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KIPS Fast Facts
KIPS Snapshot
KIPS eLearning Snapshot

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KIPS: Keys to Interactive Parenting Scale

KIPS Parenting Assessment


  • Nurturing Insights

  • Proving Outcomes

 

KIPS shows parents grow.  With the KIPS parenting assessment you can document parenting outcomes.  KIPS shows how parents grow.  With KIPS you measure 12 key facets of parenting that you can use in partnership with families to promote parent-child relationships, promote learning and support confidence.   

Rated “A-Reliability and Validity Demonstrated” by 

California Evidence-Based Clearinghouse

Recommended By:


KIPS is a wonderful, friendly tool for parent observation and to coach parents on their parenting skills and strengths. The staff have found the online training flexible, accessible and easy to work into their daily schedules. . . .The parents love the opportunity to learn through their own experiences, watching themselves grow, knowing their strengths, and realizing the outcomes they have with their families. KIPwS is a wonderful, friendly tool for parent observation and to coach parents on their parenting skills and strengths. The staff have found the online training flexible, accessible and easy to work into their daily schedules. . . .The parents love the opportunity to learn through their own experiences, watching themselves grow, knowing their strengths, and realizing the outcomes they have with their families.

 KIPS is useful for assessing parenting behaviors in diverse families. Parent Educators can use the assessments to tailor their work with families.

What Is the KIPS Parenting Assessment?

KIPS is a convenient, reliable, evidence-based tool to effectively measure parenting behaviors. Family service programs commonly aim to enhance parenting to promote children’s development. However, few programs directly assess parenting behavior. By assessing parenting, you can tailor services to individual families, track parenting progress, and document program outcomes.

WHAT IS KIPS

What Can KIPS Do For You?

  • Identify 12 key parenting behaviors
  • Guide staff observations
  • Support reflective practice and supervision
  • Evaluate parenting outcomes
  • Track parenting progress and change over time

KIPS Features

  • 12 parenting behaviors derived from research
  • Meaningful to providers for intervention
  • Validated with families of children 2 - 71 months
  • High inter-rater reliability
  • High internal consistency
  • Proven validity
  • Fast to Use: Observe 20 min + Score 10 min
  • Available in English and Spanish
 Parenting Assessment Tools
Assessing Parenting  

12 Key Parenting Behaviors Assessed

1. Sensitivity of Responses
2. Supports Emotions
3. Physical Interaction
4. Involvement in Child’s Activities
5. Open to Child’s Agenda
6. Engagement in Language Experiences
7. Reasonable Expectations
8. Adapts Strategies to Child
9. Limits & Consequences
10. Supportive Directions
11. Encouragement
12. Promotes Exploration & Curiosity
As a clinician working with 0-5 year olds, I LOVED this parenting assessment. It is so useful for treatment planning and intervention. Hopefully, I will get to share knowledge of it with some of my colleagues who work in community mental health. They are always looking for relatively "easy" parenting assessments that can incorporate measurable and observable goals. Parenting Assessment for Outcomes
Parenting Assessment Scales  

Parenting Assessment Process 

Since KIPS is used to observe caregiver-child play, it is well received by families and children. KIPS assesses a caregiver (e.g. parent, other family member) interacting with a child. The observation requires only 20 minutes (15 minutes of free play and 5 minutes of clean up, if appropriate). Scoring takes only 10 minutes. To assure reliability, we recommend that you videotape the play session and score later.

What Does KIPS Look Like?

12 KIPS items use 1 to 5 quality ratings with behavioral anchors
Training and annual
online recertification
are required to use KIPS
see the KIPS Training page
   

KIPS Parenting AssessmentKIPS was the missing piece in our initial assessment. . . .We are a group of three Infant Mental Health Specialists who long waited for the tool you created. It’s comprehensive, easy to administer, balanced between strength and need focus, and effective for case formulation and monitoring.

 

KIPS validation

 

I was surprised. I saw things in the families I didn’t realize. It made me change my whole lesson plan. The [parents] that I thought were going to score low really surprised me. My mouth was open when I saw the scores, and this was both ways - both high and low.