Model Fidelity
Does PAT have more information on a Lead Parent Educator Position?
While we don’t have a written job description for a Lead Parent Educator, we provide some basic guidance for this designation in the Affiliate Implementation Manual on pages 14-19. This Manual can be found on the Library page, in the Model Implementation Workspace in O.L.I.V.E.R.: 2024 Affiliate Implementation Manual - English.
Where is the nearest PAT Program to my location?
You can locate a nearby PAT program by using our Program Locator on our website.
Can a healthcare professional caregiver serve as a parent/guardian during a personal visit?
They are welcome to be a part of the personal visit, but they cannot serve as parent/guardian/primary caregiver.
Should we continue to conduct personal visits with families who are separated from their children (removed by CPS)?
In cases of removal by Child Protective Services PAT encourages the parent educator to join supervised visits the parent has with the child whenever possible and those can certainly be counted. This may take advocacy on the part of the PE. It is a positive benefit for the parent educator to remain in contact with the family, but these contacts should not be recorded as a personal.
Can we schedule two personal visits, back to back, to make up visits with a family (2 hours, 2 personal visit plans)?
While we don’t have any guidance that prohibits providing two visits back to back in one day, it certainly is not best practice and we discourage programs from providing services to families in this way. My experience (and that of other PEs) is that 2 hours in a home is just too long for the family, the PE, and particularly the child(ren) to stay engaged. So while it may help a program meet visit numbers, it won’t provide the level of service that will best support the family.
Do we have to use PAT’s PVOT to conduct personal visit observations?
Currently, in both the quality standards and in the ER that will go into effect July 2020, affiliates must use a structured observation tool if they do not use the PAT PVOT or HOVRS on its own. Because the PVOT is not a required record, we do not require that all items on the PAT PVOT be reflected in the tool used by the affiliate. If the PAT PVOT is used, the HOVRS scale should also be used.
Is it required for an affiliate to use a parent-child activity page in order for them to count the visit as complete?
Every visit must have Parent Child Interaction, and the activity pages should be used for the majority of those visits. There might be reasons that a PE would not use an activity page.
Who is a primary caregiver when it comes to personal visits?
There can be more than one primary caregiver. Both parents could be designated as primary caregiver. Personal visits must include at least one parent, guardian or primary caregiver for the child and we encourage all caregivers to be involved in personal visits and group connections. Not every child will have a parent or legal guardian available for personal visits. For children in foster care, foster parents, even when in temporary custody, are considered “primary caregivers."
How do you support families who are currently separated from their child?
Continue to engage the family throughout the period of separation. We encourage your program to develop or include policies around family engagement during such situations.
If a parent educator does not cover all three areas of emphasis in a personal visit, can she count it as a personal visit?
It should be questioned, why were all three areas not covered? It should be possible in most visits for the parent educator to at least touch on all three areas (even if it is just a couple of sentences about an area). The most difficult area to cover in a crisis situation might be parent/child interaction, but as long as the parent and child have some kind of exchange/interaction, that would count. It does not need to be the planned activity - any activity would count. The bottom line is that all three areas should be covered, even if it is very brief.
How can a supervisor conduct a PVO for non-English speaking personal visits?
Preparation is key. Before the visit, have a conversation with the Parent Educator regarding what is planned and what they expected to happen. You can follow along with what is happening during the visit by observing the parent/child activity, timing of handouts, family engagement, etc. The PE can also interpret for the Supervisor as they go along. A debrief can be held after the personal visit as well.
Does PATNC have language or guidance around how to handle child abuse allegations against staff?
What constitutes child abuse varies from state to state. Programs should partner with their state agencies and include guidance and/or language in their policies and procedures.
How would you serve a family with 3 boys, 2 girls, and prenatal twins who need to be seen twice a month?
Since you will likely be screening a child almost every visit, bring the developmentally appropriate parent handouts for that child along with the developmental screening for PCI. Then for the second visit of the month, plan to bring an activity to address the areas that the family agreed would be appropriate to look for next based on the screening. Adjust the activity to be age-appropriate for all children in the family. As far as planning for the development-centered parenting topic, it will vary BY DAY. The check-in will assist with choosing the topic based on their priorities.
How can we best serve families when the child/ren have been removed from the home by child protective services (CPS)?
This is a time for the parent educator to really lean in with the family. A good first step is to obtain a release from the parents to talk to the CPS worker. Once you have permission, get in contact with the CPS worker.
Is it acceptable to deliver one personal visit to two families at the same time?
There are a number of unintended consequences in “counting” a personal visit in this format. Some considerations that come to mind are HIPAA laws, breaches of confidentiality, individualization for each family and comfort level of each family to share openly and honestly. This would be a good engagement strategy as a type of group connection instead of a personal visit.
Can developmental screenings be used for parent-child interaction activities?
Yes, this is a great way to get the parent involved in the developmental screening and actively involving the child. Many times the child can do more than the parent knew because some of the activities in the developmental screen are not routinely done in the home.
Do we get professional development credit for watching and participating in PATNC webinars?
Yes, they can count that as Professional Development. They can track their hours so long as their supervisor agrees, it is absolutely fine.
What other resources does PAT offer around supporting children with special needs?
We actually recommend this in the Interactions Across Abilities training, but all resources from the Foundational Curriculum can be utilized; however, covering up ages as to not offend or re-copying activity pages to the blank template is more appropriate then sharing resources with parents that have their child’s chronological age and the child is just delayed.
Should we continue to conduct personal visits with families when their child passes away?
In cases of death, PAT encourages programs to have at least one more personal visit with the family to discuss supports and resources. For more guidance on how to serve families who experience the loss of a child, reference the PAT Services > Families Experiencing Bereavement and Infant Loss section of the Affiliate Implementation Manual (AIM). Once your program makes a determination as to how to best serve families with this experience, it should be incorporated into program policies and procedures.
Can the Health Record or a developmental screening be completed on a pre-enrollment visit?
It is not recommended because these events would be considered completed before enrollment. The definition of enrolled is after the completion of the first Foundational visit.
How do I document screenings for children receiving early intervention services?
In this situation, the parent educator should continue to monitor developmental milestones and remain informed about the early intervention services being provided. In addition, at least annual or more often according to affiliate policy, the parent educator continues to screen any areas of development not being addressed through early intervention services.
Do you have any information on Protective Factors Training?
Protective Factors is offered through Strengthening Families program training. Patti Learman (NC) created a training for her staff using resources from Center for the Study of Social Policy. There are modules that include PPT slides and activities and action sheets
Should a family still be considered "high needs" if during the course of participation in the program, they no longer meet the criteria for that specific high need?
A family is no longer considered having high needs (2 or more family experiences and stressors) if they don’t fit the characteristics of the Affiliate Implementation Manual (AIM). End dates for stressors should be documented on the PAT Records. List of experiences and stressors with descriptions can be found on page 59 of the 2024 Affiliate Implementation Manual - English. They should then begin receiving services of a typical family.
What is a pre-enrollment visit and how does it work?
A pre-enrollment visit is a visit to a family to tell them more about PAT and how it might benefit them. The PE could tell the family what to expect on the visit; do a sample parent-child activity; explain their role in the visit and tell them how it would benefit them. If at this time they consented to services, the PE could begin some of the initial paper work and have the family sign the consent form. This is not counted as a first personal visit and PAT does not consider them enrolled until completion of the first Foundational Visit. It is recorded in Penelope as an “other” event.