Conclusion: Moving Forward
The M&M project brought together state teams comprised of stakeholders represented by families, community providers, and policymakers from the various state programs. This participatory action research (PAR) approach resulted in the successful creation of indicators for the six performance outcomes that comprise a system of care for CYSHCN, ensuring buy-in from stakeholders. Such buy-in was viewed as essential to support the unified vision necessary to build a system of care. Therefore, the strength of the indicators is based on the strength of the diverse group of stakeholders who created them.
This Assessment to Action process supports states in building partnerships at the state and community levels that are essential for systems building. First, the process helps establish a common vision among key stakeholders, guiding state leaders in defining a system of care as well as highlighting the shared CYSHCN population among agencies. Second, the recruitment of partners from various agencies can result in forming new collaborative relationships with other agencies and state offices. Third, these newly formed teams can support the process of sharing data results and development of new data collection strategies. Finally, the Assessment to Action process can serve as the impetus for dialogue about the common outcomes and priorities found across stakeholders and as a guide for the type of policy development and implementation planning needed for systems building.
It is anticipated that the refinement of the indicators will continue as our understanding of measurement and system implementation evolves over time. Additional work is needed to refine the indicators to better support their use in measuring progress of the six CYSHCN performance outcomes. Development of more precise wording is needed, which will support standardization in measurement. This further refinement can then lead to the potential creation of new data collection tools to monitor progress, particularly for the indicators that have no data sources for measurement as yet.
The intention of the M&M Project team was to provide direction to states as they move closer to the goal of achieving a system of care for CYSHCN. It is hoped that Assessment to Action can serve as a "road map" by supporting states in their capacity to identify the children who must be served, to assess the strengths and challenges of their service system, and to recognize the need for data to document their progress.
The M&M Project staff at the Early Intervention Research Institute welcome any comments or questions concerning this document. Please contact:
Richard Roberts (richard.roberts@usu.edu) or Diane Behl (diane.behl@usu.edu)
Early Intervention Research Institute
6580 Old Main Hill
Utah State University
Logan, UT 84322-6580
1-800-887-1699