How can home visiting programs measure outcomes for families at risk?
Use the LSP evaluation tool to track child and family progress
The Life Skills Progression™ (LSP™) tool measures a parent’s ability to achieve and maintain a healthy and satisfying life for families. LSP describes individual parent and infant/toddler progress
using 43 individual categories of life skills that reflect the
array of basic skills needed to live and parent well. It also tracks important infant developmental and regulatory outcomes.
The LSP can be used to document the incremental parent/child life skills outcomes that are required by funding sources and administrators.
For the initial LSP, complete the Parent Scales and Infant Scales following the 2nd visit with a family (out of the presence of the family)
Score each scale separately and transfers the results to the summary sheet
Transfer the results to the data planning tool for program evaluation
Work with the family on parent-identified goals and raise issues revealed as a need; conduct the LSP every 6 months to monitor family progress
At a glance
What is it?
A broad-based parent/child outcome tool to track progress of high-risk, low-income parents and their children
What age range does it target?
Families with children from birth to 3 years
What are the components?
The all-in-one LSP includes information on the tool’s development and field testing, instructions on use, data entry form, cumulative score sheet, and the photocopiable tool itself
What areas does it examine?
LSP includes Parent Scales that look at
- education and employment
- health and medical care
- mental health and substance use/abuse
- basic essentials
and Infant Scales that look at the areas of
- gross motor
- fine motor
- problem solving
- breast feeding
Who completes it?
An experienced professional familiar with the family
How long does it take to complete?
About 5–10 minutes
How often is it conducted?
Initially when working with a family (within the first two visits), then every 6 months, and at closure
What does the instrument tell you?
Generating a comprehensive portrait of the behaviors, attitudes, and skills of parents and children, LSP helps professionals establish baseline client profiles, identify strengths and needs, plan interventions, and monitor progress and outcomes to show interventions are working