The essence of contingency theory is that best practices depend on the contingencies of the
situation. Contingency theory is often called the “it all depends” theory, because when you ask a
contingency theorist for an answer, the typical response is that it all depends. While this may sound
simplistic, assessing the contingencies on which decisions depend can be a very complex. Contingency
theorists try to identify and measure the conditions under which things will likely occur. Since human
service practice varies substantially, contingency theory offers a useful approach to model and predict
CAP practice.