Stephen A. Kapp

Client Satisfaction Methods: Input from Parents with Children in Foster Care

Although significant research has been conducted on the effectiveness of foster care services, the viewpoints of parents with children in foster care are routinely neglected. This manuscript describes a series of focus group interviews that included parents who have children in foster care. The purpose of the interviews was to learn about effective methods for designing an ongoing system for collecting client satisfaction data. In addition to providing insights on preferred methods for collecting this data, the parents provided extensive information about their perceived treatment as consumers of services within this privatized foster care system. In addition, the authors provide details on the methods utilized to conduct these groups.

Consumer Satisfaction with Children's Mental Health Services

Consumer satisfaction with childrens mental health services was assessed via a statewide survey. All families of children receiving case management services from community mental health centers in Kansas were eligible to participate. Youth ages 12 and older who were receiving case management were also surveyed. The sample consisted of 963 parents and 331 youth. Results are presented in the form of descriptive statistics that report satisfaction with specific practices and services, as well as overall satisfaction. Also, analyses were performed to explore how overall client satisfaction is related to demographic variables and to satisfaction with specific agency practices. Implications for training and administrative procedures are discussed.

The path to adoption for children of color

OBJECTIVE This article focuses on the path to adoption for children involved in the public child welfare system. METHOD Descriptive and event history analyses were conducted of 1,550 children who had been removed from their homes and placed in out of home care in the child welfare system in Kansas and have adoption as a goal. RESULTS African American children consistently took longer to reach significant milestones, including adoption placement and finalization. CONCLUSION African American children are over-represented throughout the progression from substantiated abuse to adoption. Future research in other states should focus on whether this trend is unique to Kansas or applicable in other states. Additionally, efforts should be devoted to investigating the social, psychological, cultural, and systemic factors contributing to this differential treatment. Finally, there is a dire need to develop and evaluate interventions targeted at meeting the specialized needs of African American children in this system.

Building Organizational Knowledge and Value: Informed Decision Making in Kansas Children’s Community-Based Mental Health Services

Knowledge is managers’ principal asset and knowledge building is managers’ primary work. This qualitative study explores knowledge building by directors of children’s community-based mental health services in Kansas. Of the state’s 27 directors, 25 completed a survey about knowledge building, in their preference of online or telephone format. Fourteen participants took part either in preliminary interviews for study development, or in follow-up interviews for further detail and member checking. Study findings indicate that with requisite resources, directors inform their decision making with streams of information, which they manage and generate to build organizational knowledge and value for local practice effectiveness.

Positive Peer Culture: The Viewpoint of Former Clients

Group approaches have historically been very popular in treatment facilities for juvenile offenders. Although many of the techniques are descriptively, well documented, there is a shortage of evaluation research assessing the impacts of this type of treatment, especially as it relates to helping youth live independently in community settings. This manuscript describes a unique critique of peer-oriented therapy. The critics are former clients of juvenile treatment facilities where this type of group model was practiced. Former residents of these facilities offered their impressions in the context of life history interviews describing their experiences in the juvenile justice system. These individuals, interviewed in prisons where they were incarcerated as adults after leaving the juvenile system, offer illuminating and critical portrayals of their experience with a particular form of peer counseling—Positive Peer Culture. Their input should be interesting and valuable to those professionals who are committed to providing effective services to juvenile offenders and their families.

Theory Meets Practice: The Localization of Wraparound Services for Youth with Serious Emotional Disturbance

This study identified statewide variation in implementation of wraparound for children on the severe emotional disturbance (SED) Waiver in Kansas. SED Waivers allow Community Mental Health Centers (CMHC) to offer an array of community-based services to high risk youth. Qualitative methods, including interviews, reviews of charts and billing records, and a survey, were employed. Stratified random sampling was used to select seven CMHCs, and random sampling was used to select individual cases for interviews. Although CMHCs shared similar wraparound philosophy and service initiation processes, each developed their own localized wraparound model within the confines of Medicaid eligibility and documentation rules. Eight models for wraparound team composition were identified. Findings demonstrate implementation of wraparound with fidelity to a central model is difficult on a large scale. The balance of standardized wraparound practices, localized innovations, and agency compliance with Medicaid is essential for optimizing children’s mental health services.

Trolling for Useful Data in an Automated Information Management System: Experiences of Kansas Community Mental Health Managers

The State of Kansas community mental health system uses an automated information management system for state and federal accountability and for local quality improvement. Researchers interviewed 25 of the states 28 directors of childrens community-based mental health services to learn about the automated systems local applications. Two-thirds of the directors used the automated system for either programmatic decision making or staff supervision, when they were supported by time and personnel for looking at data and an organizational culture of trust in data-informed decisions. Directors additionally wanted technology that allows local access to their data.

Evaluating Hospice Services for Improvement

Over the past thirty years, hospice services across the United States have been established as a viable alternative for terminally ill patients. As expected, during this period of stabilization, hospice service leaders have invested the majority of their energy in securing funding, developing coalitions, and developing/implementing services. All of this work has occurred to support the primary aim of symptom control for patients through use of pharmacotherapy, as well as provision of ancillary services by interdisciplinary teams consisting of nurses, social workers, pastoral care staff, occupational therapists, and others. Little attention has been given to assessing the effectiveness of this range of services in a holistic way. This paper presents a model of evaluation that is both manageable to implement and suitable to the political environments where hospice providers reside. The article demonstrates an approach that is collaborative and directs the evaluative process towards the improvement of services.

Through the Glass Wall: Lessons Learned From Changing Technology for Knowledge Transfer in Kansas Children's Community-Based Services

Technology is well suited to information management, but a glass wall separates data from data users. Directors of Kansas community-based mental health services for children had limited access to their data in the states automated information management system. A researcher collaborated with a field test group of directors, to develop online reporting software for improved data access. The studys data consisted of transcripts from interviews and member checking with field testers, about the softwares effect on data utilization. Qualitative analysis of transcripts indicated that software supported data entry and reports for local questions, but that the glass wall is not yet fully permeated.