Improving Community Adaptation Outcomes for Youth Graduating from Residential Mental Health Programs: A Synthesis Review (FULL REPORT)

The focus of this synthesis review was to understand the capacity of systems of care and integrated program models to foster successful community adaptation for children and youth graduating from children\u27s residential mental health treatment

Improving Community Adaptation Outcomes for Youth Graduating from Residential Mental Health Programs: A Synthesis Review (SUMMARY)

The focus of this synthesis review was to understand the capacity of systems of care and integrated program models to foster successful community adaptation for children and youth graduating from children\u27s residential mental health treatment

Strengthening Out-of-School Time Nonprofits: The Role of Foundations in Building Organizational Capacity

Placing nonprofits in the larger context of city, state, and national policy, explores the capacity-building support nonprofits running afterschool and summer programs need to provide high-impact networks of learning and developmental opportunities

Improving Community Adaptation Outcomes for Youth Graduating from Residential Mental Health Programs: A Synthesis Review (EXECUTIVE SUMMARY)

Based on results from a synthesis review, this Executive Summary highlights elements of a proposed integrated program configuration that shows a demonstrated capacity to foster successful community adaptation for children and youth graduating from children\u27s residential mental health programs. An expanded discussion of the synthesis review findings is available in both a full length synthesis report and summary version

Evaluation of Disability Employment Policy Demonstration Programs

[Excerpt] Since 2001, the Office of Disability Employment Policy (ODEP) has awarded more than $65 million in grants, contracts, and cooperative agreements. Of this, more than$38 million has been awarded to projects under the ODEP Demonstration Program, with about 2 percent directed toward an independent evaluation. The ODEP Demonstration Program consists of a variety of initiatives targeted at both adults and youth with disabilities. All demonstration projects funded under these initiatives are expected to implement and evaluate methods for building the capacity of the workforce development system to better serve people with disabilities. ODEP contracted with Westat, a private research company, to conduct an independent evaluation of its demonstration program. The purpose of the independent evaluation is to provide ODEP with data and information about system change that can be used to assist policy development, decisions, and recommendations, as well as track progress in meeting ODEP’s goals under the Government Performance and Results Act (GPRA). The independent evaluation has three objectives: 1. To provide ODEP with reliable and valid indicators of program effectiveness; 2. To determine the extent to which each program priority area is effective in building workforce development system capacity; and 3. To document local, regional, and/or state systems change that supports program effectiveness. This paper summarizes the issues and accomplishments identified by the evaluation to date in the context of these three objectives

User-centred design of flexible hypermedia for a mobile guide: Reflections on the hyperaudio experience

A user-centred design approach involves end-users from the very beginning. Considering users at the early stages compels designers to think in terms of utility and usability and helps develop the system on what is actually needed. This paper discusses the case of HyperAudio, a context-sensitive adaptive and mobile guide to museums developed in the late 90s. User requirements were collected via a survey to understand visitors’ profiles and visit styles in Natural Science museums. The knowledge acquired supported the specification of system requirements, helping defining user model, data structure and adaptive behaviour of the system. User requirements guided the design decisions on what could be implemented by using simple adaptable triggers and what instead needed more sophisticated adaptive techniques, a fundamental choice when all the computation must be done on a PDA. Graphical and interactive environments for developing and testing complex adaptive systems are discussed as a further step towards an iterative design that considers the user interaction a central point. The paper discusses how such an environment allows designers and developers to experiment with different system’s behaviours and to widely test it under realistic conditions by simulation of the actual context evolving over time. The understanding gained in HyperAudio is then considered in the perspective of the developments that followed that first experience: our findings seem still valid despite the passed time

Implementation Science and Fidelity Measurement: A Test of the 3-5-7 Model™

Children and youths engaged with the child welfare system can experience grief and loss as a result of trauma, broken relationships, and inadequate attachments. Interventionists are often challenged to implement effective strategies that help youths to reestablish trusting relationships and to promote overall psychological well-being. A 5-year federal demonstration project funded by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Children’s Bureau, guided by an implementation science model, sought to increase well-being in youths age 12–21 who were involved in the child welfare system. The 3-5-7 Model™, a strengths-based approach that empowers children, youths, and families to engage in grieving and integrating significant relationships, was studied. A fidelity system was created in order to test the model. Important lessons about implementation science guided the work of the demonstration project. Although definitive conclusions could not be reached, several indicators of psychological well-being were found to be associated with high levels of fidelity to the 3-5-7 ModelTM. Suggestions for future research are offered

Review Of Interventions For Parental Depression From Toddlerhood To Adolescence

Because of the recurrent course, significant burden, and intergenerational impact of depression, there is a great need for interventions for depressed parents and their children. This article reviews eight interventions that 1) aim to impact the functioning and well-being of 18-month to 18-year old children of depressed parents and 2) have been evaluated in controlled studies. The interventions are described and the empirical evidence of their efficacy is reviewed and critiqued. Existing research points to several promising intervention strategies, such as psychoeducation about parental depression, addressing parenting in adult depression treatment, promoting positive parent-child interactions, and teaching coping skills to children. Common limitations of the research in this area are small sample sizes, homogenous samples, and lack of replication. Implementation problems within the mental healthcare system are highlighted. Multi-component interventions seem to be a promising approach to address the complex impact parental depression has on children and the parent-child relationship. This review illustrates the need for more research on intervention models that can be implemented with children at various developmental levels

Feasibility of a Social Emotional Parenting Curriculum Applied in an Early Head Start Home Visitation Program with Mexican Immigrant Families

Early social-emotional development is influenced by the experiences of the child especially the parent-child interaction and relationship. Influences on the parent’s ability to provide nurturing enriched parenting experiences include the parent’s past encounters with how they were parented. The Building Early Emotional Skills curriculum (BEES) has a component of self-awareness exercises that assist parents to understand personal parenting behaviors and attitudes. The BEES framework is an infant mental health model with a specific focus on early social emotional development. Curricula related specifically to early child social-emotional development based on an infant mental health model is limited in the literature. However, early childhood is an opportunity to promote parent-child relationships in high risk families that support social-emotional development. The United States has a growing population of families that include Mexican migrants, many of whom live in poverty with low levels of health care and education. These high-risk conditions place Mexican migrant families in a vulnerable position for poor health and development outcomes. Programs that address school readiness are prevalent in the literature but few have been adapted or created to address the parenting needs of the Mexican migrant culture to promote early childhood social-emotional development. The purpose of the research was to determine the feasibility of adapting and implementing the Building Early Emotional Skills curriculum (BEES) with Mexican migrant families that include children from 3 to 30 months. The Bioecological Model (Bronfenbrenner & Morris, 2006) guided this study. The research took place in an Early Head Start program in the midwestern United States with a service delivery of home visitation. The sample consisted of Early Head Start home visitors and the Early Head Start supervisors who were bilingual Spanish and English speaking with a primary language of Spanish. The mothers in the study migrated to the United States from Mexico after the age of 18 years. The mothers’ primary language was a dialect of Mexican Spanish. Data were collected through a parent questionnaire, adaptation and implementation focus groups with home visitors, and implementation logs completed by the home visitor. The curriculum activities were translated to the formal Mexican dialect of Spanish. The language presented a challenge due to the various dialects and slang terms used by the participants. Two areas of time constraints were identified, the limited time the home visitors had for their visits and the time required to fulfill the cultural role of the mother. The lessons/activities resulted in an implication for further adaptation that includes the cultural contexts of familismo, respeto, simpatico, and personalismo. The feasibility results were positive indicating implication for a pilot study