As an early adopter of the HMG Model, the Orange County HMG system was established in 2005 and was the first site in the nation to replicate the HMG Model established statewide in Connecticut in 2002.
Using the Results-Based Accountability™ framework, HMG Orange County evaluations document and measures HMG’s efforts and impacts by answering the following questions:
- How much did Help Me Grow do?
- How well did Help Me Grow do it?
- Are children and families better off as a result of using Help Me Grow?
Three-Year Report 2019-2021
This report provides information about the children and families served by Help Me Grow in calendar years 2019 through 2021 as captured in its System for Tracking Access to Referrals (STAR) database.
Key Trends
While data findings for the concerns, referrals, connections to services and barriers tended to vary year by year, some trends have emerged:
- There was an increase in the percentage of Help Me Grow contacts for developmental concerns (24% of all concerns in 2021, up from 18% in 2019).
- In 2021, 70% of those who discussed their concerns with the child’s health care provider were referred to Help Me Grow, up from 56% in 2019.
- In 2021, 47% of calls were for concerns that had arisen one week prior or less, compared with 38% in 2019.
- There were increases in the percentages of referrals for mental health counseling (24% in 2021, up from 21% in 2019) and for communication / speech & language (15% in 2021, up from 13% in 2019).
- In more than 95% of the Regional Center of Orange County referrals where children received an evaluation, those children were found eligible and were receiving services.
- More than 99% of caregivers responded positively when asked if their needs were met after receiving referrals or information for their child and family.
- The positive overall outcome of “connected or pending” to at least one service remains relatively the same, 78% – 79%, during the years 2019 through 2021.
Three-Year Report 2016-2018
This report provides information about the children and families served by Help Me Grow in calendar years 2016 through 2018 as captured in its System for Tracking Access to Referrals (STAR) database.
Key Trends
While data findings for the concerns, referrals, connections to services and barriers tended to vary year by year, some trends have emerged:
- There was an increase in the percentage of Help Me Grow contacts for behavioral concerns (20% of all concerns in 2018, up from 17% in 2016).
- In 2018, 58% of those who sought prior help for a child’s concern were referred to Help Me Grow, down from 62% in 2016.
- In 2018, caregivers contacted Help Me Grow earlier where 41% of calls were for concerns that had arisen one week prior or less, compared with 34% in 2016.
- There were increases in percentages of referrals for mental health counseling (18% in 2018, up from 13% in 2016) and for communication/speech & language (11% in 2018, from 5% in 2016).
- In almost 95% of the Regional Center of Orange County referrals where children received an evaluation, these children were found eligible for Early Start and were receiving services.
- The positive overall outcome of “connected or pending” to at least one service remains relatively the same—72% to 74%—during the years 2016 through 2018.
- Almost 98% of caregivers responded positively when asked if their needs were met after receiving referrals or information for their child and family.
Three-Year Report 2013-2015
The primary source of data was extracted from Orange County’s web-based data system, STAR (System for Tracking Access to Referrals). Additional outreach efforts including community and primary health care providers were documented on monthly spreadsheets and analyzed for this evaluation.
Key Trends
While data findings for the concerns, referrals, connections to services and barriers
tended to vary year by year, some trends have emerged:
- There was an increase in the percentage of Help Me Grow contacts for behavioral concerns (18% of all concerns in 2015, up from 15% in 2013).
- In 2015, 57% of those who sought prior help for a child’s concern were referred to HMG, up
from 53% in 2013. This could indicate greater community awareness of Help Me Grow services.
- There were increases in the percentages of referrals for mental health counseling (11% in 2015,
up from 5% in 2013) and for parent-child participation (11% in 2015, up from 2% in 2013).
- More families are agreeing to follow-up care from HMG (88% in 2015, up from 77% in 2013).
- More children are being linked with services. 81% of children receiving care coordination by
HMG had at least one referral that was connected or pending in 2015, up from 78.5% in 2013.
Three-Year Report 2010-2012
This report presents information from the STAR (System for Tracking Access to Referrals) database on children and families served in 2010, 2011, and 2012.
