of a kick-off training event, five monthly training modules, and five monthly coaching sessions with implementation team leads. Session attendance rates and self-reported satisfaction highlight the general feasibility and acceptability of the training and coaching approach. On average, participants also reported significant increases over time in their perceptions that they were trusted by their team. Results from in-depth interviews further indicated the efficacy of the program in terms of cultivating trust among team members and promoting several elements that were theorized to link trusting relationships to implementation outcomes.