CCNY, Community Connections of New York

Today, The Joint Commission is launching a new Speak Up <http://www.jointcommission.org/PatientSafety/SpeakUp/>  campaign to help parents make a difference in their child’s care by asking the right questions and being actively involved, whether it’s at the doctor’s office, in the hospital, or even at home.

Topics include:

• Symptoms that mean you need to take your child to the doctor or hospital immediately
• Preparing for your child’s visit to the doctor’s office
• What you should ask the doctor
• Taking medicine safely
• Having a medical or laboratory test
• Going to the hospital
• Having a safe operation

Please click on the link below to access the brochure on this new program. Thank you!
http://www.jointcommission.org/PatientSafety/SpeakUp/sp_peds.htm

The Child Welfare Information Gateway has released new publications this month. One, in particular, may be interesting to you:

Title: Child and Family Visitation: A Practice Guide to Support Lasting Reunification and Preserving Family Connections for Children in Foster Care.

Published: 2009

Available from: Minnesota Dept. of Human Services http://www.dhs.state.mn.us/ 444 Lafayette Road North St Paul, MN 55155

Printable version (PDF): http://edocs.dhs.state.mn.us/lfserver/Legacy/DHS-5552-ENG

Abstract: This manual reviews the benefits of child and biological family visitation when the child is in foster care in Minnesota and sets out guidelines for conducting successful visits. Guidelines are provided that address: the first visit and frequency of visitation; supervision and location of visitation; engaging fathers in visitation; deciding who visits a child; visitation with infants and toddlers; developing a visitation plan; review and revision of a visitation plan; phases of visitation; terminating or limiting visitation; the role of foster parents in visitation; understanding reactions and supporting visitation with the child, parent(s) and foster parent(s); visits with an incarcerated parent; visitation considerations in cases of domestic or sexual abuse; visits with children in group care/residential facilities; and visits between child and siblings. Minnesota statutes about foster care and family are reviewed and an example of a visitation plan is provided. 12 references.

CCNY just loves the data, but we can imagine that there are people who don't. We try really hard to imagine that - we really do. So, we found some amazing resources from SAMHSA to assist those who are less enthusiastic when they hear the words "evaluation" or "data". Enjoy.

Evaluation for the Unevaluated: Program Evaluation 101

Perhaps the biggest question asked about the thousands of prevention programs out there is, "Does it work?" This tutorial will help you understand what program evaluation is, why it is important, and how to find a good evaluator. The modules discuss types of evaluation projects, evaluation tasks, and preparation for conducting evaluations.

Evaluation for the Unevaluated: Program Evaluation 102

This tutorial will introduce statistical concepts and explain how evaluation results are used. Good evaluations are essential to effective programs and the future of your prevention program. The tutorial also describes special challenges in evaluating prevention programs.

Wading Through the Data Swamp: Program Evaluation 201

Your funders want to know if your program works and so far all you have are piles of confusing tables and printouts from your evaluator. This tutorial uses a case-study approach to demonstrate how to use evaluation data and how to work more effectively with your evaluator. You'll be given a variety of tools and a complete data set from a hypothetical evaluation. If you are not familiar with evaluation, you should complete Evaluation 101 and 102 before beginning this tutorial.

www.timetotalk.org