ABSTRACT
Reduction of costs to fidelity in scaling, put within the context of practices, policies and priorities over time, can make ongoing commitment to the intervention within these organizations more likely. Caron et al. recognize the time required to conduct fidelity assessments as a considerable scaling cost. Clarity in communication of an intervention's core components-noted by Caron et al. as essential to scaling with fidelity-can help policy makers draw these connections. The authors' example from New York City, of a program scaling with fidelity, highlights how concerted front-end efforts to build awareness among agency staff about the program can develop a base of knowledge needed to secure support. An increased priority of better ways to measure and communicate spillover effects generally would also help researchers and policy makers avoid scaling interventions with negative spillover effects. Impact and cost models that show the savings of taking advantage of spillover would also help policy makers understand these benefits.
