Summer 2016 In this issue: • Improving Part C Services: One Bright Spot at a

Time

• Part C Coordinator’s Corner

• Just for Families

• Spotlight on Injoy Parenting Videos

• Introducing new KITS Staff

• Collaborative Calendar

• Addressing Challenging Behaviors in Infants

• New to the ECRC

KITS Newsletter is published quarterly and supported through a grant from the Kansas Department of Health and Environment – Infant Toddler Services. The opinions expressed herein do not necessarily reflect the position or policy of that agency or the University of Kansas, and no official endorsement should be inferred. Previous issues of the Newsletter can be downloaded from: http://kskits.org/publications/newsletter.shtml

Newsletter Editor: Kim Page, M.S. Project Director:

David P. Lindeman, Ph.D.

Improving Part C Services: One Bright Spot at a Time

A focus of the Kansas Part C State Systemic Improvement Plan (SSIP) is to provide effective and timely support to programs and personnel through leadership, that results in services promoting positive family/child relationships and addresses the positive social-emotional development of infants and toddlers with disabilities. In order to make this happen the SSIP calls for the installation and implementation of Local Leadership Teams (LLTs). These teams are to engage in a systematic, proactive, and ongoing continuous improvement process to support their ability to achieve state and local priorities, and ultimately reach the overall goal identified above. While the idea of “teaming” is certainly not a new concept in Kansas in early intervention, the specific process outlined in the SSIP might be different than what most have experienced. Up until now, SSIP activities have focused primarily on supporting the development of a State Leadership Team and Local Leadership Teams representing three tiny-k programs that were selected as “implementation sites” for the overall plan (Wyandotte County, Russell Child Development Center, Shawnee County). This year the plan calls for the addition of 11 more LLTs as part of “scaling up the SSIP work”. Eventually, all tiny-k programs will be asked to establish an LLT and engage in activities that promote positive social emotional outcomes for the infants and toddlers that they serve. In reality most, if not all tiny-k programs in Kansas already have a “team” pulled together that addresses early intervention issues and the needs of their program. However, the SSIP calls for a specific process to be utilized by the LLTs, one that follows implementation science and is described by the National Implementation Research Network (NIRM, 2005). Since the sole purpose of the LLT is to establish an infrastructure within the local program to support the adaption, integration, sustainability and scale up of specific evidence based practices (EBPs) tiny-k programs may identify an existing team that may already be in place as a starting point to the SSIP work. By assessing membership of an existing team and determining if the team can be “repurposed” to align with the SSIP activities/work, the program may be able to identify membership of the LLT very quickly. It is important not to confuse the LLT as an advisory group or a special committee with the sole responsibility of providing input on a matter of importance. Rather the LLT is a working group whose mission is to identify and carry out all the work needed to improve the social and emotional development of the infants and toddlers in their service.

Improving Part C Services: One Bright Spot at a Time

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Volume 25 Issue 3 Summer 2016

Improving Part C Services: One Bright Spot at a Time – continued In order for the LLT to be effective a core group of individuals (a minimum of 3-5) should be included who have the necessary expertise (master coaches), have the authority to make decisions (program administrator), can adequately represent staff, and can have adequate and dedicated time to engage in LLT activities. LLT members will engage in a data informed decision making process where they use data and other information to identify and address challenges in a continuous manner. They will review all levels of the program in order to create empowering working environments for their staff, and interface with stakeholders to learn from and provide information to that will improve the overall system. All of this work will be conducted in a systematic and methodical way that overtime should become second nature and result in small improvements that lead to significant positive changes over time at the local and state level.

The Work of the LLT Given the seeming enormity of the SSIP goal (increasing the % of children exiting Part C with age appropriate skills in SE development) how exactly does the LLT reach success? As the saying goes, “The best way to eat an elephant is one bite at a time.” The LLT will be engaged in a problem solving process that allows the team to identify small steps, that if taken, lead to big changes over time. What follows is a brief summary of the steps with a few examples to facilitate understanding.

Identify A Problem to Tackle In general, the desired goal of the SSIP is to improve the SE skills/competencies of the infants and toddlers being served in Part C. The first question the LLT will ask is “what might be standing in the way to improving these outcomes within our program?” To explore this question, the team might poll program staff, or review coaching team minutes, or look at data that might inform them of current gaps in services that might be happening for some families, with some providers, in some locations, etc. For example, one LLT identified a concern voiced by staff during team meetings regarding the frequency of “no-shows” (families not at home at the scheduled time for a home visit) they were experiencing. The feeling was “if families keep the scheduled number of visits they would be experiencing higher levels of support, and it would result in higher social

emotional outcomes at the exit of their children from Part C.” After further investigation the LLT found that the “no show” situation happened at a greater degree for families who spoke English as a second language. The team decided to focus on the following problem to address:

What’s The Problem?

