Our core values at Families as Allies are every child and family, excellence, partnership and accountability. We want to hold the systems that work with our children accountable for these values. We also want all of our work to reflect them. As part of our commitment to accountability, we survey families and providers who call and people who participate in our trainings about their experiences.
This blog entry presents a snapshot of information we collected from the last few months. We are sharing it just as we received it, except we removed any statements that might identify a respondent.
We want to use this feedback to continue improving our work and ensuring it is consistent with our mission. If this data gives you any ideas about how we can improve our work or if you have additional suggestions, please let us know.
Family Surveys
January – May 2024
- Participants contacted: 65 total
- Participants who completed the survey: 20 total
- Participants who don’t remember speaking with us or didn’t want to complete the survey: 2 total
What kind of information/services did you receive from Families as Allies?
Note – One participant said all the options, so we included those answers in all options listed below, except for ‘other’
Note – Some participants picked multiple categories, which is allowed
o Answers to questions about my child’s health condition – 9 total
o Help finding other families with a child with special needs like mine – 1 total
o Help finding services for my child in my community – 6 total
o Help finding a doctor or health care provider – 2 total
o Help with insurance – 1 total
o Other (please list) – 9 total
Other – immediately went to MAP teams
Other – didn’t contact recently but in the past (March) did help me with services
Other – I was trying to speak with Coreaner who has been helping me
Other – Information for school for my child
Other – Help with IEP – (2 families stated this entry)
Other- Help with getting accommodations from school
Other- Rights I have within the school for re-evaluation of IEP for goals, objectives, etc.
Other – none, I couldn’t get ahold of anyone then spoke with Henry
Thinking about the services you received from Families as Allies, please tell us how much you agree or disagree with the following statements:
1) The information or services I received met my needs.
Strongly Agree – 12 total
Agree – 8 total
Neutral – 0
Disagree – 0
Strongly Disagree – 0
2) The information or services I received will help me work with those who serve my child (e.g., help care providers, service providers, and other professionals).
Strongly Agree – 9 total
Agree – 9 total
Neutral -1 total
Disagree – 0
Strongly Disagree – 0
N/A – 1 total (couldn’t complete rest of survey based on experience)
3) I will use what I learned to help my child/family.
Strongly Agree – 10 total
Agree – 9 total
Neutral – 0
Disagree – 0
Strongly Disagree – 0
N/A – 1 total (couldn’t complete rest of survey based on experience)
4) I would recommend Families as Allies to other families.
Strongly Agree – 13 total
Agree – 6 total
Neutral – 0
Disagree – 0
Strongly Disagree – 0
N/A – 1 total (couldn’t complete rest of survey based on experience
Please share any other comments or concerns with us:
– They did a great job
– You guys did fine
– Pleased with the help and assistance
– Concerned with XXXXX’s behavior in school and asking for additional assistance with next steps (**family then sent to someone to help)
– You are very helpful, and I am grateful for your assistance. You all did a lot for me that I didn’t know could happen for a family.
– You didn’t waste any time with helping me. I am real thankful and haven’t had any situations since then.
– I called day before and got call back morning before the service, thank you for the prompt services.
– I love the children’s hospital and donated a lot at the gas station, and told them too cause they have taken care of my kiddos.
– Ya’ll helped me out a lot and haven’t had any more problems from school as of right now.
– Mr. Henry and Jasmine did a great job and been very helpful in the process.
– Still kind of work in progress so not much comments right now.
– I don’t have any comments because the sir I spoke with was very informative.
– You helped me to get started for once school began and I’m looking forward to using the resources to get my child better services in school.
– I appreciate the resources available to help.
– He spoke with me and explained what Families as Allies does and gave information but wasn’t able to help in the moment.
Provider Surveys
January – May 2024
- Participants contacted: 12 total
- Participants who completed the survey: 7 total
What kind of information/services did you receive from Families as Allies?
Note: Some participants chose more than one option, which is allowed.
Note: Some participants chose more than one option, which is allowed.
o Help talking to a child’s family about the child’s health condition – 1 total
o Help connecting the family with other families with a child with disabilities/special health care needs – 0
o Help finding community services for a child – 1 total
o Help finding a doctor or health care provider – 0
o Help with insurance for a child’ family – 2 total
o Other (please list) – 5 total
Other – Coalition partner who has benefited tremendously from the work that FAAMS and our coalition have done together
Other -looking for information with IEP in schools to start getting services
Other – help with housing
Other – resources and members participated in support groups
Other – I refer families to you when they have questions that meet the criteria
Thinking about the services you received from Families as Allies, please tell us how much you agree or disagree with the following statements after receiving information or services from them:
1) The information or assistance I received met my needs.
Strongly Agree – 6 total
Agree – 1 total
Neutral – 0
Disagree – 0
Strongly Disagree – 0
2) The information or services I received will help me work better with families of children and youth with disabilities/special health care needs.
Strongly Agree – 6 total
Agree – 1 total
Neutral – 0
Disagree – 0
Strongly Disagree – 0
3) The information or services I received will help me work better with other health service professionals (e.g., health care providers, service providers, etc.).
Strongly Agree – 7 total
Agree – 0
Neutral – 0
Disagree – 0
Strongly Disagree – 0
4) I would recommend Families as Allies to families and other professionals.
Strongly Agree – 7 total
Agree – 0
Neutral – 0
Disagree – 0
Strongly Disagree – 0
Please share any other comments or concerns with us:
– I have missed a couple of webinars and wish you would repost
– Very helpful and we all gave information and referred family to MAP team
– I’m a huge fan of the work your team does. You all are lovely and I enjoy receiving the newsletter which is very helpful. I send it to other departments to understand the challenges children face and also resources in the community. I always ask them to participate in the support groups.
– I think we all do is great. A lot of families still don’t know the full scope of what we all do (help with health diagnosis, etc.) and doctors don’t refer them to the correct organizations. How do we stop leading the child and say “I know what’s best” and instead say “here is support for future education”
Training Surveys
January – May 2024
- Participants contacted: 26 total
- Participants who completed survey: 11
Thinking about the training you receiving on (insert date), please tell us how much you agree or disagree with the statements below.
1) The information provided met my training needs.
Strongly Agree – 7 total
Agree – 4 total
Neutral – 0
Disagree – 0
Strongly Disagree – 0
2) The information I received will help me work better (one-on-one or in work groups) with others who serve children and youth with disabilities/special health care needs (e.g., health care providers, services providers, etc.).
Strongly Agree – 9 total
Agree – 2 total
Neutral – 0
Disagree – 0
Strongly Disagree – 0
3) I will use what I learned in the training to better support my child and/or children and families I serve.
Strongly Agree – 10 total
Agree – 0
Neutral – 0
Disagree – 1 total
Strongly Disagree – 0
4) I would recommend Families as Allies to other families or professionals.
Strongly Agree – 10 total
Agree – 0
Neutral – 0
Disagree – 1 total
Strongly Disagree – 0
Please share any other comments or concerns with us:
– Been very helpful and wishes I knew this information as a mom before going through my journey with my children
– This training provided a lot of information and took step by step actions to help me find anything I had a question about
– I think the entire training was absolutely great and Ms. Nikki was great as well. It was very engaging and learned a lot
– Everything is going well and I appreciate all of the meetings online. Thank you so much.
– Training was very intuitive and simple. I liked it.
– I enjoyed it and training was good and informative. Nikki was a good trainer.
– I will use what I learned in the training to better support my child and / or children and families I serve.
