Family Assessment



Family Assessment

Introduction

A family's goals, values, and beliefs will determine the nature of their child(ren)'s experiences. Family Goals Attainment Scaling (FGAS) is one technique involving collaboration to individualise goals for families and their children, as deemed necessary. The FGAS method serves to emphasise the family's role in selecting and prioritising goals for themselves and their child (Fleuridas, Rosenthal, Leigh & Leigh, 1990). The use of this method also involves families in specifying the services to be provided to attain the goals, as well as acceptable indicators of goal attainment.

Since goals are tailored to individual families, it is possible for families and program practitioners to evaluate the effectiveness of the program(s) and collaboration (Maher, 1983). Essential to FGAS is the ability for collaborative problem-solving. The collaborative problem-solving process is a series of interactions between the family and early intervention practitioner(s) that is directed toward goal-attainment. The first interaction in this series is identification and definition of the problem. Next is data collection, then goal-setting, action-planning, and carrying out the action. The final steps in this series of interactions are evaluation and revision or termination of the action plan. As indicated in this series of interactions, family assessment and collaborative partnerships to set and attain goals are conjoined processes with family and practitioner mutually involved and accountable.

Case

Kevin is a 1-year-old living in a rural area who receives early intervention due to diagnosed delays in cognitive and physical development. His mother's estimated reading level is third grade and his father's fifth grade. Kevin is seen by the early interventionist and speech-language pathologist twice weekly in his home. Activities suggested for daily practice by the interventionists have not been followed through by the family, thus Kevin's family has been labeled as noncompliant by the early intervention team. Criticisms of the family's lack of follow-through resulted in frequent heated staff discussionÐ discussions that not only excluded the family, but also dissolved all semblance of collaboration among the various service providers.

Finger-pointing and passing blame revolved around such issues as not providing information in a form useful to and usable by the family, not providing adequate training on feeding skills, not providing parent training and information on nutrition and home safety, and positioning equipment being provided to the family that was not utilised.

Initially, Kevin's family was not receptive to the idea of family assessment. Kevin's mother reported that the family was doing okay and did not have any needs to report. After working with the family for a while, the early intervention social worker felt that Kevin's mother may have been overwhelmed with the thought of having to complete a lengthy form. Kevin's family also expressed concerns about disclosing information to a system that, in the past, had not provided them with needed support. They felt that the system had been directive and unresponsive to their concerns, stating that ª a lot of people are in and out of our house always telling us what to do,º but feeling like they had little input and saw little ...