Raising Standards & Improving Outcomes for Independent Living Services

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

Raising Standards & Improving Outcomes for Independent Living Services