BETTER CHILDREN FOR BUTTE 1

RBA Group Work

Better Children for Butte

Lucy Franco, Madison Blomquist, and Rachael Dowd

Department of Child Development, California State University, Chico

CHILD 440: Assessment Issues for Children and Family: Dr. Shelley Hart

September 14, 2020

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Executive Summary
Better Children for Butte is a wraparound program that reaches to children and communities in
several ways. We aim to assist children grades K-12 in succeeding by the end of the school year.
The wraparound function is to reach out to students by providing the Cognitive Behavioral
Intervention for Trauma in Schools (CBITS) program, inviting parents to well-being workshops,
and giving teachers CBITS training to solidify a consistent positive environment for all students.
Our core goals for the community we are working with is to make sure they 1) have
minimal—no, suicidal tendencies 2) have a home to live in and 3) have a high chance of
graduating from high school.

We have gathered data on both suicide and graduation rate from Butte County Health and Needs
Assessment (2019-2022) to better understand this community. The suicide rates for both males
and females living in Butte County are significantly higher than that of California and the
Nations suicide rates. The graduation rate for both Butte County and California were very similar
but we can use this data to help predict and better understand healthy outcomes for students. We
also collected data on homlessness from Butte County First Five Data Dashboard (2020) that
tells us Butte County has a slightly lower homeless rate than California. However, the 45.7% of
students in grade K-5th Grade in Butte that are homeless makes up for half of the counties
students in these grades. With our no-cost/low-cost strategies to remedy these negative
outcomes, our program will provide students and families posters with different breathing
techniques, calming activities, and simple yoga poses that will be placed in all classrooms for
grades K-12. Our program will also provide take-home pamphlets that will be handed out each
week to the children’s parents. By involving that children's families in what is going on in the
classroom and the new techniques these children are learning we will be succeeding in a
low-cost and high reward program to better their lives.

In order to determine our programs effectiveness we use various assessment strategies to help
answer these questions: “How much did we do?”, “Is anyone better off?”, and “How well did we
do it?” By using both qualitative (i.e., scores, tallies, precents, ect.) and quantitative
(i.e.,descriptions, personal narratives, open-ended responses, ect.) data, our program will be able
to gain the most feedback. We have utilized a variety of different assessment tools to track the
influence that our program has had on our clients (e.g., BASC-2, CBCL, TRF, LBS,
CHKS-SEHM). These assessment tools are distributed and collected at both the beginning of the
school year, as well as the end. The clients will complete them in both a pre and post-test and our
program will review the results and assess where improvements need to be made. If a particular
child/group of children do not show positive changes on their pre and post-test scores, after a
year of implementation, then we will assess them again on an individual basis. We may use tools
such as the Health-Resiliency-Stress Questionnaire (HRSQ) and Parenting Stress Index--Fourth
Edition (PSI-4), or measures more specific to them, in order to gage how to better assist them.
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Population and Result

Who: All children in K-12

What: Succeeding by the end of the school year.
Population is the amount of people in a given geographic area and result is defined as a
condition of well being for children, adults, families, and communities.

Our program aims to assure that all children in grades K-12 are succeeding by the end of
the school year. We hope to reach this goal alongside community partners such as: after
school programs, the parents, classroom teachers, medical professionals, school
counselors, and Butte County Library.

Additional Partners:

Butte County Health Center 2-1-1

● Lunch programs
- http://www.chicousd.org//Departments/Business-Services/Nutrition-Services/Sch
ool-Meals/index.html
● School counselors
- http://www.chicousd.org/Departments/Educational-Services/Health-Services/Well
ness-Resources/index.html
● Access to food pantries & shelters
https://www.cdss.ca.gov/inforesources/calfres
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Indicators & Needs Assessment

To make sure that all children are succeeding in grades K-12 by the end of the school year, it’s
imperative that we identify what succeeding children look like and how we can go about
measuring this. Indicators are used to measure whether our result is being achieved or not. Needs
Assessments help us to identify gaps or additional needs between the current conditions of our
indicators and our desired “wants.”

