The Division of Disability and Rehabilitative Services, Family and Social Services Administration has contracted with the Indiana Institute on Disability and Community (IIDC), Indiana University to conduct an independent evaluation and audit of the Indiana First Steps Early Intervention System. IIDC is charged with collecting and analyzing First Steps data over the past several years to investigate the impact of recent policy decisions and programmatic changes in First Steps. This investigation is occurring in response to several questions and concerns posed by the First Steps Stakeholder Committee that met at IIDC on March 27, 2007. This data will not only provide an overall state summary but also a comprehensive look at the First Steps programs in individual counties. A final piece will be to look at the data collected from a national perspective, to see how well Indiana’s First Steps program compares with other states' Part C early intervention programs.

Activities include surveys of families, providers, ED teams, SPOEs, and service coordinators, which will be utilized to provide an in-depth picture of personal experiences within the First Steps System. Once the data analysis has been completed and the surveys have been collected, the ECC will provide detailed reporting, which an Independent Review Panel will then evaluate. As part of the audit/evaluation, members of the ECC research team will also review existing personnel preparation efforts in other states in order to identify effective professional development practices. These practices will then be compared to the current CSPD practices.

Outcomes/Products: Collected data will be used to:

• Inform state-level decision-makers
• Final Reports – August 2008
• Potential publications in scholarly journals

• Start/End Dates: October 2007 - August 2008
• Share the proposed evaluation plan with all interested families, providers, and other First Steps stakeholders for review and public comments - September-October 2007
• Gather all the data needed to carry out the analyses, including collecting existing state data - October 2007-April 2008
• Survey multiple First Steps constituencies - December 2007-April 2008
• Reviews of the literature and content analyses of existing state documents - October 2007-January 2008
• Conduct the necessary statistical analyses - November 2007-May 2008
• Draft initial reports for review and comment by DDARS and First Steps Program stakeholders - June-July 2008
• Contract with Dr. Carl Dunst to conduct an independent review of the procedures, analyses, and findings for quality, accuracy, & validity; and to conduct a comparison of Indiana’s practices with national practices - August 2008
• Final reports - August 2008

01-FS Audit Abstract

02-FS Concerns

03-Stakeholder Committee Report

04-Evaluation Questions

05-Training Times Article 11-07

06-Online Audit Meeting 12-11-07*
*After program loads, drag the time bar slider at bottom of screen to 17 min 13 sec to skip setup and start at content.

07-Status of FS Audit 2-20-08

08-REVISED Schedule/Topics of Audit Results Webcasts with added dates 3/28/2008

09-Webcast 1-Q1: Impact on referrals, intakes, evaluations, IFSPs and Q2: Impact on children and families served 3-6-2008**
**At 30 minutes in, there is a pause. Please drag the time bar slider to 36 minutes to continue with the program.

10-Webcast 2-Q3: Impact on services available to children and families 4-2-08

11-Webcast 3-Q4: Impact of policy changes on A) Total annual costs, and B) Average cost of services per child 4-3-08

12-Webcast 4-Q5: How well are First Steps providers carrying out recent state policies concerning evaluation (ED Teams, AEPS) 4-25-08***
***Please drag time bar slider to 5:37 minutes to begin the webcast.

13-Webcast SCHEDULE for MAY 2008

14-Webcast 5-Q6: How can First Steps improve the quantity and quality of services available to families? 5-8-08

15-Webcast 6: Number and availability of providers in First Steps: Preliminary evaluation findings 5-15-08

16-Webcast 7: Family survey results 5-21-08