Sharpening the Vision: Advancing Equity in Implementation through a Bifocal Lens

In interventions that seek equity, there is a contrived tension between fidelity and adaptation that threatens to stall progress. Evaluation frameworks often uphold fidelity as a gold standard, even when doing so silences cultural wisdom, erases necessary adaptations, or reinscribes systemic harm. This paper introduces a bifocal lens, a framework for implementation and evaluation that centers both structural analysis and community knowledge. The bifocal lens challenges traditional logic. It builds from anti-racist implementation models, equity-based strategies, and frameworks of community-defined evidence to offer a practical, principled tool for evaluating with both eyes open: one on systems-level change and one on lived expertise. This session highlights how the model can be used in child welfare, where traditional evidence-based practices have failed communities of color. Participants will explore how to apply the bifocal lens to make space for cultural responsiveness, document adaptations, and engage communities meaningfully.