The Implementation of Families First NSW: Process lessons from the first four years

Families First is a NSW Government strategy that aims to improve the effectiveness of early intervention services supporting families and communities to care for children. Its implementation is the joint responsibility of the five NSW Human Services agencies: the NSW departments of Community Services (DoCS); Ageing Disability and Home Care (DADHC); Education and Training (DET); Housing; and NSW Health through Area Health Services. Area Reviews are one element of the Families First evaluation process. The reviews focus on the experiences of individual areas during the implementation of the strategy. They were not designed to evaluate individual services but to garner generalisable lessons for future implementation. This article sets out four categories of implementation lessons from the Area Reviews, relating to managing systems change, a systems approach to early intervention and prevention, family services system capacity, and Indigenous participation. These lessons reflect the challenges faced and achievements made in each of the three Families First Areas to improve the coordination of the service network and increase the provision of services for early intervention and prevention.

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Parent Satisfaction with Professionals Having a Family Systems Orientation to Early Intervention

Rural Special Education Quarterly ◽

10.1177/875687059401300203 ◽

1994 ◽

Vol 13 (2) ◽

pp. 12-18 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Jane P. Callahan ◽

Jennifer Olson

Keyword(s):

Early Intervention ◽

Family Systems ◽

Systems Approach ◽

Rural Families ◽

Parent Satisfaction ◽

Family Service ◽

Early Intervention Services ◽

Systems Model ◽

Young Children With Disabilities ◽

Degree Of Orientation

This article describes a pilot study conducted to examine parent satisfaction with professionals who provided early intervention services to rural families. Professionals working with infants and young children with disabilities were surveyed to determine their orientation towards a family systems approach to working with families. Interventionists provided information about the degree to which they perceived themselves involving parents in the Individualized Family Service Plan (IFSP) process. Parents were also questioned about their satisfaction with the services which both they and their child received. Results showed that parents appeared to be equally satisfied with interventionists regardless of the degree of orientation towards a family systems model of intervention. Implications for service delivery and further research are discussed.

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Early intervention services in Turkey: Perspectives of south-eastern families

International Social Work ◽

10.1177/0020872811404262 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 54 (6) ◽

pp. 781-799 ◽

Cited By ~ 7

Author(s):

Pinar Bayhan ◽

R. Firat Sipal

Keyword(s):

Early Intervention ◽

Service Delivery ◽

Children With Disabilities ◽

Early Intervention Services ◽

South Eastern ◽

Team Task ◽

Provision Of Services ◽

Intervention Services

Research addressing the delivery of early intervention programmes offers guidelines that, when followed, presumably maximize the programmes’ intended benefits. In this study, the authors used a quasi-mixed, monostrand method to investigate how families of children with disabilities in south-east Turkey perceived the service delivery they were receiving. Organizing their perceptions under a framework related to the Turkish-law-mandated guidelines, the authors found that the provision of services in the region varied greatly from one professional team task to the next. Implications for the improvement of service delivery are discussed.

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M238. CREATION OF A PEER SUPPORT PROGRAM TO SUPPORT TRANSITIONS IN CARE FROM EARLY INTERVENTION SERVICES FOR PSYCHOSIS

Schizophrenia Bulletin ◽

10.1093/schbul/sbaa030.550 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 46 (Supplement_1) ◽

pp. S226-S226

Author(s):

Candice Crocker ◽

Andy Cox ◽

Sabina Abidi ◽

Zenovia Ursuliak ◽

Noah Epstein ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Early Intervention ◽

Focus Groups ◽

Peer Support ◽

Transition Process ◽

Community Services ◽

Support Program ◽

Major Theme ◽

Early Intervention Services ◽

Intervention Services ◽

Peer Support Program

Abstract Background Specialized early intervention services (EIS) for psychosis have been shown to have superior outcomes compared to routine care. However, these gains are often lost when care is transferred to community mental health care teams. Research has shown that young adults experience anxiety, worry and stigma around the transition process from EIS, which can impact ongoing engagement with treatment. Transition to a new care team has been shown to be a time for disengagement. Despite this area’s acknowledged importance, there is a paucity of literature on how to maintain engagement during the transition process from an EIS to community services. We conducted a qualitative study with EIS for psychosis patients in various phases of transition which informed the development of a peer support program focused on the transition time period. Methods Focus groups were conducted to identify strengths and weaknesses of the transition process from a Canadian EIS program. Thematic analysis was conducted on the transcripts from the focus groups. Following themes from the focus groups, a research study was developed to create and evaluate a peer support worker (PSW) program for individuals in transition from the EIS. Peer support workers were recruited from individuals who had successfully transitioned from the same five year EIS for psychosis program. Individuals underwent training as peer support workers that was tailored to the needs of individuals with a psychotic disorder. Peer support workers met with clients in both clinical and community settings with support and feedback provided by clinicians in the EIS. Results Strengths identified included preparation time, helping individuals feel stable prior to transition and inclusion in decision making. Weaknesses included communication, more individualized preparation for transition and a desire for more opportunities to build independence and responsibility. A major theme was lack of peer support during the process, with a voiced desire to maintain connection to EIS by being a peer mentor in those who had already transitioned out. We recruited 7 individuals interested in becoming PSW and with a PSACC Certified Peer Support Mentor, designed a curriculum for training based on his peer support training experience with feedback from clinicians to customize it to the experience of living with psychosis and transition. The features of this curriculum will be discussed. 5 of 7 individuals completed training. 4 expressed an interest in being hired. 1 was not able to complete the hiring process but did an exit interview and impediments to hiring included costs associated with hiring practices that needed to be paid up front then reimbursed, limited internet access to a secure connection that allowed HR software to function and transportation issues. 3 individuals were hired as PSW (2 F,1M) and supported participants transitioning from our clinic who were interested. PSW would meet in the clinic with individuals prior to transition then support them in the community for several months after transition. 1 PSW relapsed during the course of the study. Only 1 PSW has continued with our program. Patients in transition participating in the program underwent semi-structured interviews that indicated satisfaction with the program. Discussion At project launch, we examined the literature and could only find one paper related to the concept of PSW and transition in psychosis. Having lived the process of developing the program, we gained an understanding of the difficulties of enacting what we have found to be a highly successful adjunct to our program. PSW programs involving individuals with psychosis are expensive to launch and attrition is high but these costs need to be weighed against improved transition outcomes.

