Programs that provide services for young children with special needs are now planning ways to support the child's family as well. In response to the great diversity in the way programs define and implement a family-centered approach to service delivery, researchers at the Beach Center on Families and Disability designed and tested the Family-Centered Program Rating Scale (FamPRS). In addition to being used as a component of a comprehensive program evaluation, the FamPRS may be used for program planning, staff development, and research. This article describes how the rating scale was developed, provides information about its psychometric properties, and makes recommendations for its appropriate uses.Programs that provide services for young children with special needs are undergoing great changes. Instead of working only with the child, they now plan ways to support the child's family as well, in order to maximize the benefit of services for the child and for the family. Although there is an increased awareness of the need for family-centered services, there is great diversity in the way programs define and implement such an approach to service delivery. Furthermore, as many professionals are discovering, changing to a family-centered approach often requires a major reconceptualization of early intervention (Meisels, 1992;

This study was commissioned by the North Carolina Interagency Coordinating Council (NC-ICC) at the request of its Children and Families Committee. The views expressed in this article are not necessarily those of the NC-ICC. We thank Lynn Curkin, Doris Cothard, and Susan Robinson (fellow members, with the authors, of the Children and Families Committee) for their contributions to the design of the study and creation of the questionnaire. Thanks are also extended to Ron Craig and Bill Parise for quantitative data analysis, to Wayde Johnson, Karen Applequist, Lisa Clifton, and Craig Pohlman for qualitative analyses, to Cayle Underdown and Gladys Whitehouse for conducting the interviews, to Cina Walker for graphics, and to Duncan Munn for contributing to the questionnaire. We are most grateful to the families who took the time to participate; many of them wrote long answers to the open-ended questions. Appreciation is extended to the direct-service professionals who distributed the questionnaires and followed up with families. Finally, special thanks are due to the six families who allowed us to interview them. One method of evaluating early intervention services is to ask its consumers. The mixed-method approach in this study involved a written survey (quantitative) and in-depth, semi-structured interviews (qualitative). The survey was completed by 539 parents of infants, toddlers, and preschoolers receiving any type of early intervention service. Results showed overwhelming satisfaction with most services, but some concerns were noted in the choices of available mainstreaming options. Interviews showed that families ascribed most of their positive experiences to the supportive behaviors of individual professionals. Bad experiences were most often related to difficulties in finding out about, getting, and monitoring services. Families spent much time and energy in securing more services, particularly therapies, for their children. The discussion focuses on implications for family-centered services and for providing specialized services.

Unusually high turnover rates in early intervention programs will contribute significantly to the documented shortage of qualified personnel needed for the successful implementation of PL 99-45 7, forcing policy makers to consider options for maximizing the retention of personnel presently in the field. This study was conducted to provide an initial indication of the extent of turnover among early childhood interventionists working in a statewide network of home-based early intervention programs. Results indicated that the mean length of service of staff was increasing (2.5 years in 1985; 3.5 years in 1988) whereas the mean length of service of related therapists and specialists employed e& consultants was decreasing (2.9 years, 1985; 2.2 years, 1988). The findings abo revealed that 49% of staff and 38% of consultants remained employed over a 2.7 year period, while 68 % of directors of programs remained during the same period. The results of the study are compared to turnover rates and length of service for various related settings described in the literature, and implications for further research are discussed. PATVANDIVIERE A key factor influencing the successful implementation of Public Law 99-457 is the availability of a sufficient number of qualified personnel to provide early intervention. Unfortunately, shortages of early childhood special educators and related therapists have beendocumented in nearly all 50 states and are predicted to continue for the next several years (McLaughlin, Smith-Davis, & Burke, 1986; Meisels, Harbin, Modigliani, & Olson, 1988). An issue that compounds the increased demand for qualified personnel is employee turnover. While personnel turnover may have possible positive consequences, such as displacement of poor performers, infusion of new ideas, skills and knowledge, and stimulation of changes in policy and practice (Mobley , 1982), the negative consequences are often more significant. Unusually high rates of attrition will intensify the shortage of personnel, accelerate the need for training and recruiting, and complicate policy decisions regarding service delivery in early intervention programs.Employee turnover has additional effects on organizations It is a vital concern for most 342 at UNIV NEBRASKA LIBRARIES on April 12, 2015 jei.sagepub.com Downloaded from