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Eileen M. Brennan, Ph.D., Principal Investigator;
Jennifer Bradley, Ph.D., Project Manager;
Shane Ama, Student Research Assistant;
Peris Kibera, B.A., Mentee;
Andrea Doerfler, M.S.W., Doctoral Student;
Paul E. Koren, Ph.D., Statistical Consultant;
Arthur C. Emlen, Ph.D., Child Care Consultant;
Julie M. Rosenzweig, Ph.D., Consultant;
A. Myrth Ogilvie, Ph.D., Consultant;
Lynwood J. Gordon, M.S.W., Consultant;
Constance Lehman, Ph.D., Special Education Consultant;
Anne Brown, Sherry Archer and Elizabeth Caplan, Family Consultants
Purpose
The Models of Inclusion in Child Care Project is aimed at providing the first investigation of programs and strategies which result in improved access of families having children with emotional or behavioral disorders to child care which is inclusive, family-centered, culturally-appropriate, and of high quality. Substitute care supports parents as they work, seek employment, or continue their education, and supports children as it provides developmentally appropriate supervision, socialization, activities, and learning opportunities. Growing out of the Research and Training Center's prior research which has identified the needs of employed caregivers of children with serious emotional and behavioral disorders for formal and informal family support in the domain of child care, and the needs of children and youth for developmentally appropriate and nurturing substitute care, the proposed project has five objectives:
- To identify and study model child care practices ensuring quality care, both at the level of community-based child care settings, and in home-based care settings, which include children with emotional and behavioral disorders and which are culturally-appropriate.
- To identify and investigate successful training models which prepare child care providers to deliver high quality, culturally-appropriate services to families having children with emotional or behavioral disorders.
- To describe the barriers to achievement of inclusive child care for families having children with emotional or behavioral disorders, and the strategies used by providers and family members to overcome these barriers.
- To understand the communication processes by which family members gain access to inclusive child care resources, participate in planning for inclusive child care services, and collaborate in training child care service providers.
- To furnish families, child care providers, and mental health service providers with a better understanding of practices which increase the options for child care available to families having children with emotional or behavioral disorders.
Investigation One: Study of Model Inclusive Child Care Projects and Strategies
The first study focuses on identifying, describing, and analyzing key features of a selected group of model child care projects and strategies which meet family needs for quality child care, and provider needs for training about emotional and behavioral disorders. Three major research questions are addressed in the first study of the project:
- What are the characteristics of child care programs and practices nominated for their inclusiveness which are associated with quality care for children and youth having emotional or behavioral disorders?
- Which aspects of training models contribute to the preparation of child care providers to deliver high quality, culturally-appropriate services to children and youth having emotional or behavioral disorders?
- What are the barriers to achievement of inclusive child care in these programs, and the strategies successfully used by providers and family members to overcome these barriers?
Methods. The investigation consists of ten case studies of child care programs, which include children with emotional or behavioral challenges along with typically developing children. Data are being gathered through telephone or face-to-face interviews of key informants including parents and youth, supplemented by content analysis of program materials. Case studies center around programs which serve families with children from ages birth through 17, who have emotional or behavioral challenges and who are in need of supervision and assistance. The program services include: (a) formal supports such as center care, summer programs, training programs for care providers, and resource and referral services; and (b) family support services which assist in identifying informal supports.
Investigation Two: Study of State Level Efforts
The results of the case studies of model programs will be used to inform the second study, a comprehensive survey which will be conducted to: (a) explore state-level efforts toward inclusive child care, (b) identify barriers in each state to the effective delivery of inclusive child care, and (c) examine communication strategies used to increase access to child care for families having children with emotional or behavioral disorders, to involve parents and youth in planning services, and to encourage collaboration of family members and providers in training efforts.
The investigation centers around answering three key research questions:
- What were the patterns of inclusion of children with emotional or behavioral disorders within child care resources, and how did these vary among states?
- What were the barriers to inclusion of children with emotional or behavioral disorders within child care and what was the relationship between those barriers and the strategies used to overcome them?
- What were the communication patterns between family members and providers concerning: (a) design of child care programs, (b) access to inclusive child care for children and youth with emotional or behavioral problems, and (c) collaboration of family members and providers in training efforts? Which types of communication strategies were rated as most effective for each purpose?
Methods. Respondents to the telephone survey will be (a) the state administrators of child care; (b) members of family support organizations at the state or regional level; and (c) persons who served as the state liaisons to the MICCP, which will be concluded at the time of the survey. Whenever possible, the family members selected for the interview will be employed caregivers for children with emotional or behavioral disorders.
Plan for Family/Youth Involvement
Family members have been centrally involved in planning the methodology of the project, and will be an essential part of major aspects of both the case studies of inclusive programs, and the survey of state level efforts which are integral to the project. Parents and youth will be members of the coordinating group which identifies and selects promising programs for case studies, will serve as consultants in the development of the open-ended instrument which will be used for gathering qualitative interview data, and will function as on-site researchers, gathering background information , as well as on-site materials for the case studies. It is also planned to have parents and youth review the research results and interpretations from the case studies. The state level survey on inclusive child care will have parents and youth involved in the development of interview instruments, as interview participants, and in the review of research results and interpretations. Finally parents and youth will serve as co-presenters at trainings and conferences, and as reviewers of materials before publication.
Plan for Cultural Relevance
The study of Child Care Projects and Strategies has two objectives which explicitly address cultural relevance. Questions included within the interviews will document the steps taken in the programs to ensure that services are culturally appropriate. Additionally, family on-site researchers will be asked to pay particular attention to the collection of information about the culturally specific practices that are used in the program. The State Level Efforts study will also ask specific questions about model inclusive child care programs which have been designed to address the needs of families from culturally diverse backgrounds. Researchers will also examine each state's CCDF plan and inclusive child care plan for evidence of culturally appropriate child care programs. Finally, project staff and family reviewers will be asked to pay particular attention to issues of cultural relevance in writing and reviewing materials to be disseminated.
