The Dynamic Community Connections Project (DCCP) was developed
to enhance public awareness about early intervention services and the
referral process for the services for young children with developmental
delays and disabilities and their families in rural areas of Montana.
The awareness of the need to enhance public awareness and child find
efforts became apparent as the Infant and Toddler Program agencies in
Montana prepared for federal monitoring of Montana's Part C early Intervention
(EI) services. The Rural Institute collaborated with Montana's Part
C lead agency, the Developmental Disabilities Program of the Department
of Public Health and Human Services, Teaching Research of Western Oregon
University, and regional early intervention agencies in Montana and
Oregon to develop this grant proposal.
DCCP is based on the premise that how people access information may
be unique in rural areas and that statewide public awareness campaigns
may not reach certain rural populations. Thus, public awareness and
child find campaigns need to be specifically developed for rural areas.
Other key foundations for successful and comprehensive campaigns in
rural areas are:
- Local early intervention agencies need to partner with other health,
human, and education service providers and agencies.
- Parents of children with disabilities need to be full partners
in designing local campaigns.
- Public awareness and child find campaigns should help children
and families access any service they may need, not just Part C early
intervention services.
- Individuals organizing local efforts need skills in coordinating
multiple agency community efforts, conducting planning oriented meetings,
and marketing programs.
The primary outcome of the project is the demonstration of an innovative
process model for developing child find programs that are replicable
in early Intervention programs in rural communities and results in:
- An increased number of children served under part C EI;
- An increased number of children referred to local child find by
specific referral sources;
- An increase number and proportion of infants (birth to one year)
served under Part C EI relative to the total number served;
- Changes in the collaborative linkages and efforts among local health,
human services, education, and child care programs;
- Documentation of project strategies in the forms of component guidelines,
project manuals, and reports;
- Expansion of knowledge concerning application of a collaborative
process model for improving child find programs in rural areas; and
- Dissemination of project products and findings to audiences concerned
about and involved with Early Intervention services in rural and remote
areas.
The DCCP project is also based on the belief that local residents
are the best source of information regarding how to get the word out
about services in their community. Therefore the approach of this grant
is to provide a basic process or vehicle that communities can use to
develop a community collaboration team to address the issues of child
find and public awareness of services for families with young children,
including Part C services. The process is designed to help lead agencies
find out who the key players are in a community and access their knowledge
and expertise through collaboration to develop an effective public awareness
and child find program for the community. In addition, the process encourages
the lead agency to use data or information gathered about the areas
they serve and to review activities already in place to make decisions
about target audiences and future activities. The process also emphasizing
the knowledge of parents in order to ensure the effectiveness of the
program.
Products and technical support services:
To guide agencies through the process a manual was developed that outlines
the steps in building a community collaboration team. Information is
also provided on how to plan and facilitate meetings effectively, the
basic principles of marketing and developing a public awareness plan,
and marketing strategies that agencies can use or adapt for their community.
To provide further technical assistance a web page was developed that
offers additional information to agencies. Included on the website are
results of a survey conducted with several states regarding effective
public awareness strategies at both the state and local levels and information
about what the participating agencies around Montana are doing in their
individual communities.
Project staff:
Ted Maloney, Co-Principal Investigator
Jillian Jurica, Project Coordinator
John Killoran, Co-Principal Investigator
Contact information:
Ted Maloney, Co-Principal Investigator
Phone: (406) 243-2897
E-mail: tmaloney@ruralinstitute.umt.edu
Jillian Jurica, Project Coordinator
Phone: (406) 243-2390
E-mail: jjurica@ruralinstitute.umt.edu
The Rural Institute
52 Corbin Hall, U of M
Missoula, MT 59812
Fax: (406) 243-2349
web site: http://ruralinstitute.umt.edu/dccpchildfind/
John Killoran, Co-Principal Investigator
Teaching Research Division
Western Oregon University
345 Monmouth, OR 97361
Phone: (503) 838-8757
Fax: (503) 838-8150
Email: Killorj@wou.edu
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