Family support in the home: Home visiting and Public Law 99-457: A parent's perspective.

Objective Home visiting is a form of family support which can help families with different problems in different ways. Previous evaluations have utilised either experimental or qualitative designs. However, the needs-based nature of support presents a challenge for evaluation using experimental designs. Main Aim This paper illustrates the unique contribution that administrative data can make to understanding these problems and how it can be used to explore what support works for families in different situations. Methods The analysis of administrative data from one UK home visiting organisation, Home-Start, is presented. Exploratory analysis considers measures describing how well parents are coping with a range of issues and how this changes over the course of support. This highlights problems with evaluation because of the variety of issues Home-Start is supporting parents to cope with and the fact that the duration of support is needs-based. Methodological solutions are proposed for these problems using the administrative data. These include using subgroups to study families with different problems and considering the rate at which improvements occur as an outcome variable. Linear regression models are presented to demonstrate how these methods can identify aspects of support related to improvements in parental self-esteem. Results The methods used are able to demonstrate that the frequency of support and who the support is provided by are related to faster improvements in parental self-esteem. The analysis of sub-groups in the data shows that the frequency of support is important for all parents, but there are differences between parents in different situations, depending on whether volunteers or paid staff provide support. Conclusion The analysis of administrative data is able to make a unique contribution to the evaluation of needs-based home visiting support.

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Home Visiting and Family Values: The Powers of Conversation, Touching, and Soap. Commentary on Martha Minow's "Learning from Experience: The Impact of Research about Family Support Programs on Public Policy"

University of Pennsylvania Law Review ◽

10.2307/3312522 ◽

1994 ◽

Vol 143 (1) ◽

pp. 253

Author(s):

Barbara Bennett Woodhouse

Keyword(s):

Public Policy ◽

Family Support ◽

Home Visiting ◽

Family Values ◽

Support Programs ◽

Learning From Experience ◽

The Impact

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Family Support in Early Hearing Detection and Intervention (EHDI) Systems

Perspectives on Hearing and Hearing Disorders in Childhood ◽

10.1044/hhdc22.1.11 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 22 (1) ◽

pp. 11-21

Author(s):

Patti Martin ◽

Nannette Nicholson ◽

Charia Hall

Keyword(s):

Family Support ◽

Hard Of Hearing ◽

Critical Role ◽

Annual Conference ◽

Federal Law ◽

Think Tank ◽

Learning Collaborative ◽

Technological Advances ◽

Improved Outcomes ◽

Program Components

Family support has evolved from a buzzword of the 1990s to a concept founded in theory, mandated by federal law, valued across disciplines, and espoused by both parents and professionals. This emphasis on family-centered practices for families of young children with disabilities, coupled with federal policy initiatives and technological advances, served as the impetus for the development of Early Hearing Detection and Intervention (EHDI) programs (Nicholson & Martin, in press). White, Forsman, Eichwald, and Muñoz (2010) provide an excellent review of the evolution of EHDI systems, which include family support as one of their 9 components. The National Center for Hearing Assessment and Management (NCHAM), the Maternal and Child Health Bureau, and the Center for Disease Control Centers cosponsored the first National EHDI Conference. This conference brought stakeholders including parents, practitioners, and researchers from diverse backgrounds together to form a learning collaborative (Forsman, 2002). Attendees represented a variety of state, national, and/or federal agencies and organizations. This forum focused effort on the development of EHDI programs infused with translating research into practices and policy. When NCHAM, recognizing the critical role of family support in the improvement of outcomes for both children and families, created a think tank to investigate the concept of a conference centered on support for families of children who are deaf or hard of hearing in 2005, the “Investing in Family Support” (IFSC) conference was born. This conference was specifically designed to facilitate and enhance EHDI efforts within the family support arena. From this venue, a model of family support was conceptualized and has served as the cornerstone of the IFSC annual conference since 2006. Designed to be a functional framework, the IFSC model delineates where and how families find support. In this article, we will promote and encourage continued efforts towards defining operational measures and program components to ultimately quantify success as it relates to improved outcomes for these children and their families. The authors view this opportunity to revisit the theoretical underpinnings of family support, the emerging research in this area, and the basics of the IFSC Model of Family Support as a call to action. We challenge professionals who work with children identified as deaf or hard of hearing to move family support from conceptualization to practices that are grounded in evidence and ever mindful of the unique and dynamic nature of individual families.

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Regulatory Bargaining and Public Law

10.1017/cbo9780511511080 ◽

2005 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Jim Rossi

Keyword(s):

Public Law

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Substance Abuse and Drug-Related Death, Suicidal Ideation, and Suicide: A Review

Crisis ◽

10.1027//0227-5910.20.1.28 ◽

1999 ◽

Vol 20 (1) ◽

pp. 28-35 ◽

Cited By ~ 29

Author(s):

Annie Mino ◽

Arnaud Bousquet ◽

Barbara Broers

Keyword(s):

Public Health ◽

Risk Factors ◽

Substance Abuse ◽

Suicidal Ideation ◽

Family Support ◽

Drug Users ◽

Suicide Attempts ◽

Public Health Problem ◽

Major Public Health Problem ◽

Hiv Epidemic

The high mortality rate among drug users, which is partly due to the HIV epidemic and partly due to drug-related accidental deaths and suicides, presents a major public health problem. Knowing more about prevalence, incidence, and risk factors is important for the development of rational preventive and therapeutic programs. This article attempts to give an overview of studies of the relations between substance abuse, suicidal ideation, suicide, and drug-related death. Research in this field is hampered by the absence of clear definitions, and results of studies are rarely comparable. There is, however, consensus about suicidal ideation being a risk factor for suicide attempts and suicide. Suicidal ideation is also a predictor of suicide, especially among drug users. It is correlated with an absence of family support, with the severity of the psychosocial dysfunctioning, and with multi-drug abuse, but also with requests for treatment. Every clinical examination of a drug user, not only of those who are depressed, should address the possible presence of suicidal ideation, as well as its intensity and duration.

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