TaCTICS Final Report

The Therapists as Collaborative Team members for Infant/Toddler Community Services (TaCTICS) Project with its modular training components was based on the activities of a previous EEPCD Model Demonstration Project and two Family-guided Approaches to Collaborative Early-Intervention Training and Services (FACETS) Outreach Projects. Because of the rural location of the model demonstration site, this project, of necessity, addressed the barriers to effective and appropriate early intervention services in rural areas. These well documented problems include: high poverty rates; inadequate health care; high percentage of teenage mothers; recruitment and retention of qualified personnel; transportation of children and families to services in large, sparsely populated areas; and limited resources for staff development and related services.

The outreach project, TaCTICS was designed to deliver outreach training and follow-up assistance to teams of service providers working in early intervention with children who experience disabilities. The TaCTICS model consisted of four components that were developed into four modules: 1) Routines Based Assessment in Natural Environments; 2) Linking Assessment to Intervention through Team Planning; 3) Using Daily Routines as a Context for Intervention; and 4) Involving Careprovider in Teaching/Learning. Outreach training and follow-up assistance were provided to new outreach sites each year (14 in year 1, 9 in year 2, 10 in year 3, and 2 in year 4, a total of 35 programs over the three-year funding period.)

During the course of this project, outreach training on one or more of the TaCTICS Outreach components was provided to early intervention teams in a total of 35 communities. These communities were located in 10 different states: Pennsylvania, Kansas, Wisconsin, Idaho, Louisiana, Nebraska, Georgia, Florida, Illinois, and Texas. The participants in these outreach training and technical assistance activities included parents, professionals and paraprofessionals and represented many types of agencies, including early childhood special education, child care, community preschool, early intervention, hospital, and Head Start programs.

The dissemination activities conducted through this project were designed to achieve two basic purposes: 1) to disseminate information about the TaCTICS model and the availability of outreach services to potential outreach sites; and 2) to disseminate information about effective and appropriate early intervention practices that could be used by early childhood practitioners throughout the country.

We encountered no significant problems in completing this Outreach Project. The formative use of our outreach evaluation data allowed us to address specific problems in our training formats and materials as these were identified. The use of a management-by-objectives approach prevented any significant slippage in completing project activities and objectives within the approved funding period (which was extended by 12 months with OSEP approval).