A high percentage of children living in non-English speaking homes frequently miss scheduled home visits and therefore their children do not receive the full benefit of early intervention resulting in lower exit ECO ratings. Once the team identified the problem they then discussed possible root causes and identified the following:

Possible Root Causes 1. Miscommunication between English speaking

provider(s) and family. 2. Communication difficulties between English speaking

provider(s) and family make it hard to establish a positive working relationship resulting in families being less committed to services.

The next action taken by the LLT is somewhat unique to the SSIP process. The team engaged in activities to identify possible “bright spots” where an individual staff member, family, or other variable seemed to be in play that kept the “problem” from happening on a routine basis. If a staff member seemed to have more success with non-English speaking families what was he/she doing that appeared different than others? If some non-English speaking families seemed to be opening the door more frequently, what variables might be different than with other families? The LLT at this point is trying to identify salient features that might be easily replicated. What might the “bright spot” staff person be able to teach other staff members? From this discussion the LLT identified all of the possible actions they believe that might be replicated:

Preliminary Action Plan Ideas 1. Identify providers who speak languages other than

English and match them with families as the Primary Service Provider (PSP).

2. Ask the family to identify other family members, friends, community members who speak their home language as well as English and who might be willing to participate in, and they would feel comfortable including in home visits acting as a translator.

3. Identify a translator to be used for home visits upon approval of the family.

4. Use Google translate “Remind” to copy/paste translation into reminder messages so that parents receive the reminder in their native language.

Improving Part C Services: One Bright Spot at a Time

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Improving Part C Services: One Bright Spot at a Time – concluded

5. Gather information from a “focus group” consisting of family members whose home language is other than English, who are willing to meet, discuss, and brainstorm ideas to support communication between families and the program staff.

Once the preliminary actions have been identified the team then determines which of these ideas could be achieved most quickly and with the least amount of effort and what support (people, resources, time) is necessary to implement these strategies. Ideas that are not feasible are scratched off the list, and an action plan is created: In this example the team decided to begin their action plan by using technology to send reminders and “touch base” more frequently to remind families of upcoming visits as well as establish a mechanism for communicating more effectively in a quick manner. They selected this plan based on feedback they received from providers who were found to be more successful with this group of families.

Action Plan 1. Identify PSPs that work with families whose

home language is something other than English identified.

2. Identify translation apps that match the home language of families.

3. Identify appropriate translations apps that can be used with the families

4. Conduct training on the app as well as scheduling, communication methods, messages, etc. with the PSP staff working with the families. Identify strategies to be used with families enlisting their ideas/comfort/ability in using such apps as a means for additional communication between visits. Training to be conducted by the “bright spot” staff member.

5. Implement the use of communication apps with families’ approval.

6. Monitor the number of home visits kept against current baseline.

7. Determine if the strategy is working, needs modification, continue or discontinue.

8. If modification is needed, create new action steps/timelines/progress monitoring, and repeat the process.

9. If the action plan has been successful, move on to the next bite of the elephant .

The LLT action plan includes all of the typical activities identified on such plans such as “the action steps, resources needed to carry out the steps, persons responsible and timelines”. Most importantly the action plan identifies how success will be determined. In the example above the LLT may determine the plan is successful if there is a 50% decrease in “no shows” across all families, or they may determine success based on each family individually. The biggest take away is that the LLT should position itself to move quickly when something has been deemed successful/unsuccessful and not become stagnant. What happens if the actions are successful (e.g. they achieve the desired result of the action plan, decrease #of no shows), but there doesn’t seem to be any improvement in the social emotional outcome ratings? Statistically speaking, action plans (as described above) will have very little, if any positive impact on ECO ratings in the short term. However, that should not diminish the importance of “little bites” of progress towards the overall goal. In the example above, there is a good chance that additional actions may need to be taken in the future (e.g. shore up SE assessment practices and/or implement specific positive relationship interaction method). In order to carry out these other activities, providers must first be able to engage with the family in their home, so this is a very important and necessary first step. What is significantly different in this “teaming process” is the attention to “little positive steps” along the way to overall improvement. By identifying small actions that can be taken immediately continuous improvement is easier to carry out and obtain. The process is also less of a burden on the overall program and can provide opportunities for celebrations along the way. However, it is easy for teams to forget the ultimate prize (e.g. improved SE ECO across the state), and for this reason the Kansas Inservice Training System (KITS) will be providing support to teams along the way. As stated previously, 11 tiny-k programs were identified to begin SSIP activities by establishing an LLT. KITS will provide face to face training, and provide ongoing support as these teams are established and learn this process a little more in depth. Next year additional teams will be identified and supported until all programs in Kansas will understand the process and use it with fidelity. As each program continues to “grow their bright spots”, collectively Kansas will continue to be a shining star in the world of early intervention!

