One professional provides weekly support to the family, backed up by a team of other professionals who provide services to the child and family through joint home visits with the primary service provider. The intensity of joint home visits depends on child, family, and primary-service-provider needs.
McWilliam, 2010
What Exactly is a Primary Service Provider?
The Purpose of the PSP Enable families to establish and maintain
an ongoing working relationship with a lead team member with needed expertise who then becomes an expert on the whole child and family
PSP teaming requires an interconnectedness of all team members regarding their role in promoting parent-mediated child learning and development.
Primary Service Provider ModelThe PSP acts as the principle program
resource and point of contact The PSP mediates the family’s and other
care providers’ skills and knowledge in relation to a range of needed or desired resources
The team members use coaching practices to build the capacity of parents and other primary care providers
Benefits of a PSP ModelRelationship between practitioner, family
members and other care providers enhanced
Efficient use of family and program resources
Reducing both gaps and overlaps in supports and services
Misunderstandings about the PSP Model It limits services It forces staff to be “generalists” - not
“Early Interventionists” It provides “indirect treatment”Direct service is better It restricts family choice It violates professional ethics
Characteristics of a PSP TeamMembers include at least an early
childhood special educator, OT, PT, SLP and service coordinator(s) with expertise in child development, family support and coachingMay have social work, psychology or
other disciplines as neededGeographically based
Responsible for all referrals within a predetermined area
Capacity of a PSP TeamCaseload
Shelden and Rush: 7 FTEs can serve 100-125 families when drive time does not exceed 30 – 45 minutes one way
McWilliam: 16 visits per week
Five PSP Implementation Conditions1. All team members must be available (and
willing) to serve as a PSP.2. All team members must attend regular team
meetings for the purpose of colleague-to-colleague coaching
3. The team must use a consistent process to select a PSP according to four factors: parent/family, child, environmental, practitioner.
4. All team members shall participate in joint home visits as necessary
5. A PSP should change as infrequently as possible.Sheldon and Rush 2013
Critical Issues in a PSP ModelEach team member must
Be an evidence based practitioner in:his/her own disciplineearly interventionearly childhood developmentparent education and family support
Be an active participant in all team meetings Take an active role in professional
learning/development Be willing to share knowledge with rest of team See parent (rather than child) as focus of
intervention
Critical Issues in a PSP ModelEffective team members
Are agreeable Are conscientiousHave high general mental abilityAre competent in their area of expertiseAre high in openness to experience and
mental stabilityLike teamworkSocialized to the organizational culture
Bell, 2004
Shelden & Rush
What We Know Leadership
Administrative support for use of the approach is essential
Program administrators must attend at least some team meetings
Early Intervention Process Same team should support families from initial
referral through transition Primary coaches do not (and should not) change
frequently Joint Visits
15-20% of total visits are joint visits Disciplines other than core, may require more joint
visits Three steps are required for joint visits to be
effective
What We Know Team Meetings
All team members must attend all meetings Meetings average less than 1 ½ hours per week Meetings need a competent, consistent facilitator The order in which items occur on the agenda
matters Teams that meet weekly learn and implement
practices Weekly meetings lead to higher accountability
among team members When coaching occurs at team meetings, the
practices are implemented Time
Moving to a primary coach approach takes intensive support over time