HOMEBASED SERVICES FOR SOUTHEAST-ASIAN REFUGEE CHILDREN - A PROCESS AND FORMATIVE EVALUATION

This paper describes a first-of-its-kind, culturally sensitive, homeba sed child enrichment and family support program for Southeast Asian re fugees in San Francisco. The program goals were to reduce developmenta l and health problems among young children and prepare them for presch ool. The implementation model featured homebased interventions. Thirty -five families of Laotian, Cambodian, and Vietnamese descent were matc hed with paraprofessional workers of like ethnicity for the duration o f the intervention. Services were provided to 42 children. Three parap rofessionals were supervised daily and received regular in-service tra ining from expert consultants. Evaluation results reveal that the prog ram goal was achieved, suggesting that similar programs can be effecti ve elsewhere; The program was in its third year at the time of this ev aluation.