The Baby TALK Logic Model. The Baby TALK Logic Model (Figure 1) illustrates the flow of activity and the general timeline followed in the model. The model starts with identification and ends with anticipated child and parent outcomes. There are three stages in the Baby TALK intervention model. In Stage 1, the process begins with a “personal encounter” for screening and identification of families with young children. Again, this can happen in diverse settings throughout the community. In Stage 2, screening takes place and the level of risk is assessed. Finally in Stage 3 and once screening is completed, appropriate intervention services are implemented based on the need of the child and family. These interventions take the form of parent- or child-focused activities, and appropriate social resources given to the family. Based on the activities, the model expects a variety of outcomes including short- and long-term outcomes for both parent and child.
Together, the approach to locating families with young children, the extensive protocols to guide encounters with families, and the subsequent coordination of services, sets the Baby TALK intervention model apart from other models used in the field. Most importantly, the model’s approach to identifying at-risk families allow early childhood professional to identify
high-risk participants early and implement supportive or intervention services as soon as possible. Analysis of the current data on participants using the Baby TALK model in Decatur illustrates this point. Our analysis shows that the model does identify a high-risk populations early in a child’s life.
METHODS
Baby TALK maintains an extensive database for its demonstration program in Decatur. Indeed, the database houses records of over 20,000 Baby TALK participants. The data includes information on children, mothers, fathers, grandparents, and legal guardians, and spans from
2006 to the present. Records contain information about parent and child participants including
levels of parent education, socioeconomic status, number of children in the family, racial/ethnic background, and attendance records in the various demonstration site programs. Cross- comparisons were made with other sources collecting similar demographic data at the local,
state, and federal level. The purpose of analyzing the database was to obtain a descriptive picture of the population served in the demonstration program, and to compare the level of risk among Baby TALK participants with the wider community.
State and federal criteria for risk include, but are not limited to, income level, education level, marital status, and employment status. The same criteria was used to analyze the risk characteristics of Baby TALK participants using mother-specific data only. Three other sources were then compared to the mother-specific Baby TALK data:
(1) Illinois Early Childhood Asset Map (IECAM)1 reflecting data for all Macon County,
including Decatur;
(2) The U.S. Census Bureau reflecting data for Illinois and all county-specific data; and (3) Head Start Family and Child Experiences Survey (FACES) 2003 database2 reflecting data from a sample of Head Start programs, the nation’s largest federally funded early intervention program for low-income children.
Sample sizes vary for each dataset and were noted in each table. To illustrate, the Baby TALK sample reflects responses from participants in the Decatur demonstration program. Macon County samples reflect information on all members living in the county (Table 3). Additionally, the Head Start data reflect a representative sample of all federally-funded Head Start programs across the country.