Enhance Outcomes For Children Research Articles

Early Childhood Providers' Perceptions of Effective Professional Development Components

A research-to-practice gap exists between evidence-based practices (EBPs) and actual practices implemented with children with developmental disabilities (DD) in early childhood care and education (ECCE) settings. Many ECCE providers lack the training needed to support these children's learning. Ten center-based providers working in inclusive ECCE classrooms participated in the Early Achievements for Child Care Providers Professional Development (EA-CP PD) program to learn to deliver differentiated instruction to children with DD using EBPs. Post-PD focus groups assessed the training's impact on providers' perceptions of the PD program and implementation of the EA-CP instructional strategies. Results of qualitative analysis revealed providers' perceived benefit of job-embedded coaching to support their implementation of the instructional strategies and ability to enhance children's social–communication and language development. Providers desired greater involvement from ECCE directors. Implications are discussed for giving directors more explicit roles in providers' PD to support implementation and enhance child outcomes.

6.5 Multidimensional Impact of Autism Spectrum Disorder Assistance Dogs on Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder and Their Families

Autism spectrum disorder assistance dogs (AADs) are highly-skilled service animals trained primarily to ensure the safety of a child with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) by preventing elopement. Although many families attest anecdotally to the psychosocial and biobehavioral benefits of their AADs, quantitative empirical support for these reports is lacking. We addressed this gap using validated clinical, behavioral, and physiological measures. Thirteen families were recruited from the waitlist of an accredited assistance-dog training organization. To apply for an AAD, children must have a confirmed ASD diagnosis and live within the state, and families must be physically and financially able to assume responsibility for the dog after certification. Final analyses included pre/post-AAD data from 11 triads (child-AAD-parent/handler), and behavioral features of children based on the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) and Autism Spectrum Quotient-Child (AQ-Child). To examine parental stress and family experiences, parents completed the: Autism Parenting Stress Index (APSI); State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI); Autism Family Experience Questionnaire (AFEQ); and the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS). Pre/post-AAD hair/nail samples were collected to measure pre-/postchronic cortisol concentration for both parents and children. Parent data revealed reductions in levels of experienced and perceived stress on: the PSS (F1,10 = 10.318, p = 0.009); the APSI (F1.9 = 9.348, p = 0.014); Trait Anxiety on the STAI (F1.10 = 7.14, p = 0.023); and the AFEQ, Total Score (F1.10 = 35.386, p < 0.001). Child data showed a reduction in problem behaviors and ASD symptom severity: AQ-Child (F1,10 = 8.103, p = 0.017); CBCL Total Problems (F1,10 =14.852, p = 0.003); SRS-2 Total (F = 5.405, p < 0.042). CCC levels decreased for the subset of participants from whom we were able to collect pre/post-AAD hair/nail samples: parents (F1,5 = 20.852, p = 0.006) and children (F1,4 = 30.600, p = 0.005). Our findings demonstrate that, in addition to enhancing child outcomes, the integration of well-trained AADs can impact families positively across multiple domains of health and function. Mechanisms of action are considered within the context of a dynamic biopsychosocial framework.

The importance of responsive parenting for vulnerable infants.

The quality of the early caregiving context sets the stage for the developing child's long term developmental trajectory. Infants are born highly dependent on parents and other caregivers for critical input for developing brain and behavioral systems. When infants experience early adversity, they are at risk for difficulties regulating behavior, emotions, and physiology. Parenting interventions have been developed to enhance parental responsiveness, thereby enhancing child outcomes. One such program, Attachment and Biobehavioral Catch-up (ABC), is a home visiting intervention designed to enhance parenting nurturance and sensitivity. In this paper, we will consider the importance of parental sensitivity and developmental consequences of sensitive and insensitive care. We will then describe interventions that target parental responsiveness and intervention effectiveness, focusing primarily on ABC. Public policy recommendations related to the importance of parental responsiveness will then be discussed.

Exploring the use of texting to support family-school engagement in early childhood settings: teacher and family perspectives

ABSTRACTNew technologies offer exciting opportunities for improving home-school communication, family engagement, and children’s learning in early childhood. This paper presents the results of an exploratory study focused on understanding how texting might enhance family-school engagement in early childhood settings. Using focus groups and surveys of teachers (n = 20) and family members (n = 30) in an urban early childhood programme in the eastern United States, we examined the nature of current communication (including texting) between school and home, openness among teachers and families to the idea of sending or receiving home-school communication via text, and beliefs among teachers and families about how texting can support various aspects of family-school engagement. Results suggest that many teachers and families are enthusiastic about using texting and view texting as a tool to further family-school engagement and communication and to enhance child outcomes.

