Evaluation of the Connections for
Students Service of Eastern Ontario
Heather Woltman, Renée Nossal,
Nathalie Gougeon, & Dr. Lise Bisnaire
7th Annual CANS Conference
Baltimore, Maryland
May 15-17 2011
Presentation Overview
 Service Overview
 Evaluation Purpose
 Methods
 Discussion of Results
Knowledge Exchange
Service Overview
Connections for Students
Service goal: to provide coordinated and seamless transitions for children
with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) who are discharging from Intensive
Behavioural Intervention (IBI) services and transitioning to an Applied
Behavioural Analysis (ABA) instructional classroom setting through the
publically funded school system.
Clinical decision for
discharge from IBI
Transition team
established
0 MONTHS
End of transition plan
Ongoing support
(principal, teacher &
parent(s)/caregiver(s)
6 MONTHS
12 MONTHS
Child leaves IBI and
begins/continues
ABA in school
(Ontario, MCYS/MEDU, 2010)
Transition Teams
Classroom
Teacher
Resource
Teacher
Therapist
Parents/
Caregivers
Personalized
Service
Consultant
School
Designate
Principal
What are personalized services?
Tailored to
needs and
strengths
Individualized
service
planning
Families as
integral
partners
Child and
his/her
family
Heart of all
decisionmaking
Child-centred
at all system
levels
Benefits of personalized services?
Improved
quality of
care
Enhanced
child
outcomes
Partnerships
and
Collaboration
Common
language
Child and
his/her
family
(Supported by MCYS and MEDU)
Service
integration
Total Clinical Outcomes
Management (TCOM)

Child and family needs and strengths are at the heart of service
provision, and are considered in all transition activities

Child and family characteristics are monitored in order to better
manage transition outcomes

Ongoing quality assurance is embedded in service planning

Competing stakeholder perspectives and objectives are aligned
in order to best serve the child and his/her family

Standard child and family focused assessments drive decisions at
multiple service levels (e.g., family, service, program, agency)
CANS-Autism Spectrum Profile
(CANS-ASP)

Child and adolescent needs
 Life domain functioning
 Cognitive functioning
 Sensory/motor functioning
 Communication
 Co-morbidities
 Maladaptive behaviours


Parent/caregiver needs and strengths
Child/adolescent strengths
 Child/adolescent strengths
 Environmental strengths
Evaluation Purpose
Evaluation Goal
Does the Connections for Students
transition process deliver personalized
services to a child and his/her family?
Objectives
1.
What are stakeholder perspectives on how personalized the
services are in Connections for Students?
2.
What factors support or impede the ability of the transition
team to deliver personalized services to children in Connections
for Students?
3.
How does the use of a process-and outcomes-based assessment
tool (CANS-ASP) assist the transition team in planning and
carrying out a personalized transition process?
4.
What factors support or impede the ability of the transition
team to use the CANS-ASP to deliver personalized services to
the children of Connections for Students?
Methods
Approach
Participants
• Parent(s)/
caregiver(s)
(n=50)
• Service providers
(n=23)
• 5 psychologists
• 9 therapists
• 9 consultants
Information
sources
• File review
• Service process
adherence to needs
and strengths
(SPANS)
• Semi-structured
interviews
• Surveys
Analysis
• Qualitative
(Nvivo, thematic
content analysis)
• Quantitative
(SPSS, descriptive
statistics)
Tools
CANS-ASP
SPANS
File Reviews
Ministry
Questionnaire
Stakeholder
Surveys
Interview
Guides
Analysis of Approach
File Reviews
Large sample
Quantity of data
School board
perspectives
Bird’s eye view
Time consuming
Inter-rater
reliability
Lack of
opportunity to
correct errors/
misperceptions
Semi-Structured
Interviews
Electronic/ Written
Surveys
Buy-in
Rapport
Probe
First person
Detailed
Compare
perspectives
Response rate
Equal opportunity
Speed of response
Time consuming
Scheduling
Participation rate
Interpretation of
responses
Lack of
opportunity to
correct errors/
misperceptions
Less detailed
Discussion of Findings
Different Perspectives
1.Program implementation
2.Transition teams
(formation, members,
process, meeting content)
3.Documentation
4.CANS-ASD language in
transitions
5.Discussion of child needs,
strengths
6.Implementation of
measurable transition
goals
File reviews
Service
Providers
Parents/
Caregivers
Comments
“Parent involvement is frequent and solicited throughout the
Connections process.”
“Transition goals […] will be a standing item on the agenda at all
Connections meetings.”
“Parents are also invited to have the community professionals
involved with their child attend the Connections team meetings
[…].”
• School Boards, Ministry-mandated Connections for Students Implementation
Reporting Questionnaire
Limitations
New survey & interview
guide
Indirect recruitment
strategy
Relatively new tool (SPANS)
Participant rate?
Next steps
 Complete file reviews
 Continue participation recruitment
 Complete surveys and interviews
 Analyze data
 Knowledge exchange
Knowledge Exchange
Evaluation Stakeholders
Connections for
Students program
staff
Program funders
Other regional
programs
School boards
Praed Foundation
Autism
Intervention
Program
Parents/Caregivers
Provincial advisory
team
Children in
program
Knowledge Translation Plan
Engage stakeholders throughout evaluation and encourage
requests for dissemination of results.
Dissemination methods:




Technical report
1 page summary document
Poster presentation at the 7th Annual CANS Conference
Presentation at the Autism Intervention Program of Eastern
Ontario
Summary
 Service Overview
 Evaluation Purpose
 Methods
 Discussion of Results
Knowledge Exchange
Any Questions?