Our program believes that children are on the path for success when they: 1) have minimal—no,
suicidal tendencies 2) have a home to live in 3) have a high chance of graduating from high
school. With that in mind, we have identified numerous indicators that will help us measure
whether or not children are succeeding in Butte County. The information that we have gathered
pertaining to these particular indicators was gathered from the Butte County Community Health
Assessment.

How are we doing in Butte County compared to California?

First, we will look at Suidide rates by gender in Butte County and California. According to
Community Health Assesment 2019 - 2022, suicide and suicidal behaviors affect people of all
ages, ethnicities, religions, socioeconomic groups and geographic locations. Suicidal behavior is
influenced by an array of biological, psychological, social, environmental and cultural risk
factors. Suicide is the tenth leading cause of death in the nation, and has increased steadily over
the last decade nationally (BCDPH, 2019).

The table highlighted below (BCDPH, 2019) examines the percent of male and female suicide
rates by gender in Butte County, California, and the U.S. per 100,000 population as of
2012-2016. As it is shown in the table, Butte County’s suicide rate for males is 27.9% which is
nearly double as much as California’s male suicide rate of 16.4%. The female suicide rate in
Butte County is 7.4% compared to California’s female suicide rate of 4.7%. Comparing male and
female suicide rates in Butte County, you can see that males are four times more likley to commit
suicide than women. However, both genders are showing significantly higher rates of suicide
than both the state and nation’s average which poses quite a problem.
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Butte County Health Needs Assessment 2019-2022.pdf

Upon reviewing various resources, we found that homelessness contributes to a wide rage of
damaging effects for children including (but not limited to) hunger, poor physical and
behavioral health conditions, family separation, violence, and missed educational
opportunities (SAMHSA, 2020). It is also linked to added traumas such as sexual,
psychological, or physical abuse. Since all of these factors pose a negative threat to a child’s
overall performance in school, we found it imperative to include this into our list of
important indicators.

Furthermore, children who experience homelessness often undergo schooling that is

interrupted and delayed, are twice as likely to have a learning disability, and are required to
repeat a grade or be suspended (AAP, 2009). It can also have negative effects on one of our
indicators such as their likelihood to graduate (SAMHSA, 2020). Below, we have included a
table from the Butte County First Five Dashboard (BCF5D, 2020) that depicts the “percent of
public school preK-Grade 5 students recorded as being homeless any time during the school
year in Butte County in 2016” (BCF5D, 2020). According to the table, 45.7% of Butte’s
students in these grades were homeless compared to 52.3% of students in California. While
Butte’s numbers are less than the state’s average, it still accounts for almost half of the
county’s pre-K-Grade 5 students.

Butte County First Five Data Dashboard May 2020.pdf

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High school graduation rate is an indicator of the quality of the schools and it helps hold schools
accountable. In the school year 2016- 2017 California’s graduation rate was 82.7%. Butte
County’s was slightly higher with a rate of 83.8%. High school graduation is also a helpful
predictor for health outcomes, graduates are less likely to go to prison and greater financial
stability. (ODPHP, 2017) Graduating high school suggests a higher quality of life, given then a
high school dropout on average will earn $200,00 less than a high school graduate over their
lifetime. 75% of crimes in the United States are committed by high school dropouts. Some high
school’s graduation rates are so low they are commonly referred to as “dropout factories.”
Dropout factories account for 50% of students that dropout every year. Dropout factories is such
a problem in America that 1 in 6 U.S. students attend a dropout factory. Some states have less
dropout factories like Vermont who in 2018 had a graduation rate of 91.4%, while other states
like Nevada have the lowest graduation rate of 57.8%.

There are a number of contributing factors to why someone may drop out and what makes them
more likely to do so. For example, working more than 15 hours a week as a student increases the
likelihood of a student dropping out. The dropout rate among high school parents was 32% and
students who refrained from doing any homework are 8 times more likely to drop out. The best
thing an educator can do to halt the cycle is to assess and intervene.(National Dropout Prevention
Center/Network, 2007).

Butte County Health Needs Assessment 2019-2022.pdf

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Strategies & Organization

At Better Children for Butte, we want all children to be succeeding in school but believe that this
is based on the foundation of a healthy mindset (both at home and in the classroom). When a
person’s brain is overrun with stress, it creates a block in their cognition. However, when they
are in a calm state, this block is broken and they are able to access the parts of their brain that are
responsible for higher-order thinking such as learning, self-control, and rationalization.

