Counseling Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgendered Youth

							              Raising Standards &
            Improving Outcomes for
          Independent Living Services



6/14/00
Raising Standards and Improving
Outcomes for Independent Living
            Services
     What do I mean by standards?
     What do I mean by outcomes?
Independent Living Standards of
           Practice

 New IDL legislation sponsored by sen.
  Moynihan spurred a great deal of discussion
  and deliberation
 CWLA convened a national IDL standards
  committee which met in 1987
 Standards were developed in 1987, and
  adopted by CWLA membership in 1988
Independent Living Standards of
           Practice
Introduction
 Preparation for self-sufficiency
 The context for IDL services
 In the spirit of permanence
 The role of the family
 The role of communities and agencies
Independent Living Standards of
           Practice

    Framework
     Basic assumptions
     Basic definition of IDL
     Identification of target group
     Goals for IDL services
Independent Living Standards of
           Practice

Basic assumptions: that agencies do what a
 good parent would do for their adolescent
 child; a clearly stated written plan; a
 continuum of support services are needed;
 this is a process that takes place over time
Independent Living Standards of
           Practice

 Basic definition of IDL: consists of a series
  of developmental activities that provide
  opportunities for young people to gain the
  skills required to live healthy, productive,
  and responsible lives as self-sufficient
  adults
Independent Living Standards of
           Practice
Target group: youth who are separated from
 their homes and are in need of the
 development of skills required to live
 healthy, productive, and responsible lives as
 self-sufficient adults: including youth who
 are: homeless; in out-of-home care;
 developmentally disabled; without family
 resources; and those living in temporary
 residence
Independent Living Standards of
           Practice

Goals for IDL services: the primary goal is
 to provide young people with
 developmental skills necessary for them to
 live healthy, productive, self-sufficient, and
 responsible adult lives
 Coordinated Service Delivery
System to Support Independent
      Living Standards

      Social work services
      Educational services
      Employment services
      Health services
Assessment & Development of a
          IDL Plan

 Assessment of strengths and needs
 A written IDL plan
 Case review
Building Skills for Independent
            Living

 Self assessment of strengths and needs
 Identifying and defining own problems
 Establishing goals and planning for the
  future
Building Skills for Independent
            Living
 Obtaining factual information about
  family’s medical, personal, medical, and
  social history
 Understanding and coping with past losses,
  rejection, and anger
 Understanding and coping with authority
  figures
Building Skills for Independent
            Living
   Developing basic survival skills
   Developing money management skills
   Responsibility for sexual behavior
   Understanding chemical dependency
   Developing skills in personal decision-
    making
 Building Skills for Independent
             Living

 Locating, obtaining, and maintaining a
  residence
 Locating and using community resources to
  meet individual needs
 Forming meaningful and growth-producing
  adult relationships with families, peers, and
  other persons
   Continuum of Residential
Services for Independent Living

   Biological family/fictive kin
   Least restrictive out-of-home placement
   Kinship foster care
   Emergency shelter care
   Continuum of Residential
Services for Independent Living

   Family foster care
   Agency operated boarding homes
   Group homes
   Supervised independent living programs
   Continuum of Residential
Services for Independent Living
   Group residence
   Congregate care campus
   Residential treatment centers - RTC
   Residential treatment facilities - RTF
   Juvenile detention/lock up/jail
            What’s Missing?
   Development of relationships
   Interpersonal skills
   Reality of costs
   Reality of mental illness for some youth
   Core concepts of youth development
   What else?
             Outcomes

Designs           Methods
 Exploratory     quantitative
 Descriptive     qualitative
 Experimental    mixed
               Outcomes
        Elements of Research
The research question
Data design
Expense/costs/time/personnel
Data collection strategy
Data analysis
Presentation of data
Findings
               Outcomes

The 4 R’s
1.   Replicability
2.   Rigor
2.   Representativeness
3.   Relative costs
              Outcomes

Sample
1. Size
2. Representativeness
3. Operational definitions
              Outcomes
Sampling Procedures
   Random
   Snowball
   Purposeful
   Convenience
                Outcomes
Instrumentation
   Questionnaires
   Interview schedules
   Observation
    Standardized tests (reliability/validity)
                 Outcomes
Time Frames
   What can you count?
   Can it be counted at multiple points in time?
   At baseline, beginning of service
   After intervention at six month intervals
   At follow-up
              Outcomes
Data Analysis
 What did you find?
 What does it mean?
 How is it useful to young people and
  programs?
            Outcomes
Data Analysis
 How do we know that we are doing works?
 How do we evaluate and monitor
  outcomes?
 What the hell is C.Q.I.?
 What have you done and could it have been
  done better?
             Outcomes
Data Analysis
 Client/customer satisfaction
 How can you show that you have moved
  youth toward self-sufficiency?
 How do you monitor the interpersonal/soft
  skills?
        Recommendations
 Start simple; what can you do in your own
  program?
 How can you solicit client input?
 How can you focus on continuous quality
  improvement of IDL services?
 Ask yourself: are the youth in your
  programs truly prepared for self-
  sufficiency?
         Recommendations
Ask yourself:
What have we missed in working with our
   youth?
If this child was my child, what would I wish
   for him or her to have?
              Conclusions
 Standards are good, only if they are known
  and only if they can be achieved
 Evaluation of programs and measuring
  outcomes is a necessary and essential part
  of IDL program planning and design
 There are ways to do both and still provide
  a great program which helps to develop
  youth to their fullest potential