Children and Caregivers
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Maria has just given birth to her fifth child. He was born premature and low birth weight. He requires extra attention, but Maria is experiencing postpartum depression. |
Maria has a history of competent parenting. She is asking for help in treating her depression and in understanding how to care for her vulnerable child. |
The NCAST is administered to identify parent-child interaction strengths and areas needing support.
The ASQ and ASQ-SE are administered cooperatively by Maria and the home visitor to assess the baby’s developmental progress.
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Maria and her home visitor jointly develop goals derived from the NCAST and ASQ, and they jointly articulate criteria for success.
Pre- and post-measures of the NCAST and ASQ show that Maria has acquired new parent-interaction skills, and that the baby has made developmental gains.
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Families
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Ray, Maria’s husband, has taken a job at a fast-food restaurant after losing his manufacturing job and his health insurance. |
Ray’s mother comes by every weekend to prepare nutritious dinners. She assigns chores to each of the children – setting the table, helping with cooking, drying the dishes, and taking out the trash. She and Ray read to the children and tuck them into bed. |
Maria, Ray and his mother keep a journal (that they share with the home visitor during weekly visits) noting what’s going well and what’s not with regard to the children’s development, behavior and basic family needs. |
Information from the weekly journal is reviewed with Maria and other family members, when available, during home visits. The home visitor provides additional developmental guidance for siblings and makes appropriate referrals as they arise. The journal indicates that the family’s concerns decrease during the year and that the number of successes increases.
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Community
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The community in which Ray and Maria’s family lives is experiencing hard times. Employment opportunities are scarce, local mental health and child care programs have been cut, and there is increased violence in the neighborhood. |
Ray, Maria and their children have attended the same church for ten years. The children’s Sunday school teacher, who knows the children well, has volunteered to escort the children from school to home safely while Ray works and attends classes so that Maria has some extra time for herself and her baby. |
The program home visitor uses the FRIENDS Family Support Outcome Survey at intake, mid-way through the program, and upon the family’s completion in the program.
The home visitor locates a community mental health program that will provide prescription drugs for Maria’s depression at no cost, and therapy on a sliding scale.
All parents in the program are required to give back by offering service to others through meal planning and preparation for center-based classes; stocking toys and books in the lending library; or working in the program garden. |
Information from the FRIENDS Survey guides case management and referral for community services. The Survey indicates the family is receiving the community services they need, and that they are satisfied and benefiting from them.
Maria’s depression has subsided. She is showing positive parenting, affection and joy with her baby.
By volunteering, Maria and Ray have met other couples with whom they trade care giving. Maria, a good gardener, works with children on a tasting garden of edible plants. Ray, a good cook, uses the produce for the Program’s monthly family dinners.
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Social Policy and Funding
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Universal access to health care and child care – care that Ray and Maria’s baby especially needs – remain illusive in our nation. Manufacturing jobs are being sent overseas. As funding for safety-net programs decrease, the number of families experiencing intolerable poverty increases. |
Ray and Maria are willing to try anything available to strengthen their family, make a good life, and contribute to their community. Ray is checking into free and reduced-tuition programs at the local community college so that he can gain new employment skills. |
The Program added items to the FRIENDS Family Support Outcome Survey to document how social policy and funding promulgated at regional, state and federal levels were affecting families in their community. |
Pre- and post- administrations of the FRIENDS survey, in combination with other program data, showed that although individual families made progress in the program, on the whole more families in the program and community were experiencing difficult life circumstances related to social policy and funding. |
