The Kansas Impact Survey: Making a Difference for Families Jean Ann Summers Hasheem Mannan Kansas Division for Early Childhood February 2005

What We Believe About Early Childhood Services  Strengthening families is the way to ensure children have the best outcomes  Family-centered partnerships give professionals the best information to meet children’s needs  Families and children need a wide array of services to meet support the family and meet the child’s needs

What we Don’t Know  Whether families believe they are getting enough of the services they need  Whether families are happy with their partnerships with professionals  Whether partnerships and services make a difference in families’ quality of life

What do we mean by Partnerships? RespectCommitmentSkillsReliability-Safety Respect Respect Communication Communication Equality Equality Dependability Dependability TRUST Professional-Child Relationship Family-Professional Relationship

What do we mean by Family Quality of Life? Support for Persons with Disabilities Parenting Family Quality of Life Physical/Material Well Being Emotional Well-BeingFamily Interaction

The Kansas Impact Study: Our Program Partners 210 families from 13 programs all over Kansas  4 were Part C programs (0-3)  5 were Part B 619 programs (3-5)  4 were combined (0-5)

Our families: Ethnic Backgrounds (Percents in groups)

Our Families: Community Size (Percent in groups)

Educational Backgrounds: (Percents in Groups)

Severity of Child’s Disability: (Percents in groups)

Our Measures:  Services Inventory  Beach Center Family Professional Partnership Scale  Beach Center Family Quality of Life Scale

Services Inventory  14 Child-oriented Services  14 Family-oriented Services  Parents check whether service is needed (yes/no)  If needed, parents rate how much they are getting: None = 0 Some but not enough = 0.5 Enough = 1.0

Family-Professional Partnerships  9 items for Child-Oriented relationships  9 items for Family-Oriented relationships  Parents think of provider who works most with them and their child  Parents rate satisfaction on a scale of 1-5 –1 = Very Dissatisfied –5 = Very Satisfied

Partnerships: Sample items (Child- oriented relationships) How satisfied are you that your child’s service provider:... Has the skills to help your child succeed... Speaks up for your child’s best interests... Treats your child with dignity... Builds on your child’s strengths

Partnerships Sample items (Family-oriented relationships) How satisfied are you that your child’s service provider:... Uses words that you understand... Protects your family’s privacy... Shows respect for your family’s values and beliefs... Is a person you can depend on and trust

Family Quality of Life  25 items in 5 domains or areas: -- Family Interaction (6 items) -- Emotional well-being (4 items) -- Parenting (6 items) -- Physical/Material Well-being (5 items) -- Physical/Material Well-being (5 items) -- Disability-related support (4 items)  Families rate satisfaction AND importance on a scale of 1 to 5

Family Quality of Life: Sample Items For my family to have a good life together, how satisfied am I that... My family enjoys spending time together.... My family members have friends or others who provide support.... My family members have transportation.... Adults in my family have time to take care of needs of every child.... My family member with a disability has support to accomplish goals at school.

What do Families Think About Services for their children? Families, on average, believe they are getting the services their child needs.  Highest rating: Transportation and/or mobility: 0.90  Lowest rating: Counseling/psychological: 0.67 Behavior support: 0.67

What do Families Think about Services for Themselves? Except for Child Care (0.60) and Transportation (0.73), all ratings were below 0.5 Highest rating Information about services (0.49) Lowest rating Respite care (0.16)

What do families think about their Partnerships?  Families on average were highly satisfied: child-relationship rating = 4.46 family-relationship rating = 4.60  No differences between Part B and Part C  Slightly more satisfaction with therapists than with educators  No differences in satisfaction on any family characteristics

What do Families Think About their Quality of Life? On average, families rated themselves fairly satisfied with their lives: Family Interaction – 4.17 Parenting – 4.22 Physical Well-Being – 4.32 Emotional Well-being – 3.71 Support for Disability – 4.35

Family Quality of Life Differences  More highly educated, higher income families were more satisfied with their Material Well-Being  Families from rural areas were not more or less satisfied, but rated Material Well-Being as less important, than families from cities

Putting it Together  Ratings of service adequacy were significantly related to Family Quality of Life  Ratings of Partnership Satisfaction were significantly related to Family Quality of Life  Partnership Satisfaction helps to strengthen the effect of services on FQOL.

Partnerships ServicesFamily Quality of Life The Support Triangle: Services and Partnerships Make a Difference

What Does it Mean?  There’s room for improvement in providing family-oriented services  Services DO make a difference to families’ quality of life  The way you treat families ALSO makes a difference in their quality of life

Thank you for your Participation and your Thoughts! For more information, Please Contact: Jean Ann Summers, Or go to our website: