There is a growing movement to identify and promote community-defined evidence (CDE) practices and strategies. CDE practices are bottom-up/ground-up practices that come from the community and the organizations that serve them. CDE practices can range from mental health treatments to community outreach to other services and supports.

This compendium is designed to help organizations, providers, and communities establish evidence of effectiveness for CDE practices. It includes: an introduction to CDE; examples from the Pacific Southwest region; evaluation approaches; best practices for ethical evaluation; and an annotated resource list.