HMG-LI Report: Centering the Family Experience

IMPLICATIONS FOR LONG ISLAND’S EARLY CHILDHOOD SYSTEM

A follow up to Help Me Grow Long Island’s May 2021 report, this October 2021 report explores families’ experiences with Help Me Grow – Long Island through qualitative analysis. Importantly, feedback from families led to further exploration of existing quantitative data to identify an under-recognized issue for families: how barriers in registering for the local school district discouraged and delayed families seeking special education evaluation for their young children with suspected developmental delays. Help Me Grow – Long Island’s Family Resources Specialists are there to help one family at a time, but this report demonstrates Help Me Grow’s potential for systems change: elevating parents’ voices paired with examination of population-level data can drive more equitable access to services for all families.

Key findings from the Help Me Grow – Long Island (HMG-LI) family experience qualitative analysis

1. HMG-LI promotes protective factors and helps caregivers build social connections
2. Families found HMG-LI valuable and are satisfied with the level of support provided
3. All families faced obstacles in obtaining services and were assisted by HMG-LI to successfully connect