Comparing Mechanisms to Child Outcomes from Long-Term Economic Well-Being Measured with the Official Poverty Measure and the Supplemental Poverty Measure

We used Panel Study of Income Dynamics data to compare paths to nine child outcomes from long-term economic well-being calculated using either the Official Poverty Measure (OPM) or the Supplemental Poverty Measure (SPM). Our sample included 953 10- to 18-year-old U.S. children. We used structural equation models to assess two broad mechanisms: the child’s home environment and parental mental health concerns. The portion of the relationship between our child outcomes and long-term economic well-being that was mediated by parental mental health concerns was generally similar with the OPM and SPM measures; on average, that mechanism explained about 8% of that relationship with the OPM measure and about 5% of that relationship with the SPM measure. However, the portion of that relationship that was mediated by the home environment was always much larger with the OPM measure than with the SPM measure; on average, that mechanism explained about 20% of that relationship with the OPM measure, but only about 5% of that relationship with the SPM measure. These results suggest that programs designed to enhance child outcomes by addressing parents’ mental health needs could use either OPM- or SPM-based measures to select families, but that OPM-based measures may be more effective to select families for programs designed to enhance child outcomes by improving the child’s home environment.

Fostering the Foundations of Self-Determination in Early Childhood: A Process for Enhancing Child Outcomes Across Home and School

Early childhood practitioners can play a vital role in the development of early self-determination in partnership with families. Self-determination has been generally considered to be about personal agency or control that can also relate to the quality of one’s life. Young children with disabilities start to develop a range of critical skills such as engagement and self-regulation that will be needed throughout their lives. These are the early foundational skills that lead to later self-determination. This paper describes a simple four-step process and key features of foundations of self-determination in early childhood, a collaborative process focusing on home–school partnerships. The unique alliance between each dyad (i.e., family member and early childhood practitioner) support child outcomes across naturally occurring routines at home and school. Each family and practitioner dyad uses attainable short-term goals embedded in home and school routines, intentional adult cues, and environmental modifications to promote foundational skills of self-determination in young children with disabilities.

Long-term follow-up of a randomized trial of family foundations: effects on children's emotional, behavioral, and school adjustment.

This study examines long-term effects of a transition to parenthood program, Family Foundations, designed to enhance child outcomes through a strategic focus on supporting the coparenting relationship. Roughly 5 to 7 years after baseline (pregnancy), parent and teacher reports of internalizing and externalizing problems and school adjustment were collected by mail for 98 children born to couples enrolled in the randomized trial. Teachers reported significantly lower levels of internalizing problems among children in the intervention group compared with children in the control group and, consistent with prior findings at age 3, lower levels of externalizing problems for boys in the intervention group. Baseline level of observed couple negative communication moderated intervention effects for parent and teacher report of child adjustment and teacher report of school adjustment and adaptation. Effect sizes ranged from 0.40 to 0.98. Results indicate that relatively brief preventive programs for couples at the transition to parenthood have the capacity to promote long-term positive benefits for children's adjustment. Although we attended to missing data issues in several ways, high levels of attrition in this long-term follow-up study is a cause for caution.

Service Delivery Complexities

Early intervention (EI) for children with physical disabilities is advocated as a means of enhancing child outcomes and family functioning. The issues confronted by service providers in delivering this support have received relatively little attention. The purpose of this study was to gain an understanding of the experiences of frontline EI staff delivering services to children with physical disabilities and their families. Researchers sought views about the ways in which EI programs provide services, how programs build and maintain relationships with families and team members, the prevalence of changing and unmet family needs, the presence of barriers to optimal service delivery, and recommendations for service improvement. Qualitative interviews with 10 staff members highlighted both positive aspects of service quality and issues encountered in the provision of services. Staff commented favorably on family-centered practice; aspects of service structure/delivery, including offering a wide range of supports, flexible service provision, and the focus on intervening early; and provider-related aspects including teamwork and interagency coordination and appropriate personal qualities and skills. Despite the strong endorsement of EI, participants also identified several challenges: meeting the high demand for services, under and unmet needs, and inadequate funding and staffing.

Advocacy for the “Abandonados”: Harnessing Cultural Beliefs for Latino Families and Their Children With Intellectual Disabilities

AbstractCommunity services and supports for children with intellectual disabilities (ID) can ameliorate the negative effects of caregiving and enhance child outcomes. For example, in Central and South America, many children with disabilities are institutionalized with inadequate sanitation and medical care. In the United States, certain demographic factors (e.g., poverty, limited access to healthcare, language barriers, and immigrant status) contribute to the underdiagnosis and poor‐quality treatment of Latino families and their children with ID, thus limiting their access to effective community and family supports. This paper utilizes a cultural lens to target advocacy as a mechanism for improving access to local community services and social supports for children with ID. The author examines specific cultural beliefs regarding family support and child development among Latino families, and provides policy recommendations derived from these cultural beliefs that aim to enhance advocacy efforts among Latino caregivers. The author notes that effective advocacy, at the family and at the policy level, can be a useful tool to access crucial community and social supports that enhance child and family outcomes.

Mental Health and Substance Use Problems of Parents Involved With Child Welfare: Are Services Offered and Provided?

Mental Health and Substance Use Problems of Parents Involved With Child Welfare: Are Services Offered and Provided?