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Satisfaction Survey: 2002-2003
The Children's Home, Cromwell, Connecticut
2002-2003
Donors
2002-2003 Financials
Consumer Satisfaction Survey - Administered
Spring 2003
Prepared by: Stephen
H. Hodge, MS, Chief Operating Officer, The Children's
Home
The Survey
Each Spring the Children’s Home administers a Consumer
Satisfaction Survey. The current format
was originally designed for us in 1999
by students a t Wesleyan University in Middletown,
Connecticut. The project was completed
by the students as a part of the Community
Research Seminar under the leadership
of Associate Professor and Chair of Sociology,
Rob Rosenthal.
The survey is administered to 6 (six)
groups of stakeholders:
• Residential young people
• Day students
• Parents of residential clients and day
students
• Surrogate parents (appointed by the State
to represent committed children in the
education process
• DCF Social workers/probation officers
and parole officers
• School Districts
Surveys are administered to clients during
school time, in the classrooms. Other surveys are mailed.
Parent forms include self addressed, stamped return envelopes
and a Spanish survey is sent when appropriate.
| |
Possible
Total |
Completed |
Approx.
Percent
|
2002
Avg. |
| Residents |
70 |
57 |
81.4% |
|
| Day
Students |
32 |
20 |
62.5% |
|
| Total
Young People |
102 |
77 |
75.5% |
81% |
| Parents |
84 |
19 |
22.6% |
17% |
| Surrogate
Parents |
5 |
3 |
60.0% |
71% |
| DCF/Parole/Probation |
63 |
17 |
26.9% |
31% |
| School Districts |
33 |
13 |
39.4% |
33% |
This year’s survey was administered earlier in the spring than the previous
year. The 2002 survey went out in June and we speculated that the this late mailing
brought down the number of parent responses as their children were finishing
school, some were returning home and they were entering the summer schedule.
This year’s May mailing did result in a higher parent response but a lower
school district response; no doubt resulting from the fact that they received
theirs in the midst of a busy, end of year time.
Scoring
Most of each survey requests a response on a Leiter Scale and we compile our
data using scores from 1 through 5. In most cases, 1 is the most positive score
and 5 is the most negative. An exception occurs on the Resident Survey in questions
1 – 5 where a ‘3’ would be the most positive response.
Parent Survey
The parent survey consists of 16 questions. The average score for all responses
was 2.28. The worst average for a question was 2.7 on two different questions.
One of those questions involved Parent Teacher conferences. This question has
always drawn a poor score despite the fact that the school has an annual open
house / parent/teacher conference day that is regularly poorly attended. Additionally
it is communicated to parents, that parent teacher conferences can be scheduled
at any time by calling the school – that happens very seldom. In recent
years the Learning Center has attempted other strategies to encourage parent
involvement including Parent Forums; participation has been dismal. We will seek
input for other means of remedying this problem. This score, while low, is better
than previous years. The other question earning a 2.7 is “How is your relationship
with your DCF worker/parole officer?” There is little to nothing we can
do about this relationship. On the question, “Are you satisfied with the
relationship that you have with the CHOC therapist?” the average score
was 2.2. The sample survey form (see information at end of article to obtain
the Appendix) with the averages for all of the questions clearly indicates a
positive response from the parents. There were some negative comments, with no
common theme, there were constructive comments and there were some very positive
comments, including:
“ My daughter attended the day school program for a full year. Whenever
I needed to contact anybody at the school there was never a problem. Even when
I dropped
by the school, somebody was always available to help me and my daughter. I am
very pleased with my experience with CHOC.”
Surrogate Parent Survey
Many surrogate parents are retired special educators, all have expertise in the
field of special education. This professional level makes the scores of these
individuals very important and we were pleased to receive an average score of
1.4 and no scores above a 2.0.
DCF/Parole/Probation
The overall average score from DCF/Parole/Probation was 1.82. One worker marked
all 1’s and commented, “One of the best treatment facilities for ‘my’ kids!”
School Districts
School Districts send us students for the Day School program and are also responsible
(fiscally as well as serving as partners in planning) for the educational needs
of students placed in residence. 1.7 was the overall average score from the public
school districts. Five respondents wrote comments. One expressed concern over
an incident with one child in the residential part of the program; all of the
others were positive, including:
“ I was impressed with the improvement of our students who were placed
there by
DCF and the Court system.”
and
“ We have received effective service for our students who attend CHOC.”
Residents and Day Students
While all of our stakeholders are important, the young people we serve daily
are a very important resource in this study. The attached sample survey, with
average scores indicated, shows you that this is the longest survey, with the
greatest opportunity for consumer input.
Following the sample survey is a sheet indicating Annual Averages for three years,
allowing us to compare scores from year to year.
Student data is sorted in three ways. It is sorted to separate day students from
residents and to sort residents by living unit. It is also sorted by length of
stay and by race. There were no significant findings as a result of these sortings.
Question #31 regarding the child’s perception of his/her safety on the
unit did, again, indicate that young people arrive in their new environment with
some anxiety and feel more safe as time goes on.On the summary sheet you will
note:
• The Average Age has increased from 2001 from 14 to 15
• The Average Length of stay reported by those responding decreased from
12.5 months
to 9.5
Some of the areas of change that we were happy to see included:
• In
questions 1-6 a changed perception of students moving the line from school work
that is ‘too easy’ closer to ‘just right’
• An
improved perception on the part of students that teachers are listening
to
them, respect them and make lessons interesting.
You will note that the average response for question # 33 has been 3.4. We’ve
discovered that while the question asks, “If you lived some place other
than home….” Yet many of the respondents indicated on Question #34
that they had, in fact, previously lived at home. When we calculated only those
who had clearly lived somewhere other than home the score was 2.8. Interestingly
(sadly) some who had come from home indicated that CHOC was “much better” (1)
than where they had lived before.
Overall, there are positive improvements that speak well to the work of the staff.
Summary of Areas for Further Investigation / StudyThere is a general theme, with
no common recommendation or concern, in the area of parent communication and
/ or parent involvement. This will be an area of study over the next few months.
APPENDIX AVAILABLE BY SENDING YOUR NAME AND MAILING ADDRESS
TO shodge@childhome.org
Parent Form with averages
Surrogate Parent Form with averages
DCF Form with averages
School District Form with averages
Client Form with averages
3 year client summary
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