Sorry, but no effective shortcuts for the Routines-Based Interview (RBI) have been found. It's interesting that one of the most effective practices we have--one that families like--is one where professionals balk at the 2 hours it takes. Do we live in such a rushed professional society that every encounter has to be short? This medical-model mentality simply doesn't fit a family-centered, intellectually valid approach to our work. The problem is compounded by a well-meaning legislated mandate in Part C of IDEA--to have the IFSP completed within 45 days of the referral. The policy is intended to prevent delays in serving children, but it makes fitting in a longish interview seem difficult.
The RBI has three main purposes: to establish a positive
relationship with the family, to get a rich and thick description of the child
and family functioning, and to obtain a family-chosen list of functional
outcomes/goals. So splitting it up, which is one frequently mentioned idea, wouldn’t work. Many
good minds have applied themselves to the problem of the long RBI, but no
good shortcuts have been found. So I always suggest people consider what’s
using up all the time in the 45 days and it usually boils down to something to
do with the evaluation: scheduling evaluators, the evaluation taking a really
long time and therefore needing its own meeting, and so on. Many places successfully
fit in four visits: intake, eligibility evaluation, RBI, finalize the IFSP.
Places that don’t or that are afraid of going over the 45 days, bunch up two of
these meetings into one meeting, usually either evaluation and RBI or RBI and
finalize the IFSP. If the former, I urge them to examine their evaluation
practices to choose the most efficient tool and not to turn the in-or-out event
into a quasi-diagnostic encounter.
Almost all RBIs require some time management, and I train people
to keep up the detail of information discussed within routines, but, if
necessary, skip routines to be finished within 2 hours. Actually, the interview
needs to be over after 1.5 hours, because the recap, goal selection,
prioritizing, and criteria discussion (something new we’ve added) will take
half an hour. Experienced interviewers know not to skip dinner preparation,
bath time, and bed time.
The RBI doesn’t claim to get everything—just enough--to come up
with 10-12 goals, including family ones. So, if we skipped routines but we got
enough goals, we don’t have to “continue the RBI.” We never split the RBI up
over two days. There’s something about the arc of a complete
interview, in terms of the relationship building, that is disrupted if we break
it off in mid-stream and then, later, try to continue it.
Plan for the 2 hours and enjoy it. Families will.
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