# Life Skills Progression™ ## An Outcome and Intervention Planning Instrument for Use With Families at Risk ### Second Edition by **Linda Wollesen, M.A., RN, LMFT** and **Brad Richardson, Ph.D.** --- Agencies using the LSP instrument are responsible for its safe and confidential use and are responsible for the training and supervision of staff regarding high-risk and reportable situations such as child abuse, intimate partner/domestic violence, depression and suicide or suicidal ideation, homicidal threats, and mental illness/depression. The information provided in this book is in no way meant to substitute for a medical or mental health practitioner’s advice or expert opinion. Readers should consult a health or mental health professional if they are interested in more information. This book is sold without warranties of any kind, express or implied, and the publisher and authors disclaim any liability, loss, or damage caused by the contents of this book. The individuals described in this book are composites or real people whose situations are masked and are based on the authors’ experiences. In all instances, names and identifying details have been changed to protect confidentiality. Purchasers of Life Skills Progression™: An Outcome and Intervention Planning Instrument for Use With Families at Risk, Second Edition are granted permission to download, print, and photocopy the tools in the text for clinical purposes. These forms may not be reproduced to generate revenue for any program or individual. Photocopies may only be made from an original book. Unauthorized use beyond this privilege may be prosecutable under federal law. ## Contents - About the Online Materials . vii - About the Authors . ix - About the Contributor . xi - Preface . xiii - Acknowledgments . xv 1. An Introduction to the Life Skills Progression™ (LSP) . 1 2. The History of Chasing Elusive Outcomes . 7 3. Maternal Early Childhood Home Visitation Best Practices . 17 4. Development and Field Testing of the LSP . 29 5. Instructions for Using and Scoring the LSP . 47 6. Reflective Supervision Using the LSP . 73 7. Using the LSP to Promote Maternal Health Literacy . 79 Sandra Smith, Ph.D. 8. Using the LSP for Evaluation Purposes . 89 9. Integrating the LSP Into Sites and Systems . 99 References . 103 APPENDICES A The Life Skills Progression™ Instrument . 112 B Abbreviations Used in the Life Skills Progression™ . 117 C Emerging Best Practice for Home Visitation Checklist . 119 ## About the Authors ### Linda Wollesen, M.A., RN, LMFT Focused her 35-year career on public health nursing and collaborative community-based services to low-income and ethnically diverse families. She worked as a nursing visitor in housing projects in East Los Angeles, nursing supervisor in Santa Clara, and program manager in Santa Cruz County, all in California. Her clinical expertise included services and care coordination for children and infants who have special needs or who are in foster care. Ms. Wollesen received her master’s degree in marriage, family, and child counseling from the University of Santa Clara and was a licensed therapist. ### Brad Richardson, Ph.D. Is research scientist and adjunct associate professor at The University of Iowa School of Social Work. He serves as co-director of The University of Iowa’s Consortium for Substance Abuse Research and Evaluation, Director of The Center for Public Health Evaluation and Research, and Research Director of the National Resource Center for Family Centered Practice. ## A NOTE ON THIS EDITION Together, Ms. Wollesen and Mr. Richardson began discussing establishing a national center for the LSP in 2016. This second edition brings together their knowledge of the use of the LSP since it was conceived, as well as developments in the field since the publication of the original Life Skills Progression™ in 2006. ## Preface One fifth of American children live in poverty. For the last several decades, those working with families who live in poverty have fought for funding for prevention and early intervention services. In the 1990s, home visitation services were thought to be a promising practice, but studies have continued to show only modest results... When I began thinking in terms of outcomes, I wrote the Life Skills Progression™ (LSP) outcome tool... ## POVERTY AND POOR OUTCOMES Families, and especially children living in poverty, impact the health, education, welfare, justice, and psychosocial systems due to long-term consequences associated with poverty. According to the National Center for Children in Poverty (NCCP), one-fifth of children in the United States live in poverty, which impacts their development. The LSP fills the gap in intermediate outcome measurement by defining and quantifying periodic pictures of parent and child outcomes. With this tool, a profile of parent and cohort progress begins to emerge and can be mapped over time. The LSP measures a parent’s life skills. ## CHAPTER OVERVIEWS - Chapter 2 summarizes the struggle since the mid-1980s to describe the outcomes that are unique to the home visitation field. - Chapter 3 summarizes best practices for home visitation programs likely to produce measurable and significant results. - Chapter 4 provides important background information about the development of the LSP. - Chapter 5 provides instructions for using the LSP and explains how to score it. - Chapter 6 suggests ways to use the LSP in reflective supervision for intervention planning. - Chapter 7 discusses the importance of health literacy. - Chapter 8 is about program evaluation specifically for program staff that need to plan evaluation. - Chapter 9 describes implementation steps for using the LSP within a program.