Therefore, the goal of our program is to help mediate the effects that stress/trauma may have on
children across grades K-12 so that they can succeed in school, while also supporting families
and supplementing home practices. We seek to introduce various resources, tools, and techniques
within school classrooms that focus on mindfulness and provide parents with information that
mirrors what is being taught in the class. We will utilize several different strategies, varying in
cost, to help do this. Strategies are used to help programs answer the question “What needs to be
done to assure that all children K-12 are succeeding by the end of the school year?” The goal for
all strategies is that they are supported by research and also possible for all people to accomplish
and gain support from. To assure that needs are met, we want to offer strategies that can bring
about effective change while also implementing those that are no cost/low cost.

Within our low-cost/no-cost strategies, we aim to make mindfulness a part of children’s school
and home life. Our program has made posters with different breathing techniques, calming
activities, and simple yoga poses that will be placed in all classrooms for grades K-12. The
teacher may choose when to engage the children in the various activities, but we suggest
committing at least 10 minutes a day to one or more of the options laid out on the poster. For
example, we encourage teachers to set aside 5-10 minutes before high-stressed assignments
(quizzes, tests, essays, ect.,) to allow children to color, draw, or journal. We have found that this
decreases test-anxiety and raises overall performance. In addition to the in-class activities, our
program has made take-home pamphlets that will be handed out each week to the children’s
parents. These pamphlets will explain what practices are being used in the class and how the
parents may implement them at home. This is a low cost/high reward strategy that can drastically
improve the lives of the children living in Butte county.

As an effort to help children manage their mental health and wellness, we want to implement
Cognitive Behavioral Intervention for Trauma in Schools (CBITS) program. This program is an
evidence based strategy identified by RAND, a corporation that improves policy and decision
making through analyzing research. CBITS is aimed towards helping students process and
relieve symptoms from post traumatic stress order (PTSD), depression, and other anxieties
related to being exposed to trauma. This evidence based strategy is similar to Kataoka’s original
plan (2011), CBITS has a significant impact for children whose families were involved in the
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Paradise fires or other California fires. The students begin with assessments of being exposed to
violence, symptoms of PTSD related to wildfires, symptoms of violence of PTSD that they were
willing to discuss into a group and those that couldn’t have intervention in a group setting.
Students are assessed at the beginning, 3 months in and 6 months in. CBITS is implemented
through education about trauma, relaxation training, cognitive therapy, slow exposure to trauma
reminders, exposure to stress or trauma memory through drawing or writing, and problem
solving in social situations. Participants also receive up to three individual sessions with CBITS
staff. This program follows up with adult education sessions to assist children at home with
strategies and programs. This program is meant to reach the many students in Butte County who
have been affected by the fires,and additionally to those who have been exposed to other
stressors and trauma (Kilburn et al., 2014).
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Performance Measures:

At Better Children for Butte, we hold a high regard for ensuring that our program is meeting its
goals and showing effectiveness in our effort to support our clients within the community. In
order to evaluate this, we use various assessment strategies to help answer these questions: “How
much did we do?”, “Is anyone better off?”, and “How well did we do it?” (Friedman, 2015,
p.13). In short, this is what we refer to as “performance measures,” and they are incredibly useful
when it comes to gauging the success of our program. In order to gain the most feedback, our
assessments rely on gathering a variety of data—both quantitative and qualitative. When we say
“quantitative date” we are referring to feedback that comes in the forms of numbers and can be
measured (i.e., scores, tallies, precents, ect..). On the other hand, “qualitative data” refers to
descriptions, personal narratives, open-ended responses, ect.

How Much Did We Do?

To assess the question “How much did we do?” In regards to our program, we are asking about
the quantity of information, services, and implementations provided to those we are serving.
Through various collections of administrative data we are able to look at how much we did to
help serve children and families. The data will focus on answering the following questions:

1. How many children did our program serve?

Since our program focuses on making sure that each child in the K-12 Butte County
School District is succeeding, we find it important to evaluate our outreach on a child to
child basis.