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Cultural Influences on Early Intervention Services

International Journal on Studies in Education ◽

10.46328/ijonse.15 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 3 (1) ◽

pp. 1-9

Author(s):

Sultan Saeed Alzahrani ◽

Linda Flynn-Wilson

Keyword(s):

Saudi Arabia ◽

Early Intervention ◽

Quantitative Research ◽

Online Survey ◽

Cultural Influences ◽

Hard Copy ◽

Kingdom Of Saudi Arabia ◽

Early Intervention Services ◽

Provision Of Services ◽

Intervention Services

This survey-based, quantitative research investigated Early Intervention teachers' perception about Early Intervention services in Mecca Region in The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. This research focused on the cultural influences in the provision of services by professionals. Two options were offered to subjects to complete the survey: 1) an online survey and 2) a hard copy of the survey which was distributed to teachers in Early Intervention Centers. The majority of the participants completed the online survey. Data was collected and analyzed. The results showed that the teachers in Mecca Region in Saudi Arabia indicated that they considered the culture of the children and families when determining curriculum and services in their programs.

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Bottom Line: Who Pays the Bill for Early Intervention Services?

ASHA Leader ◽

10.1044/leader.bml.18022013.26 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 18 (2) ◽

pp. 26-27

Author(s):

Janet McCarty ◽

Laurie Havens

Keyword(s):

Early Intervention ◽

Private Insurance ◽

Infants And Toddlers ◽

Bottom Line ◽

Early Intervention Services ◽

Intervention Services

Medicaid, federal education funds and private insurance all cover the costs of speech-language and hearing services for infants and toddlers. Learn who pays for what.

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Telepractice Training for Early Intervention with Children who are Deaf/Hard-of-Hearing

Perspectives of the ASHA Special Interest Groups ◽

10.1044/persp1.sig9.60 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 1 (9) ◽

pp. 60-67

Author(s):

Kristina M. Blaiser ◽

Diane Behl

Keyword(s):

Early Intervention ◽

Hard Of Hearing ◽

Communication Disorders ◽

Staff Support ◽

Early Intervention Services ◽

Part C ◽

Training Courses ◽

Part C Early Intervention ◽

Training Opportunities

Telepractice is an increasingly popular service delivery model for serving individuals with communication disorders, particularly infants and toddlers who are Deaf/Hard-of-Hearing (DHH) served under Part C Early Intervention programs (Behl, Houston, & Stredler-Brown, 2012). Recent studies have demonstrated that telepractice is effective for providing children who are DHH and their families with access to high quality early intervention services (Behl et al., 2016; Blaiser, Behl, Callow-Heusser, & White, 2013). While telepractice has grown in popularity, there continues to be a lack of formalized training opportunities to help providers become more familiar with telepractice (Behl & Kahn, 2015). This paper outlines online training courses for providers, families, and administrators of programs for children who are DHH. Recommendations for follow up training and staff support are included.

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The impact of early intervention services for children with mild developmental delay

PsycEXTRA Dataset ◽

10.1037/e584752012-279 ◽

2010 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Jennifer Barth ◽

Susan Gold ◽

Ruby Natale ◽

Gabriela Lopez-Mitnik

Keyword(s):

Early Intervention ◽

Developmental Delay ◽

Early Intervention Services ◽

Mild Developmental Delay ◽

Intervention Services ◽

The Impact

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Business Sharing its Progress with Villagers Towards Developing Model Villages

GIS Business ◽

10.26643/gis.v1i6.5141 ◽

2006 ◽

Vol 1 (6) ◽

pp. 1-8

Author(s):

Swapan Garain

Keyword(s):

Skill Training ◽

Community Services ◽

Infrastructure Development ◽

Social Infrastructure ◽

Health Care Education ◽

Village Community ◽

Provision Of Services ◽

Corporate Contribution ◽

Building Community ◽

Corporate Social

In a developing country like India, village-centric development is very critical for improving Human Development Index of the country. In this direction, corporate contribution assumes significance for rehabilitation and resettlement of project affected people and overall intervention under its corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiative. Since India is a country of villages, CSR has to be more sensitive towards the economic, social and cultural needs of rural society of the country. In this paper, it is proposed to gear all interventions for promoting model villages. Model village presents a credible vehicle for bringing about sustainability of a village community unit. A model village must have three significant components of infrastructure development, livelihood promotion and provision of services. Infrastructure development must cater to creating basic physical as well as social infrastructure like approach road, school building, community centre and social capital. Promotion of livelihood includes skill training, self-employment, employment opportunities and village enterprise development, while provision for services for the villagers includes health care, education, sanitation, recreational and other community services. Model village plan envisages a self-contained village community at the apex of all the pillars of sustainability, namely, livelihood, infrastructure and services. The future of Indian economy and the prospect of industry are going to depend largely on building sustainable and self-maintained smallest self-governing units called model villages.

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