Written by Misty D. Goosen, Ed.S.

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Coordinator’s Corner With a strong devotion to infants and toddlers, Heather Staab is Coordinating Kansas’ Part C Infant-Toddler Services. She has worked in the field of early childhood education for the last 15 years and has gained experience as a classroom teacher; infant and toddler unit coordinator; program director

and administrator; and early intervention team member. Heather has a passion for connecting with people and love for learning. She is an alumna of the Kansas Leadership Center, a licensed program director, and was a participant in the Washburn University Honors Program. She has a strong background in program leadership with experience in facilitating systemic improvement, policy development, curriculum implementation and regulatory compliance. Heather is deeply dedicated to coordinating efforts and programs in Kansas that provide services and resources to families of children with disabilities and developmental delays. She believes that improving outcomes for children is best done by enhancing a family’s ability to support their child’s learning and development, within the context of their daily routines, so that children can experience meaningful results and a positive childhood.

Written by Heather Staab

Just for Families

Back-to-School Tips for Parents of Children with Special Needs By: Reading Rockets A new school year means a new grade, new teachers, new goals, and maybe even a new school! In order to help you and your child with special needs be as successful as you can be, we've put together a list of eight helpful back-to-school tips that we hope will make the transition into a new school year a little easier for you and your child.

1. Organize all that paperwork 2. Start a communication log 3. Review your child’s current IEP 4. Talk about the upcoming year to relieve back-to-school jitters 5. Keep everyone informed 6. Establish before and after school routines 7. Stay up-to-date on special education news 8. Attend school events Go to www.readingrockets.org for the full article.

Submitted by Kim Page

Spotlight on Injoy Parenting Videos

Injoy Videos has developed parenting videos include play, nutrition, health & safety and emotional health & positive discipline. Full set

includes: Emotional Health & Positive Discipline Birth - 6 Months Health& Safety Birth - 6 Months Play & Milestones Birth - 6 Months Nutrition Birth - 6 Months Emotional Health & Positive Discipline 7 - 12 Months Health& Safety 7 - 12 Months Play & Milestones 7 - 12 Months Nutrition 7 - 12 Months Emotional Health & Positive Discipline 1 Year Old Health& Safety 1 Year Olds Play & Milestones 1 Year Olds Nutrition 1 Year Olds Emotional Health & Positive Discipline 2 Year Olds Health& Safety 2 Year Olds Play & Milestones 2 Year Olds Nutrition 2 Year Olds To learn more go to: http://injoyvideos.com/new/parenting-basics.html The Parenting Videos is available and may be borrowed from the KITS Early Childhood Resource Center. Contact Kim Page at kpage@ku.edu

Contact the KITS Early Childhood Resource

Center (620) 421-6550 ext. 1651

Toll free in Kansas: (800) 362-0390 ext. 1651 Email: resourcecenter@ku.edu

http://www.kskits.org/ecrc/

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Introducing new KITS Staff

Barbara Kramer has worked with infants and toddlers with disabilities and their families for the past 25 years. After completing a Master’s degree in Early Childhood Special Education, she worked as a developmental specialist in a center-based, early intervention program in Albuquerque, New Mexico. She continued her studies and received certification as an Educational Diagnostician, specializing in the psychoeducational assessment of infants and toddlers. She joined a diagnostic, developmental evaluation team at the Center for Development and Disability assisting families to understand their child’s diagnosis or developmental delay.

From 2000-2014, Barbara worked in the Arizona early intervention system as a service provider, program manager, and as a technical assistance and monitoring specialist with the Arizona TA team. Her work there included assisting in the development and implementation of early intervention personnel standards of practice, and delivering training and technical assistance. Barbara provided coaching to individuals and groups, technical assistance and training on federal and state early intervention regulations and best practices; participated in monitoring activities and worked with local programs to use data to determine technical assistance needs. Barbara moved to Kansas in 2014 and most recently worked as the Kansas Infant Toddler Services Program Analyst/Data Manager with primary responsibilities for monitoring and general supervision duties and completion of state and federal reports.

Michele Utt has worked with children in some capacity for the last 30 years. She has experience in child care settings, preschool education, social work services including foster care, the Parents as Teachers program and in early intervention services. For the last 10 years, she has provided training and technical assistance services as well as administrative responsibilities as a director for the First Steps program in Missouri. The First Steps program in Missouri provides the early intervention services outlined in Part C of the Individuals with Disabilities Act (IDEA). In this position, she has served on numerous committees,

served as a stakeholder for many different projects and presents and state and local conferences. In her spare time, Michele volunteers for the Jackson County Missouri CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocate) program and is working with three small children placed in Kansas City, Missouri. Michele has a Bachelor of Science degree in Human Environmental Studies from Southeast Missouri State University in Cape Girardeau, Missouri with a major in Child and Family Development and a minor in psychology. She earned Master in Public Administration degree with an emphasis in Nonprofit Management from the University of Missouri – Kansas City.

