Strengthening Families

Program Planning and Reporting homepage

Reporting Instructions

Plan of Work Index

Evaluation Instruments 

Summary

Goals:

1. Strengthen parents/caregivers ability to effectively guide and nurture children and teens
2. Improve the quality and availability of early care and education.
3. Strengthen skills for communication, decision-making and care giving in later life
4. Improve the quality of the home environment so older Iowans and people with disabilities will be able to continue living in their own homes
5. Strengthen skills of professionals who partner with families on transitions from welfare to work and work to work

Outcomes:

• # of parents improving parenting skills (child parent communication and providing love and limits)
• # of professionals trained to assist families (certification programs)
• # of early child care programs improving learning environments and teaching strategies
• # of participants better able to manage later life issues ( includes housing issues for older Iowans)
  

Activities:
(These activities are available statewide, additional activities may be available at the county and area level.)

• Parenting
  • Strengthening Families Program for Parents and Youth 10-14 ( NOT PROSPER)
  • Celebrate Families
  • Family Story Teller
  • Girl Talk
  • Partnering With Parents
  • Teen Line
  • Healthy Families Line
  • Couples education
  • Grandparents Raising Grand Children
  • Great Beginnings for Families (?)
  • Partnering with Communities to Support Parents and Families
• PROSPER
• Early Care and Education
  • New Staff Orientation Better Kids Care)
  • Child Care Lasts a Lifetime
  • Better Kids Care Satellites
  • National Network for Child Care
  • Child Care That Works Self Study
  • Early Childhood Environmental Rating Scales
• Aging and Intergenerational Issues
  • Adult Children and Aging Parents
  • Powerful Tools for Care Givers
• Workforce Development
  • Family Development Certification
  • Promise Jobs
  • Iowa Older Workers
• Housing and Universal Design

Download the following Strengthening Families Plan of Work as a pdf file.

1. Name of Planned Program
Strengthening Families

2. Knowledge Area Classification
802 Human Development and Family Wellbeing  - 95%
804 Human Environmental Issues Affecting Residential Structures  - 5%

3. Program existence
Mature

4. Program duration
Long term

5. Summary
Families across the lifespan need access to information, skills and resources that encourage positive growth and development. Parents seek sources of support and skill to nurture and guide children and youth while fulfilling work responsibilities. Older families need information to make homes accessible and to enhance choices for home and community-based long-term care for frail elders or persons with disability. Professionals serving families need access to training based on best practices and current research. Families of all ages seek support in adjusting to life changes, and opportunities to contribute to the community.

6. Situation                               
12% of Iowa’s children were in poverty in 2004. Iowa ranks second in the nation in the percentage of families with children under the age of six with both parents working. 59% of caregivers for elderly family members and adults with disability are in the workforce. 15% of family caregivers live an hour or more from a family member needing assistance.

Iowa lags behind in the quality of child care. 22% of Iowa early care and education is rated as poor in quality, 58% is rated as mediocre, while only 20% is rated as good quality. Early care and education professionals report limited education, incomes of less than $15,000 per year, lack of benefits and high turnover. Iowa requires no training or education before adults work directly with children. 40% of assistant teachers and 18% of teachers do not complete the hours of annual training required by licensing.

In 2005, there were 9,915 founded reports of child abuse by the Iowa Department of Human Services. The number of children who suffered abuse was 15,060. Twenty-two Iowa children per 1,000 were found to have been abused. Denial of critical care (neglect) was the most common form of abuse reported.

The percentage of people 85 and over is Iowa’s fastest growing age group. Yet few homes accommodate wheel chairs or people who cannot climb steps and there is a lack of community knowledge and resources to make appropriate home modifications for accessibility.

The system of long-term adult care services is complex and inadequate to meet the needs of elders who wish to stay in their own homes. Family caregivers who provide most in-home assistance are often unaware of how to access assistance. State long-term care dollars are more often spent for institutional care than for in-home care. Increasing access to a range of high-quality affordable long-term living options and increasing information and education for family and professional caregivers to maximize independence, choice and dignity are shared goals of Iowa’s state agencies.
 
Professionals in schools, agencies or private organizations serving families across the lifespan are stretched by time and resources. There is a need for easily accessible information and training based on research and practice to help families manage work, parenting, and care responsibilities.

Priorities:
1. Quality and availability of early care and education programs.
2. Resources for family caregivers of persons who are elderly or have disability
3. Guidance and nurturance of children and teens
4. Quality of the home environment for older Iowans and persons with disabilities

7. Assumptions

• All families have strengths.
• People’s values, knowledge, skill, personal experiences, financial resources, culture and environment, including policies and events, influence their behaviors.
• Lack of resources (e.g., knowledge, skills, money, social support) leads to family stress.
• Family members influence each other’s development.
• Older Iowans and people with disabilities prefer to stay in their own homes as long as possible, rather than move to institutional care.
• Homes that have universal design and accessibility features help people with disabilities live more independently and reduce caregiver responsibilities and stress.
• Increased self-efficacy increases family caregivers’ ability to resist potentially harmful effects of caregiving stress.
• Parents want to raise healthy children who are contributing members of society.
• Effective parenting is learned.
• Early care and education strengthens community workforce support.
• Quality early care and education programs produce positive outcomes for children.