2. How many informative pamphlets were given to parents?

While we recognize that all parents may not utilize the pamphlets, we want to ensure that
all families are given equal opportunity to access our resources and be reached.

3. How many child care providers did we teach Cognitive Behavioral Intervention for
Trauma in Schools (CBITS) program to?

While we hope that all of the teachers in the Butte County School District are using the
CBITS program within their classrooms, we recognize that a large part of this goal relies
on us providing them with the proper training to do so.

How Well Did We Do It?

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To answer the “How well did we do it?” portion, we take a closer look at the quality of care that
was put into Better Children for Butte. We utilize both qualitative data and quantitative data
collected from our surveys.

1. Did the info packets and handouts provide families with enough information?

We aim to keep helpful info on an assortment of topics such as, assisting with homework
and education, mental wellness advice and strategies, as well as coping strategies for test
taking anxiety.

2. Were we considerate and respectful to your family?

Making sure our families feel respected and treated with attentive consideration is very
important to Better Children for Butte. The open ended question, “Do you feel that we
treated your family with respect?” is asked on a regular basis.

3. How many teachers were certified in CBIT training?

We are contracted by schools on a at need basis, at that point we train and certify
teaching staff. When a school hires Better Children for Butte, they can expect all teachers
attending our workshops and seminars to become CBIT certified.

Is Anyone Better Off?

When considering the question “Is Anyone Better Off?” we are asking if anyone was positively
or negatively affected by our program (i.e., did the lives of children and families improve). We
can answer this question by gathering data directly from families (e.g., Behavior Assessment
System, California Healthy Kids Survey, Child and Adolescent Needs and Strengths—Mental
Health) and indirectly about our children and families through caregiver and teacher
observations (e.g., Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) and Teacher Report Form (TRF), The
Survey of Academic and Youth Outcomes Teacher Survey). The data collected confirms or denies
the following three questions that specify the goals of our program.

1. Has your child shown a decrease in behavioral problems at school since the start of our
program?

Our program believes that children have the best chance of succeeding when they are in
a healthy mental state. However, one of the best indicators of a child having issues in that
area is when they are showing problem behaviors. That is why we deem it necessary to
evaluate the frequency of such instances. Therefore, we have utilized the
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Social-Emotional Learning and Associated Assessment Measures to determine if

improvements were made in this area due to our program.

- Behavior Assessment System, Second Edition (BASC-2), a self-report rating scale

that measures adaptive and problem behavior seen in children ages four to 18
years old. It is designed to help diagnose, classify, educate, evaluate, and plan
treatment for emotional and behavioral problems.
https://www.isbe.net/Documents/sel-compendium.pdf
- Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) and Teacher Report Form (TRF) is an informal
assessment measure that asks caregivers and teachers to identify problem
behaviors that they have observed in the children that they care
for.https://www.isbe.net/Documents/sel-compendium.pdf

2. Has your child shown an increase in academic performance?

With supplemental education from informative posters and staff training in addition to
CBITS program, we provide direct support to our children and their families to help them
thrive in an academic setting. By using the Learning Behaviors Scale (LBS) to assess
student learning behaviors we can regularly assess the effectiveness of our training.

- Learning Behaviors Scale (LBS) is a measure for students aged 5-17. This
observation device is used by educators to assess attitudes towards learning,
attention, persistence, strategy/ flexibility and student competence motivation.
Using LBS helps Better Children for Butte properly assess the needs of our
students and their progress.

3. Is your child better prepared for success as a result of the education provided by our
program?

We believe that success will result from a foundation of healthy mindsets within our
program. Through the California Healthy Kids Survey, our program will be able to
assess the needs of youth and set them on the right track for success.

