The Family Consultant Training Program: Training Personnel for the Education of Individuals with Disabilities. Final Report

This project was designed to provide training to personnel serving infants and young children with disabilities and their families. The outcome was increased capacity for state and local service agencies in Oregon, California, and Idaho to deliver quality home-based services for young children (birth through six) with disabilities and their families, including those from diverse cultures and backgrounds. This was accomplished through the replication of the Family Consultant Training (FCT) Model within local community programs presently serving infants, toddlers, and their families. Training in the FCT model was provided to administrators, early intervention specialists, paraeducators, early Head Start professionals, Healthy Start home visitors, health nurses and case managers serving or planning to serve infants and toddlers with disabilities and their families. The model used a module training design paired with a corresponding pre-training assessment tool (the Rating Scale of Early Intervention Practices) allowing for effective delivery of individualized training. Successful implementation of practices by the 160 participants resulted in more family focused services for 1,400 young children and their families. The training of trainers was an integral part of the project design and allowed for cost effective dissemination of the model and a mechanism to ensure extended training beyond the life of the grant. The 33 trainers involved have completed formal second generation training for 90 participants and informal training for many more. This final report describes the project and its accomplishments, and includes the following nine appendices: (1) Project Needs Assessment and Follow-up Form; (2) FCT training objectives; (3) Sample FCT Training Module; (4) Sample FCT Lecture; (5) Dissemination Information; (6) FCT Training Participants; (7) Trainer Training; (8) Trainer Training Material; and (9) Trainer Training Participants. (SG)