ACYF Administration on Children, Youth and Families	U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES Administration for Children and Families
	1. Log No. ACYF-IM-HS-01-09	2. Issuance Date: 09/21/01
	3. Originating Office: Head Start Bureau
	4. Key Word: PRISM

INFORMATION MEMORANDUM

TO: Head Start and Early Head Start Grantees and Delegate Agencies

SUBJECT: Program Review Instrument for Systems Monitoring (PRISM) for Fiscal Year 2002

INFORMATION: At least once every three years, each Head Start and Early Head Start program receives a comprehensive on-site review by the Administration for Children and Families (ACF). The Head Start Performance Standards and other regulations require agencies to implement an array of program services and to establish a set of management systems for supporting these services. When reviewing programs, reviewers will examine the quality of services, the effectiveness of management systems and the impact of systems on services. These reviews play a vital role in assuring that Head Start programs are providing high quality services. This Information Memorandum briefly describes revisions to the Program Review Instrument for Systems Monitoring (PRISM) for fiscal year (FY) 2002.

The PRISM process uses an integrated, comprehensive, and outcome-focused approach to ensure compliance with Federal regulations. This approach promotes quality and supports programs in delivering services for children and families. The key principles used to form the foundation for PRISM remain in place; they are:

• Federal staff and review teams work in partnership with local program staff to conduct PRISM reviews;
• The process is a holistic systems-based approach;
• The process respects local ownership of programs by requiring reviewers to acknowledge the flexibility that programs have in designing service delivery and to base decisions about program compliance only on regulations;
• Review teams rely on "multiple modes of inquiry": interviews, observations, documentation review and analysis to validate that agencies have implemented the Head Start Performance Standards and other program requirements; and
• The entire team develops its findings through consensus.

The instrument begins with an Overview of the PRISM Process to provide a detailed description of the instrument and the process. In addition, Head Start Bureau staff have developed a special guide, PARTNERSHIP FOR QUALITY: A GRANTEE GUIDE TO PRISM, designed to help local program staff prepare for a PRISM review. A copy of the PRISM and the guide are attached to this memorandum. You are encouraged to carefully read both documents. If your program is scheduled for a review this year, a Regional Office staff person will discuss this information with the person from your agency designated to assist in planning the review.

The PRISM instrument is comprised of a set of Core Questions, eight interview protocols, and five observation guides/checklists. Many of these tools were introduced as part of interim editions of the instrument and utilized in the initial year of PRISM implementation.

Beginning October 1, 2001 (FY 2002), Head Start Programs are responsible for compliance with regulatory changes in transportation and child outcomes. Significant changes have been made to PRISM in response to the child outcomes initiative (refer to ACYF-IM-HS-00-18). Among these are the following:

• Core Question #12 has been changed from Curriculum to Curriculum and Assessment.
• The Classroom and Home Visit Observation Instruments now include an interview protocol to be used with teachers, home visitors, and child care providers.
• Most of the interview protocols have been adapted to include references to child assessment and/or child outcomes.
• A protocol to guide review team data gathering and data processing has been developed and has been included in the Federal Team Leader Planner.

The new regulations on transportation services (ACYF-IM-HS-01-01) are reflected in a number of places in PRISM:

• A Bus Ride Checklist has been added to the PRISM tools;
• Core Question #17 has been changed from Facilities, Materials, and Equipment to Facilities, Materials, Equipment, and Transportation; and
• References to transportation services occur in a number of the protocols as well as in the other two checklists.

Bureau staff will continue to make improvements to PRISM as we learn from our experiences using the instrument and process. We are very proud of the progress that the Head Start community has made over the past several years in implementing the important changes in program monitoring. As always, our goal in monitoring is to encourage programs to strive for excellence.

Douglas Klafehn
Acting Associate Commissioner
Head Start Bureau