- California Healthy Kids Survey - Social Emotional Health Module

(CHKS-SEHM): is an informal survey of two parts. CHKS is used by school
districts to address the needs of youth through measures on school climate,
healthy behaviors, and youth resiliency. SEHM is used to assess the strength of
BETTER CHILDREN FOR BUTTE 12

skills and competencies that students need in school, college, and career, to be
successful.
- https://www.rand.org/education-and-labor/projects/assessments/tool/compare.htm
l?ids=94,220,105
- The Survey of Academic and Youth Outcomes Teacher Survey (SAYO-T) measures
critical outcomes that are linked to academic and life success and can be used to
evaluate afterschool programs.
- https://www.rand.org/education-and-labor/projects/assessments/tool/2008/survey-
of-academic-and-youth-outcomes-teacher-survey.html

Assessment Tools:

This section will help identify what specific tools our program used in our Performance
Measures and will discuss the important details of each. In order to make the tools easier to find,
we have listed them in the following alphabetic arrangement: Behavior Assessment System,
Second Edition (BASC-2),California Healthy Kids Survey - Social Emotional Health Module
(CHKS-SEHM), Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) and Teacher Report Form (TRF),and Survey
of Academic and Youth Outcomes Teacher Survey (SAYO-T)

Behavior Assessment System, Second Edition (BASC-2):

The BASC-2 is a multidimensional, assessment tool that measures adaptive and problem
behaviors (e.g., aggression, conduct problems, and hyperactivity) in children aged four to 18. It
is a norm-referenced tool that consists of 139 items, 16 primary scales, and 7 optional scales
(Community University Partnership). The BASC-2 gathers data that is administered through
Teacher Rating Scales (TRS), Parent Rating Scales (PRS), the Child’s Self-Report of Personality
(SRP), the Structured Developmental History (SDH) form, and the Student Observation System
(SOS). The options for the rating scales range from 0 (Never) to 3 (Almost always). Together,
these reports can be used to diagnose emotional and behavioral problems, along with educational
and classification planning as well.

Findings on the reliability and validity, show that the BASC-2 is a trustworthy measure for our
program to use. The Cronbach’s alpha for this assessment is in the .90s, which shows good
reliability. Furthermore, the authors of the BASC-2 have concluded it’s convergent validity.
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California Healthy Kids Survey - Social Emotional Health Module (CHKS-SEHM):

The CHKS is used by school districts to better understand the needs of youth students through
measuring school climate, healthy behaviors, and resilience. While the SEHM is a module that
students fill out, it assesses their strength based skills and competencies to make sure students
will succeed in school, college, and career. The CHKS-SEHM is used in grades 5th through 12th.
It is a Likert-type rating scale that takes approximately 20 minutes with 46 questions with
subcategories all on the bases of A being “Not at all true” and D being “Very much true.”

The evidence that this module has been proven to work is based on 4,189 California students that
were in grades 8th, 10th, and 12th grade. The reliability of this evidence comes from Cronbach's
alpha for the full assessment which was reported as 0.92 (Furlong et al., 2014). The validity of
the evidence is based on content, internal structure, and relations with other variables.

Below is an example of the module. It is free to the public in both English and Spanish copies
from The California School Climate, Health, and Learning Surveys website: chks.wested.org
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Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) and Teacher Report Form (TRF):

The Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) and Teacher Report Form (TRF) are norm-referenced
assessment tools that focus on constructs such as self-management and responsible decision
making in children four to 18 years old. The measure is distributed to the child’s parents and
teacher. In the 100-item CBCL measure, parents fill out a Likert Scale that addresses
internalizing and externalizing behaviors, total behavior problems, and specific syndromes such
as: emotionally reactive, anxious–depressed, somatic complaints, ect.

The TRF is also a 100‐item measure and is completed by teachers or caregivers. While it checks
for many of the same things the CBCL does, it excludes sleep problems from its six syndrome
scores. The CBCL and the TRF contain a Total Problems score that is made up of internalizing
and externalizing problems and eight syndromes (Aggressive Behavior, Delinquent Behavior,
Withdrawn, Somatic Complaints, Anxious/Depressed, Attention Problems, Social Problems, and
Thought Problems).

The CBCL test–retest reliability coefficients ranging from .68 to .92, while the TRF has
test–retest reliability coefficients ranging from .57 to .91. This indicates that the assessments
show internal consistency and are a reliable measure to use. The CBCL and TRF measures have
been used multiple times in various clinical and research settings, providing sounds results and
validity.