8. Ultimate Goals

• Strengthen parents’/ caregivers’ ability to effectively guide and nurture children and teens
• Improve the quality and availability of early care and education
• Strengthen family skills for communication,decision-making and caregiving in later life
• Improve the quality of the home environment so older Iowans and people with disabilities will be able to continue living in their own homes
• Strengthen skills of professionals who partner with families on transitions from welfare to work and work to work

9. Scope
Multi state Extension

Inputs for the Program
10. Expending formula funds or state-matching funds - yes

11. Expending funds other than formula funds or state-matching funds - yes

12. Estimated amount of professional FTEs/Sys to be budgeted for this program
2007 - 18.5
2008 - 18.5
2009 - 18.5
2010 - 18.5
2011 - 18.5

Outputs for the Program
13. Activities

• Research early care and education program quality
• Provide comprehensive new staff orientation training for early care and education professionals
• Provide education to strengthen and improve the quality of early childhood and education programs
• Provide consultation, technical assistance or needs assessment for early childhood programs and communities
• Provide workshops to prepare families for later life decisions and relationships
• Provide certification training for class leaders of Powerful Tools curriculum
• Provide in-depth training for parenting educators through Partnering with Parents
• Provide facilitator training for in-depth sequenced parenting education curricula

14. Methods (Check-list)
Direct Methods                              
Education Class                               
Workshop                                         
Community Forum/Presentation
Consultation and technical assistance
On-line seminars
Training for professional educators 

Indirect Methods
Web sites
Print materials

15. Target Audiences
Professional parent education facilitators
Early Care and education professionals
Parents seeking early care and education
Public policy decision makers
Community citizens and leaders
Employers
Families in mid and later-life
Caregivers of frail elders or people with disabilities
Service providers who work with older adults or people with disabilities
Home improvement contractors and suppliers

16. Standard output measure
Output Measures

17. Patents
N/A

18. Output measures
Output text: # of parents and family members in educational programs related to child care,  parenting, aging and housing
2007  - 13700
2008  - 13700
2009  - 13700
2010  - 13700
2011  - 13700

Output text: # of professionals involved in programs related to childcare, aging, parenting and housing programs
2007 - 2315
2008 - 2315
2009 - 2315
2010 - 2515
2011 - 2515

Outcomes and Impacts
19. Outcome Indicators
Outcome text: # of parents improving parenting skills (child-parent communication and providing love and limits)
2007  -  7500
2008  -  7500
2009  -  7500
2010  -  7500
2011  -  7500

Outcome text: # of professionals trained to assist families (certifications programs)
2007 - 1215
2008  - 1215
2009  - 1215
2010  - 1215
2011  - 1215

Outcome text: # of early child care programs improving learning environments and teaching strategies
2007  - 700
2008  - 700
2009  - 700
2010  - 700
2011  - 700

Outcome text: # of participants better able to manage later life issues
2007   - 610
2008   - 610
2009   - 610
2010   - 610
2011   - 610

20. External factors that may affect outcomes (check)
Natural disaster
Economy
Appropriations changes
Public policy changes
Governmental regulations
Competing public priorities
Population changes

21. Evaluation studies planned

• Partnering with Parents: combine post-pretest from several series to identify overall impact, as well as follow-up surveys with program participants
• Follow-up survey for Partnering with Parents program participants to measure program impact
• Post- test evaluation of Child Care Center New Staff Orientation
• Formative and summative assessment for Child Care Center New Staff Orientation, CCTW self study, and Early Childhood Environment rating scale training.
• Retrospective pretest and follow-up survey to measure program impact for Child Care Center New Staff Orientation
• Observational assessment to measure impact Early Childhood Environment rating scale training.

Types of evaluations and methods
 After Only (post-program)
 Retrospective
 Before-After
 During
 Case Study
     
22. Continued data collection

• Strengthening Families Program for Parents and Youth 10:14 years pre-post test for parents and for youth
• Partnering with Parents Post-pretest for professionals
• Number of consumers assisted in developing remodeling plans to improve home accessibility
• Post training observational assessments for Early Childhood Environment rating scale training to measure impact of quality improvements
• Post-training survey of participants in caregiver training programs

Data Collection Methods
  Whole Population
  Survey, mail, telephone, on-site
  Observation
  Interview structured/unstructured