Training Institutes 2012 - National Technical Assistance Center for ...

• Strategies and tools for engaging primary care providers in a system of care approach, including provider tip sheets,
referral systems, micro-trainings, and satisfaction surveys
• Discussion of the policy context for making the pediatric medical homes a hub for sustainable, integrated behavioral
health services in an environment of changing healthcare systems
Participants will have the opportunity to apply the quality improvement process to their own community, identifying a
specific, measurable goal for engaging primary care providers in their systems approach. The faculty team includes the
perspectives of two senior administrators of public health agencies. Additional perspectives to be incorporated include
those of a lead family contact, medical doctor, and early childhood mental health clinician.
MODERATOR/PRESENTER: Kathleen Betts, M.P.H., Deputy Assistant Secretary, Massachusetts Executive Office
of Health and Human Services, Boston, MA
Deborah Allen, Sc.D., Director, Bureau of Child, Adolescent, and Family Health, Boston Public Health Commission,
Boston, MA
WORKSHOP #21 8:30 AM FRIDAY • 3:30 PM SATURDAY • TALLAHASSEE 3
Developing a Web-Based Data System for Family Support Programs:
Challenges and Opportunities
OBJECTIVES—Participants will learn:
1. How to use a standardized, systematic approach to collecting data for the evaluation and quality improvement of
family support services
2. Strategies to engage stakeholders (family and youth advocates, administrators, researchers, state and local
government) in the collaborative process of developing and implementing a family support data system
3. How to select relevant data points and assessment tools to measure individual outcomes and program performance
4. Solutions to institutional and organizational challenges experienced while developing, launching and sustaining a
data system
This Workshop will focus on the development and implementation of a web-based data system for peer-run communitybased
family support programs that is used to track and report individual outcomes, monitor program performance, and
improve the quality of services. Faculty will describe strategies for building a network of family support programs;
using a collaborative process to ensure the data system meets the needs of key stakeholders; systematically selecting
relevant data points; providing effective training and technical assistance in using the data system; and using the data
that are generated by the system to inform planning and service delivery.
The strategies to be detailed are based on New York City’s initiative to create a network of family support programs and
evaluate their impact on parents/caregivers and youth. Nine Family Resource Centers citywide are staffed by Family
Advocates, Youth Advocates, Clinical Partners and Program Directors. The centers provide peer-to-peer support,
advocacy, information and referrals, education and skill-building, a warm line, and respite care. A key component of
this initiative has been a data system to track who is served, utilization of services, and outcomes.
The specific topics to be covered include:
• A change in practice for family support programs including standardizing services and responding to the new impetus
to collect data that will demonstrate the impact of these services
• The purpose of the data system as a tool for evaluating and monitoring programs and for planning future financing
and resource allocation within the community
• The choice of data elements and customization of system functions to capture demographic information, service
history, families’ strengths, needs, and goals, and use of family support services
• The participatory process of developing the data system including selecting a vendor, surveying service providers,
developing data fields, as well as customizing and testing the system
• Lessons learned when launching the system and ensuring data completeness and accuracy
• Methods of providing appropriate training, technical assistance, and support
Training Institutes 2012
WORKSHOPS
81