Learning Behaviors Scale (LBS):

The Learning Behaviors Scale (LBS) is a measure for students aged five to 17. This 29 item
observation device is meant to be completed by the child’s educator that covers student
competence motivation, attention/persistence, strategy/flexibility, and attitudes toward learning.
LBS is a Likert scale that presents options such as 0 (does not apply) to 2 (most often applies).
Four subscales include: Competence, Motivation, Attention and Learning Attitudes,
Attention/Persistence, and Strategy/Flexibility. Alpha coefficients were calculated across the
national sample exceeding .70; stability coefficients were substantial (M= .92, range .93- .91)
and was statistically significant at p< .0001 suggesting excellent reliability. This measure also
scored high on validity.

- Compendium of Preschool Through Elementary School Social-Emotional Learning and

Associated Assessment Measures (p.130).
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Survey of Academic and Youth Outcomes Teacher Survey (SAYO-T):

The SAYO-T measures the critical outcomes that lead to connections in both academic and life
success. It may also be used to assess and evaluate after school programs. The main constructs
that this survey measures are cognitive competencies, intrapersonal and interpersonal
competencies and is used for students in grades K-12th. A teacher or educator will fill out a five
point Likert-type scale with four to seven items in each of the subdomains within the nine
subscores. The survey should take approximately 15-20 minutes to complete and is available in
English with a fee for the survey from the developer. More information on the survey is available
on the National Institute On Out-Of-School Time website: niost.org.
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Ongoing Monitoring Plan

Drawing upon the performance measures that we explained would be used to assess the
program’s effectiveness, we will now address how and when we will use such measures.

Dictating this “how and when” will help to create transparencies between our program and the
customers that we serve. Having a plan such as this will also help to keep our program on an
organized track towards progression. We collect these formal assessments during the end of the
first week of the school year, and again during the last week of the school year. Not only are we
collecting the data that has been provided by the students, teachers, and caregivers, but we are
also collecting data provided from administrative feedback. Similarly, the administrative data
that we are collecting is also taken at both the beginning and end of the school year.

After data is collected, the team members of Better Children for Butte come together during the
summer to evaluate the results, determine how we are doing on meeting our goals, and where our
program needs improvement. We hope that each new school year brings forth further insight into
how we can best serve the children in the community. The data that our program is collecting is
illustrated in the chart below, along with a brief summary explaining the structure of the chart.
Essentially, this is the way in which we will keep track of our effectiveness in gathering needed
information and holding ourselves accountable to meeting our desired results.
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How and When Performance Measures are Used:

Performance Measures: Child-self Teacher-C Adminis Criterion-R Norm-Reference Pre-Test Post-Test

report aregiver trative eferenced d Data
Report Feedbac Data
k

Number of children X X X X
served.

Number of pamphlets X X
distributed.
X X

Number of trained X X X X
teachers.

SAYO-T X X X X

CBCL-TRF X X X X

CHKS-SEHM X X X X

BASC-2 X X X X X

Customer Satisfaction X X
Survey

LBS X X X X

HRSQ X X X X

PSI-4 X X X X
BETTER CHILDREN FOR BUTTE 19

In the chart above, we have listed the types of performance measures that our program will use
throughout the year-long process of our implementation. The “X’s'' mark the sources that we
gained information from pertaining to each specific performance measure. Additionally, they
were each marked based on whether the data was norm-referenced or criterion-referenced. To
say that the data is norm-referenced means that an individual’s performance is “compared to the
performance of other relevant test-takers'' (Hart, 2018). On the other hand, criterion-referenced
data describes a student’s performance as “evaluated based on some predetermined benchmark,
standard, or threshold” (Hart, 2018). Therefore, since our assessment tools that measure our
question “Is anyone better off?” evaluates the progress of students to each other, they are all
marked norm-referenced. Additionally, data from the administrative feedback answers the
questions, “How well did we do it?” and “How much did we do?” These are assessed according
to a set standards over the course of a year making it criterion-referenced.
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Individual Assessment Plan

Better Children for Butte regularly makes assessments to provide demographics for our team.
This helps us look at the bigger picture of our program, while not being limited to looking at the
closer details. We have students that use varying levels of assistance from caregivers and
teachers attending our workshops and seminars, to help children directly with our Cognitive
Behavioral Intervention for Trauma in Schools program. Children are regularly assessed through
a variety of tools (see “Ongoing Monitoring Plan” and “Performance Measures”).

