Phoenix Homes Youth Satisfaction Survey Report for 2008

Total surveys returned:

• 110

Length of Time in Care:

• 0-3 Months = 38 youth
• 4-6 Months = 12 youth
• 6-12 Months = 18 youth
• 13+ Months = 24 youth

Gender of Youth:

• Male = 51 youth
• Female = 49 youth

Average Age of Youth:

• 14.16 years of age

Questions:

1. Do you feel like a member of the foster family?

   Mean = 1.20 (1.11)

2. Do you feel safe?

   Mean = 1.08 (1.05)

3. Question 3: Are you involved in activities other than school?

   Mean = 1.34 (1.47)

4. Question 4: Do you understand your own family’s situation better?

   Mean = 1.21 (1.16)

5. Question 5: Do you understand your treatment plan and goals?

   Mean = 1.12 (1.04)

6. Question 6: Do you see your therapist as often as you would like?

   Mean = 1.19 (1.20)

7. Question 7: How long have you been in your current foster home?

   Mean = 2.18 (1.99)

   *This mean reflects that youth have been in current home for an average of 4-6 months.

8. Question 8: Do you feel that you are treated fairly in your foster home?

   Mean = 1.17 (1.13)

9. Question 9: Do you feel that your needs are being met?

   Mean = 1.10 (1.11)

10. Question 10: Overall, are you satisfied with your treatment?

    Mean = 1.14 (1.08)

11. Question 11: When riding with Phoenix Homes staff, do you feel safe?

    Mean = 1.06 (1.05)

12. Question 12: Do you know how to contact your state or Phoenix caseworker?

    Mean = 1.11 (1.06)

13. Question 13: Have you identified any areas of your behavior that need improved?

    Mean = 1.24 (1.18)

14. Question 14: Does your caseworker spend time with you to understand you better?

    Mean = 1.08 (1.06)

15. Question 15: Overall, has being with the Phoenix program really helped you?

    Mean = 1.15 (1.10)

*Note: Numbers in parentheses are from the last survey (2007): Scale 1=Yes and 2=No

*Note any differences of .10 or higher reflect a significant difference (p < .05). For example Question 2 and Question 3 are significantly different from each other at (p = .000; Paired Sample T-Test), with question 2 showing stronger results. Anything over 1.25 is not a ‘strong yes’.

*The largest problem question would seem to be Question 3 at 1.34. The possible answers were ‘yes’ (coded as 1) and ‘no’ (coded as 2). Thus, overall our answers/responses were very positive.

Total Foster Homes with Phoenix Homes:

• 1.40 Homes per youth on Average.

There were some significant differences found by group (one way ANOVA):

Time 1 (2007) versus Time 2 (2008):

• Q1: Do you feel like a member of the foster family? Youth at time one felt more a member of their foster family (Mean = 1.11 and 1.20 respectively; p = .042).
• Q3: Are you involved in activities outside of school? Youth at time two were believed they participated in more activities than youth at time 1 (Mean = 1.34 and 1.47 respectively; p = .028.
• Q5: do you understand your Treatment Plan and goals? Youth at time one believed they understood their treatment plan better ( Mean = 1.04 and 1.12 respectively; p = .015).

Gender differences:

• Q1: Do you feel like a member of the foster family? Female youth stated that they felt like a member of the foster family more often than did male youth (Mean = 1.08 and 1.29 respectively; p = .021)
• Q4: Do you understand your own family’s situation better? Female youth stated that they understood their family’s situations better than did male youth? (Mean = 1.14 and 1.24 respectively; p = .009)
• Q8: Do you feel you are treated fairly in your foster home? Female youth stated that they were treated more fairly in their foster home than did male youth (Mean = 1.06 and 1.25 respectively; p = .017)
• Q9: Do you feel that your needs are being met? Female youth believed their needs were being met more than did the male youth (Mean = 1.02 and 1.18 respectively; p = .028)
• Q14 Does you caseworker spend time with you to understand you better? Female youth believed their caseworker spent more time with them (Mean = 1.02 and 1.16 respectively; p = .05)

Age differences: Age groups: 7 – 12 (22); 13 – 15 (36); 16 and older (40)

• Q1: Do you feel like a member of the foster family? Youth in the middle age group reported that they felt less a part of the family than did the other two (Mean = 1.32 as compared to 1.05 respectively and 1.15 respectively; p = .025)
• Q8: Do you feel you are treated fairly in your foster home? The middle age group youth stated that they were treated less fairly in their foster home than did the other youth (Mean = 1.34 as compared to 1.00 respectively and 1.08 respectively; p = .000)
• Q9: Do you feel that your needs are being met? The middle age group youth believed their needs were being met less than did the other youth (Mean = 1.18 as compared to 1.00 respectively and 1.05 respectively; p = .032)

*Other noteworthy observations:

1. 80% (89%) of youth responded that they felt like a member of their foster family
2. 92% (95%) of youth stated that they felt safe in their foster home
3. 66% (52%) of youth stated that they were involved in enough activities outside of school
4. 80% (85%) of youth felt as if they understood their family’s situation better
5. 88% (96%) of youth reported that they understood their treatment plan and goals
6. 81% (80%) of youth responded that they see their therapist as often as they would like
7. 83% (88%) of youth believe that they are treated fairly in their foster home
8. 90% (89%) of youth answered that their needs are being appropriately met
9. 86% (92%) of youth are satisfied with the treatment they are receiving
10. 94% (95%) of youth feel safe when they are riding with Phoenix staff
11. 89% (94%) of youth know how to contact their state or Phoenix caseworker
12. 76% (83%) of youth have identified specific areas of their behavior that need improved
13. 92% (94%) of youth stated that their caseworker spends time with them to understand them better
14. 85% (91%) of youth are satisfied with Phoenix Homes’ program as a whole

* As a program, we should strive for 90% and above on every focalized question posed to the youth. As can be seen we achieve or surpass of nearly achieve this number on only 4 of the questions (as opposed to 7 in 2007). Under 80% should be of particular concern. Thus, questions 3 and 12 are items/concepts that should be addressed in effort to improve the satisfaction of our youth (with 1 and 4 on the borderline).