Analysis Plan
Part One: Study of Child Care Projects and Strategies
Written notes from the interviews and scanned copies of the family members' reports will be transcribed and entered into the Ethnograph for content analysis. Complete descriptions of each of the service delivery and training programs will be included in the case studies. These descriptions will include program location, philosophy, design, staffing, utilization patterns, and types of services/trainings offered. Additionally, each case study will address: (a) steps taken to assure culturally appropriate services, (b) funding patterns, (c) perceived barriers, (d) family involvement and (e) communication between family members and service/training providers.
Finally, through the content analyses, shared dimensions of the model inclusive child care projects and strategies will be identified. The goal of this analysis will be to identify lessons that can be learned from the studied projects and carried forward into replications. It is also expected that the development and refinement of a conceptual framework will result, which should serve as a starting point for future investigations of inclusive child care services and training.
Part Two: Study of State Level Efforts
Descriptive analyses of interview data will include an examination of frequencies and percentages of: state definition characteristics, factors related to child care capacity building, characteristics of provider training, characteristics of strategies addressing child care resource and referral inclusion, types of barriers to inclusion, funding package characteristics, types of programs the state liaison and family members nominate as promising, communication strategies used to link family members and providers, and characteristics of family involvement efforts.
Inferential statistical analysis will be used to establish: (a) the level of agreement in answers between child care administrators, family member respondents, and liaisons; (b) differences which exist between states having higher proportions of culturally-diverse families and states with lower numbers of these families; (c) differences between states using different funding strategies, in types of services offered and perceived barriers to finding and using child care resources; and (d) differences between states with higher or lower levels of family participation in planning in types of services and trainings offered and perceived barriers to finding and using child care resources. Content analyses of written documents and observational notes will be used to help with the interpretation of quantitative findings.
Dissemination
Project interim and final reports will be issued to interested constituencies, such as the Federation of Families, family support organizations, staff and liaisons of the MICCP, organizations of child care and mental health service providers, and administrators of statewide child care agencies. Presentations and training sessions will be given on a yearly basis at conferences which involve family members, researchers, and service providers. A monograph will be published concerning model projects and strategies in the domain of inclusive child care services and training. Project staff will submit articles based on each of the proposed investigations to journals with circulation to children's mental health service providers.
Technical Assistance
During the past five years, project staff have been involved in the study of the ways in which employed caregivers of children with emotional and behavioral disorders balance their work and family responsibilities, and the supportive services needed by these families. We will continue to provide technical assistance in the area of family support. Additionally, as we gather information specific to the area of child care, we will answer requests for information concerning model child care programs, and child care provider training. Finally, when data concerning the strategies states pursued in including children with emotional or behavioral disorders are gathered, we will provide technical assistance and consultation to family members, child care providers, mental health providers, and early child specialists about strategies to overcome barriers to the inclusion of children with emotional and behavioral disorders in child care.
Project Timeline
Part One : Study of Inclusive Child Care Projects and Strategies
Month 1-8 1.1 Nominations and data on promising programs gathered.
Month Task 9-27 1.2 Site visits and data gathering on nominated programs (In process)
Month Task 24-30 1.3 Data analysis (In process)
Month Task 30-60 1.4 Review by family members, writing and dissemination.
Part Two: Study of State Level Efforts
Month Task 1-36 2.1 Collection of state level materials
Month Task 37-42 2.2 Interview instrument developed, reviewed by families and consultants.
Month Task 43-48 2.3 Interviews conducted.
Month Task 49-51 2.4 Data analysis.
Month Task 51-54 2.5 Family members review, research report finalized.
Month Task 55-60 2.6 Writing and dissemination. (In process)
Latest Updates
- AVAILABLE NOW! NEW REPORT
Setting the pace: Model inclusive child care centers serving families of children with emotional or behavioral challenges BY Eileen Brennan, Jennifer Bradley, Shane Ama, and Natalie Cawood.
This report of our in-depth study of nine inclusive child care centers in different locations across the country was published in December, 2003.
GET YOUR FREE COPY BY DOWNLOADING IT FROM THE LINK ABOVE, or by going to the center publications page: http://www.rtc.pdx.edu/pgPublications.shtml
This unique study is based on more than ninety interviews, and includes the voices of parents, center directors, and staff, in addition to observations of children in the classroom.
Although the centers were diverse, we found shared characteristics in how they approached and implemented inclusion successfully.
The monograph also includes recommendations for the advancement of inclusion in child care settings, and information on additonal resources
This report is relevant to family members, staff working in child care, schools, and mental health, as well as administrators, educators, policy makers, researchers, and others interested in improving care for families and children.
OBSERVATIONS IN THE CLASSROOM
To find out more about what we learned from the classroom observations go to the ERIC data base (www.askeric.org) reference # ED469398.
The citation for this article is:
Brennan, Eileen M.; Ama, Shane M.; Gordon, Lynwood J (2002) Inclusion of Children with Emotional or Behavioral Challenges in Child Care Settings: An Observational Study.
RECENT PRESENTATIONS
In October 2004, Jennifer Bradley and María Gettman presented a workshop at the annual conference of the Washington Association for the Eduation of Young Children.
PHASE TWO UPDATE
Data collection for the survey of state child care administrators, designed to investigate state level efforts towards inclusion in child care settings, is now completed. An article summarizing the main findings is in preparation.
[Last Updated April 04, 2005]
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