Typically we pre-test all children of our program within the first week with tools such as, the
BASC-2 and the California Healthy Kids Survey - Social Emotional Health Module, to record
behavior before we can start evaluating their needs. This also results in Better Children for Butte
having data on every child that stays recorded for our formal assessments. If further intervention
is needed, we have multiple measures we can utilize to provide information regarding the next
steps that need to be taken. We have several assessment tools to evaluate topics such as social
emotional health, learning behaviors and mental health (see “Assessment tools”). Below is a
hypothetical plan for our student Francisco to provide a better understanding of Better Children
for Butte’s individual assessment strategies.

Background Information and Addressing Concerns for Francisco:

Francisco Lopez (9-years-old) joined our program, Better Children for Butte, through his
attendance in his 5th grade classroom at Shasta Elementary. From the first evaluation, given to
Francisco during the first week of school, he was assessed using the BASC-2 and the California
Healthy Kids Survey - Social Emotional Health Module amongst the other assessment tools that
were distributed to the children and families by our program. However, while other students
seemed to show improvements in their post-test evaluations, compared to their pre-test
evaluations, Francisco demonstrated less progress on the two specific assessment tools (i.e.
BASC-2 and CHKS-SEHM). This indicated to us that, although the practices that our program
provided were implemented in his classroom and positively effecting his peers, the lack of
personal influence that it had on him led us to believe that the negative factors were caused from
sources outside of school.

In both the pre-test and post-test survey results Francisco continuously showed low scores on
items pertaining to family environments and self esteem. For example, on the CHKS-SEHM he
marked “Not at all true” in both the pre-test and post-test for statements such as “I am looking
forward to a successful career” and “My family members really help and support one another.”
Francisco’s results from the BASC-2 showed us that he was still expressing negative behavior
BETTER CHILDREN FOR BUTTE 21

patterns, despite our program’s current intervention strategies. Upon reflecting on these
responses, our program decided to further intervene by introducing a new assessment strategy to
Francisco that would educate our program on how to positively impact his needs.

Assessment Plan

In order to do this, we will assess Francisco’s homelife by providing him with the
Healthy-Resilience-Stress Questionnaire. This is a six part questionnaire that asks questions
pertaining to his coping mechanisms, physical well-being, and exposure to negative
environments (i.e different types of adverse childhood experiences “ACES”). Francisco will be
asked questions such as “I feel loved and supported” and “Did you often feel that your parents
were not able to care for you due to their own struggles?” (HRSQ,2019). This survey will help
gage the possible root causes of Francisco’s behavior patterns. Using this information, we hope
to gain better understanding of what next steps that need to be taken in order to mediate these
problems.

Next, we plan to look further into Francisco’s immediate influences by assessing his parents
using the Parenting Stress Index--Fourth Edition (PSI-4). This is a self-report survey that will be
given to his parents to complete and looks at three specific domains of stress. The first is related
to child characteristics that may cause stress to the parent (e.g., hyperactivity, demandingness,
mood, ect.). The next are stressors that are related directly to parent characteristics (e.g.,
depression, partner relationship, health, ect.). The last domain looks at situational and
demographic life stressors. By using the PSI-4 we hope to further our understanding behind the
possible causes of Francisco’s behavioral and emotional setbacks. In addition, this tool may
direct our program towards better ways of helping Francisco get on the path towards success.

