The 21st Annual Research Conference

Intensive Workshops on Methodology

Sunday, February 24, 2008

Family-Driven Care: An Intensive Workshop on Implementation

Intensive Workshop 1

Sandra Spencer, Executive Director, and Elaine Slaton, Director of Training and Evaluation, Federation of Families for Children's Mental Health, Rockville, MD; Carol MacKinnon Lewis, Professor, Dept of Child and Family Studies, Louis de la Parte Florida Mental Health Institute, Tampa FL

This workshop introduced participants to On the Road to Family-Driven Care, a training curricula developed by the Federation of Families for Children’s Mental Health. This curriculum, intended for all stakeholders in the children’s mental health arena, is designed to provoke thought and dialogue regarding the family movement’s progress and provide tools to promote true empowerment. Modules addressed the historical context of family-driven care in mental health reform, the continuum of family involvement and accompanying barriers, concepts of systems change, and how they relate to family-driven care, and indicators of readiness for change at the community, provider, policy and personal levels.

Supporting Implementation of EBPS: A Policy Discussion Among Providers, Administrators, Researchers, and Purveyors

Intensive Workshop 2

David Bernstein, MSW, Director, Center for Effective Interventions, Denver, CO; Jim Wotring, Director, Programs for Children with a Serious Emotional Disturbance, Michigan Department of Community Health, Lansing, MI; Ed Hayes, Chief Executive Officer, Cayuga Home for Children, Auburn, NY; Karen Blase, PhD, Research Professor, Department of Child and Family Studies, USF Louis de la Parte Florida Mental Health Institute, Tampa, FL; Jacquie Brown M.E.S., R.S.W., Director, Programme Services, Kinark Child and Family Services, Markham, ON Canada; Bill Carter LCSW, Deputy Director, California Institute for Mental Health, Sacramento CA; and Eric Bruns, PhD, Division of Public Behavioral Health & Justice Policy, University of Washington

Implementing evidence-based practices (EBPs) holds the promise of improving outcomes for children, youth, and families. But doing so consistently will require significant collaboration among providers; local, state and federal administrators; EBP developers; and local purveyors. In this session, individuals representing these key roles presented their view of what each partner needs to do to support implementation of EBPs — and improve the quality of care received by children and families.

Concept Mapping: A Next Generation Strategy for Planning and Evaluating Systems Change

Intensive Workshop 3

Lenore Behar, Director, Child & Family Program Strategies, Durham, NC; and Marty Hydaker, Hydaker Community Counseling, Cullowhee, NC; Andrea Aderton, Director, Circle of Hope Project; St. Joseph, MO; Cathy Baxter, Evaluator, Community Cares; Hattisburg, MS; Mona Gauthier, Director, Child & Adolescent Mental Health Services Pine Belt Mental Healthcare Resources and Co-Pi, Community Cares; Hattisburg, MS; John Reiss, Consultant; Integrating Families, Communities, and Providers Project, Florida Institute for Family Involvement, University of Florida; Gainesville, FL

Workshop participants were introduced to concept mapping, which is a statistically-based strategy for engaging community partners in planning for change and for evaluating the progress of the change process. The participants experienced the steps in concept mapping and learn how each step shapes the products of concept mapping. They learned how the products can be used for 1) community inspired planning, 2) the development of the logic model, and 3) evaluation. Lenore Behar and Marty Hydaker described the concept mapping process, the statistical analyses, and lead the participants in the experiential aspects of the workshop. Andrea Aderton, Cathy Baxter, Mona Gauthier, and John Reiss discussed how their communities used concept mapping for planning, logic model development, and evaluation.

Wednesday, February 27, 2008

SAMHSA's Implementation Resource Kit: A Tool for Selecting Evidence-Based Interventions for Youth with Disruptive Behavior Disorders

Intensive Workshop 4

Sylvia Fisher, Ph.D., Director, Evaluation, Child, Adolescent, and Family Branch, CMHS, SAMHSA, Rockville MD and Jeanne C. Rivard, Ph.D., NASMHPD Research Institute, Inc., Alexandria, VA

This session informed participants about SAMHSA's new Implementation Resource Kit, a tool that participants can use to select evidence-based interventions for youth in their communities. Facilitators provided an overview of the tools and features of the Resource Kit, and provide hands-on experience through a group exercise. Each group utilized the model to assess relevant information and select an intervention. Each group reported on their decision-making process, guided discussion helped participants identify and explore the levels of decision-making and issues affecting choices, including age group considerations, and stakeholder perspectives.

Assessing the Emotional and Behavioral Strengths of Children and Youth

Intensive Workshop 5

Michael H. Epstein, Center for At-Risk Children's Services, University of Nebraska-Lincoln

The purpose of the workshop: to orient the participant to strength based assessment. The workshop covered the following topics: First 1) the principles, definition and advantages of strength based assessment will be discussed; 2) informal and formal approaches to strength based assessment will be presented and practiced; 3) the Behavioral and Emotional Rating Scale, a standardized norm referenced measure of children's strength. Finally, applied examples of how strength based assessment can be used for planning and outcome evaluation was presented and discussed.

Handouts [4.3mb pdf]

Crafting Community Created System of Care Strategies: Applying a Theories of Change Approach to Support Implementation, Evaluation and Strategic Planning

Intensive Workshop 6

Marie Morilus-Black, Family Voices Network of Erie County, Buffalo NY; Linda M. Foss, Evaluation Manager, Central Massachusetts Communities of Care, Worcester, MA; Melodie Wenz-Gross, Research Assistant Professor, UMass Medical School Department of Psychiatry, Director of Research and Evaluation, Central Massachusetts Communities of Care, Worcester, MA; Joan B. Kernan, Research Associate, University at Buffalo Dept. of Family Medicine, and Evaluation, Family Voices Network of Erie County; Vicki McCarthy, Director, Families CAN, Families Child Advocacy Network, Inc., Buffalo, NY; and Mario Hernandez, Ph.D., Professor and Chair, Dept. of Child and Family Studies, Louis de la Parte Florida Mental Health Institute, University of South Florida

This intensive workshop provided training on how to use theory of change logic models to create and support locally driven systems of care. The workshop was based on two actual experiences from the field and conducted by representatives from two systems of care communities. Lessons learned regarding the theory of change building process were shared. Of particular focus was regarding how the approach has supported community ownership, evaluation, and strategic planning. Trainers described how they keep their local system’s strategy alive through the use of logic models. Attendees learned the importance of having a clear vision and plan to the ability of a community to initiate and sustain a system of care.