Raising Standards & Improving Outcomes for Independent Living Services 6/14/00

Raising Standards and Improving Outcomes for Independent Living Services What do I mean by standards? What do I mean by outcomes?

Independent Living Standards of Practice §New IDL legislation sponsored by sen. Moynihan spurred a great deal of discussion and deliberation §CWLA convened a national IDL standards committee which met in 1987 §Standards were developed in 1987, and adopted by CWLA membership in 1988

Independent Living Standards of Practice Introduction §Preparation for self-sufficiency §The context for IDL services §In the spirit of permanence §The role of the family §The role of communities and agencies

Independent Living Standards of Practice Framework §Basic assumptions §Basic definition of IDL §Identification of target group §Goals for IDL services

Independent Living Standards of Practice Basic assumptions: that agencies do what a good parent would do for their adolescent child; a clearly stated written plan; a continuum of support services are needed; this is a process that takes place over time

Independent Living Standards of Practice §Basic definition of IDL: consists of a series of developmental activities that provide opportunities for young people to gain the skills required to live healthy, productive, and responsible lives as self-sufficient adults

Independent Living Standards of Practice Target group: youth who are separated from their homes and are in need of the development of skills required to live healthy, productive, and responsible lives as self-sufficient adults: including youth who are: homeless; in out-of-home care; developmentally disabled; without family resources; and those living in temporary residence

Independent Living Standards of Practice Goals for IDL services: the primary goal is to provide young people with developmental skills necessary for them to live healthy, productive, self-sufficient, and responsible adult lives

Coordinated Service Delivery System to Support Independent Living Standards §Social work services §Educational services §Employment services §Health services

Assessment & Development of a IDL Plan §Assessment of strengths and needs §A written IDL plan §Case review

Building Skills for Independent Living §Self assessment of strengths and needs §Identifying and defining own problems §Establishing goals and planning for the future

Building Skills for Independent Living §Obtaining factual information about family’s medical, personal, medical, and social history §Understanding and coping with past losses, rejection, and anger §Understanding and coping with authority figures

Building Skills for Independent Living §Developing basic survival skills §Developing money management skills §Responsibility for sexual behavior §Understanding chemical dependency §Developing skills in personal decision- making

Building Skills for Independent Living §Locating, obtaining, and maintaining a residence §Locating and using community resources to meet individual needs §Forming meaningful and growth-producing adult relationships with families, peers, and other persons

Continuum of Residential Services for Independent Living §Biological family/fictive kin §Least restrictive out-of-home placement §Kinship foster care §Emergency shelter care

Continuum of Residential Services for Independent Living §Family foster care §Agency operated boarding homes §Group homes § Supervised independent living programs

Continuum of Residential Services for Independent Living §Group residence §Congregate care campus §Residential treatment centers - RTC §Residential treatment facilities - RTF §Juvenile detention/lock up/jail

What’s Missing? §Development of relationships §Interpersonal skills §Reality of costs §Reality of mental illness for some youth §Core concepts of youth development §What else?

Outcomes Designs Methods §Exploratory quantitative §Descriptive qualitative §Experimental mixed

Outcomes Elements of Research The research question Data design Expense/costs/time/personnel Data collection strategy Data analysis Presentation of data Findings

Outcomes The 4 R’s 1. Replicability 2. Rigor 2. Representativeness 3. Relative costs

Outcomes Sample 1. Size 2. Representativeness 3. Operational definitions

Outcomes Sampling Procedures §Random §Snowball §Purposeful §Convenience

Outcomes Instrumentation § Questionnaires § Interview schedules § Observation § Standardized tests (reliability/validity)

Outcomes Time Frames §What can you count? §Can it be counted at multiple points in time? §At baseline, beginning of service §After intervention at six month intervals §At follow-up

Outcomes Data Analysis §What did you find? §What does it mean? §How is it useful to young people and programs?

Outcomes Data Analysis §How do we know that we are doing works? §How do we evaluate and monitor outcomes? §What the hell is C.Q.I.? § What have you done and could it have been done better?

Outcomes Data Analysis §Client/customer satisfaction §How can you show that you have moved youth toward self-sufficiency? §How do you monitor the interpersonal/soft skills?

Recommendations §Start simple; what can you do in your own program? §How can you solicit client input? §How can you focus on continuous quality improvement of IDL services? §Ask yourself: are the youth in your programs truly prepared for self- sufficiency?

Recommendations Ask yourself: What have we missed in working with our youth? If this child was my child, what would I wish for him or her to have?

Conclusions §Standards are good, only if they are known and only if they can be achieved §Evaluation of programs and measuring outcomes is a necessary and essential part of IDL program planning and design §There are ways to do both and still provide a great program which helps to develop youth to their fullest potential