Assessment Tools

Health-Resiliency-Stress Questionnaire (HRSQ)

The HRSQ (2019) is targeted to assess a person’s abilities to tolerate and cope with stress in
relationship to their health and is used by both primary care and mental health providers. By
using this tool providers can identify a person's strengths and perception, risk to adverse
childhood experiences, and lead the patients/client to better health and wellness. This tool should
take no longer than 2-5 minutes and is self-administered with 5 parts and an optional 6th part.
Some sections have questions based on a likert-type scale, and other parts are based on yes, no,
or I don't know questions. These questions range from resiliency traits, mind-body resiliency
traits, current psychological distress, and ACE’s. Questions such as; “I have healthy, trusting
relationship(s),” “my overall mental health is...” and “were you often afraid to go home?” are
examples of what this tool might ask a patient. This tool is free with scoring directions attached
BETTER CHILDREN FOR BUTTE 22

and can be found here:

https://www.acesconnection.com/g/resource-center/fileSendAction/fcType/0/fcOid/44547493493
4941772/filePointer/480951776014189780/fodoid/480951776014189776/HRSQ%20-%20%28O
penSourceOpenAge%29%20WITH%20Instructions%20%281-2019%29.pdf
BETTER CHILDREN FOR BUTTE 23

Parenting Stress Index (PSI-4)

The PSI is a self report survey using a 4 point Likert scale. The scale has 36 items, separated into
3 domains such as parental distress, parent-child dysfunctional interaction, and difficulty of
caregiving for children. In addition to the self report survey, both child and parent domains are
used to complete a total stress scale. A life stress scale taken independently from the parent
provides information about parent stress outside of the parent-child relationship.

The PSI-4 is a 120-item inventory focusing on 3 domains of stress: child characteristics (e.g.
distractibility or mood), parent characteristics (e.g. competence, health, depression) , and
situational/demographic life stress. Reliability coefficients indicated a high degree of reliability
among both child and parent domains. This self report survey addresses 3 specific domains of
stress with validity testing through a variety of foreign populations.

Customer Satisfaction Questions:

Please evaluate your experience by completing the following chart. Simply put a check mark in
the box that best describes your time in our program. This chart can typically be completed in
under five minutes and your responses will be kept anonymous.

Statements: Strongly Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly

Disagree Agree

The mental state in my home has

improved.

There has been a decrease in

behavioral problems.

I have seen improvements in my

child’s academic engagement.
BETTER CHILDREN FOR BUTTE 24

Open-ended questions:

Please utilize the space provided (or the back of this sheet) to answer the following questions.

1.) What could we have done to improve your experience with our program?

2.) Do you feel that we treated your family with respect?

BETTER CHILDREN FOR BUTTE 25

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019-11-05-151534-717

Community University Partnership (n.d.) Early childhood measurement and evaluation tool.
https://www.ualberta.ca/community-university-partnership/media-library/community-univers
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Chico Unified School District. (2018). School meals.

http://www.chicousd.org//Departments/Business-Services/Nutrition-Services/School-Mea
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Chico Unified School District. (2018). Health & wellness resources for families.
http://www.chicousd.org/Departments/Educational-Services/Health-Services/Wellness-Re
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Denham, A. S., Ji, P., & Hamre, B. (2010). Compendium of preschool through elementary
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Department of Social Services. (2020). Calfresh. https://www.cdss.ca.gov/inforesources/calfresh

Dosomething.org (n.d.). 11 facts about high school dropout rates.

https://www.dosomething.org/us/facts/11-facts-about-high-school-dropout-rates

First Five Butte County Children and Families Commission. (2020). Data dashboard.
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Friedman, M. (2015). Trying hard is not good enough (10th Anniversary Edition). PARSE
Publishing. [ISBN: 978-1516971626]

Hart, S.R. (in preparation). Assessment. In. E. Lilles, S.R. Hart, A.-J. Griffths, & S.E. Brock,
Psychology in the schools. Routledge.
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Kilburn, R. M., Cannon, J. S., Mattox, T., & Shaw, R. (2014). Programs that work, from the
promising practices network on children, families and communities.
https://www.rand.org/pubs/tools/TL145.html

National Dropout Prevention Center/Network. (2007). Individual risk factors. 19(4), 1-8.
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Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion. (2017). Increasing graduation rates in our
nation's public high schools.
https://health.gov/news-archive/blog/2017/07/increasing-graduation-rates-in-our-nations-
public-high-schools/index.html

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aff-and-teachers-sayo-s-and-sayo-t

Susanne, S. A., Ji, P., & Hamre, B. (2010). Compendium of SEL and Associated Assessment
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BETTER CHILDREN FOR BUTTE 27

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.pdf