Tammy Wallin is a 2003 graduate of Emporia State University, with her B.S in Elementary Education. She graduated from ESU with endorsements in Early Childhood Education, Elementary Special Education, and completed her Masters in Early Childhood Special Education in 2005. Tammy completed her Building Level Leadership degree in 2016. She started teaching at Cloud Elementary in Wichita, KS where she co-taught in a Kindergarten/Kindergarten Special Education classroom. After

teaching Kindergarten Special Education, Tammy was a Preschool Special Educator where she worked with a diverse group of children and families. After teaching in Part B, Tammy stepped in the role of Coordinator and Primary Provider for the Pottawatomie Wabaunsee County Infant Toddler Program. Tammy has enjoyed the opportunity to lead such a diverse and talented team that has a passion for serving families with the utmost evidence based practices! Tammy has participated in and provided several training opportunities for professionals from multiple disciplines within Part C. These professional development activities include providing one-day inservice trainings to local Part C networks, providing peer coaching to neighboring Part C networks, developing training materials to help local Part C networks, and presenting on evidence based topics at both state and national conferences. Her passion for ensuring Part C providers are providing services in accordance with the Mission and Key Principals is one of the many characteristics Tammy shows continuously that has led her to serve in her current role as an Infant Toddler Technical Assistance Specialist for Kansas Inservice Training System (KITS).

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Collaborative Calendar of Events Check the KITS Collaborative Training Calendar for information

on a variety of training events for Kansas early childhood professionals!

EVENT / LOCATION SPONSOR / CONTACT / REGISTRATION

10-18-2016 National DEC Conference Louisville

10-27-2016

Kansas Infant-Toddler Services/tiny-k Master Coach Regional Meetings Hays

10-28-2016

Kansas Infant-Toddler Services/tiny-k Master Coach Regional Meetings Salina

11-02-2016

Kansas Infant-Toddler Services/tiny-k Master Coach Regional Meetings Topeka

11-02-2016

Part C Infant Toddler Hearing Screening Training Topeka

11-03-2016

Quality Interactions Between Professionals and Families to Enhance Child Learning Webinar

11-04-2016 Coordinator Meeting Topeka

11-04-2016 The Zones of Regulation Topeka

11-14-2016 New Coordinator Training Salina

12-08-2016

Are you up for the challenge? Strategies to support families experiencing difficult circumstances

Webinar

12-08-2016 Kansas I/T Coordinator Connection Salina

12-12-2016 New Coordinator Training Salina

SubscriberstotheKITSInfant-ToddlerorPreschoolProgramlistservsreceiveinformationalemailsaboutprofessionaldevelopmentopportunities,jobopenings,andotherresources.

Findoutmoreorsubscribetodayathttp://kskits.org/listserv/

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Any not-for profit organizations are welcome to list their early childhood trainings, workshops, or conferences on the KITS

Collaborate Training Calendar. For more information click here.

Addressing Challenging Behavior in Infants

and Toddlers

Recent research has found that an extraordinarily high number of young children are being asked to leave early childhood settings because of their behavior. The Pyramid Model, a framework of recommended practices can help ECE programs support the social–emotional competence of young children and address challenging behavior. In most cases, challenging behavior develops over a period of time. On the basis of data, it is possible that many of the children expelled at 4 years old could have been identified with proper screening and assessment tools in earlier years of their development. Learn how high-quality environments facilitate children’s ability to safely explore and learn, become familiar with routines, and develop self-regulation skills necessary for learning appropriate behaviors. https://www.zerotothree.org/resources/170-addressing-challenging-behavior-in-infants-and-toddlers

Submitted by Kim Page

New to the ECRC for Summer 2016 Injoy Videos. (2016). Basic Parenting Series. Longmont,

CO. Injoy Productions. Soukakou, E. (2016). Inclusive Classroom Profile.

Baltimore, MD. Brookes Publishing.

Early Childhood Resource Center (620) 421-6550 ext. 1651

Toll free in Kansas: (800) 362-0390 ext. 1651 Email: resourcecenter@ku.edu.

Our entire catalog is searchable online at KITS ECRC

Kansas Inservice Training System™

P.O. Box 738 2601 Gabriel, Parsons, KS 67357

(620) 421-6550 ext. 1618 Toll free in Kansas:

(800) 362-0390 ext. 1618 Fax: 620-421-0671

E-Mail: kskits@ku.edu Website: http://kskits.org/

The University of Kansas prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, ethnicity, religion, sex, national origin, age, ancestry, disability, status as a veteran, sexual orientation, marital status, parental status, gender identity, gender expression and genetic information in the University’s programs and activities. The following person has been designated to handle inquiries regarding the non-discrimination policies: Director of the Office of Institutional

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