This year Family Ties Project clients continued to express a high degree of satisfaction with services. Straightforward, 1-page fixed response questionnaires on clients' experiences with legal services, counseling services, case management and art therapy used in prior years were revised for year 5 to include items specific to the type of service being rated. The number of items was reduced somewhat to try to increase response rates. The questionnaires are distributed and collected semi-annually by the service subcontractors.
The distribution and collection of feedback forms is incorporated into the delivery of services. The UDC law students mail the forms to clients at the conclusion of the semester. Other providers distribute and collect the forms during client visits.
No records are maintained to allow for computation of response rates. A total of 96 feedback forms were returned in response to the semi-annual requests for feedback, ranging from 17 for art therapy to 36 for kinship care case management. It is possible, therefore, that some clients may have responded in both 6-month periods. Results are displayed in Figures 22, 23 and 24. Mean ratings across all clients and all goals on a 4-point scale range from 3.1 for support group clients to 4.0 for kinship care, with an overall mean for all services, all items of 3.7 compared to 3.8 average for the previous 4 years.
Summary reports of the results of the client satisfaction responses were distributed to project and subcontractor staff in a team meeting January 25, 2002. Participants discussed the results and how they might be interpreted. 1 team member mentioned the likelihood of response biasif dissatisfied a client might not bother to submit the form. That same member believes that her clients' need for service is so great that they are grateful for whatever service is provided. Pediatric Care, Inc. staff described the process for collecting feedback from support group participants. Several suggestions were made for improving the process: a person other than the group facilitator should distribute and collect forms; management should clarify responsibility for collecting and submitting forms; the questions should be read to the group, with each client marking the form; adequate time should be set aside for data collection so as not to intrude on other, perhaps more preferred, activities; and results should be presented to all staff.
The UDC attorneys also agreed to present client satisfaction results to their students. Even though students rotate out of the clinic, sharing feedback will remind the current students that it is important and useful to collect satisfaction data. They will also be reassured to note the high level of satisfaction that past clients have had with legal services.