Home Visiting Programs

Home visits are recognized as a cost-effective means of promoting infant and child health, preventing maltreatment, and improving family functioning. Home-based programs provide new  and expectant parents with support to build their basic caregiving skills and assist parents and other primary caregivers in bonding with children to encourage healthy child development and a positive home environment. They address issues such as maternal and child health, positive parenting practices, safe home environments, and access to services. Use the following resources to learn more about the importance of home visiting; review selected programs; and learn more about planning, implementation, evaluation, and more.

Attachment and Biobehavioral Catch-Up
University of Delaware (2013)
Explains the Attachment and Biobehavioral Catch-Up program at the University of Delaware and includes information on how families, researchers, and parent coaches can participate in the project and the research efforts that are currently underway in the areas of specialized services for high-risk birth parents, children adopted domestically and internationally, children being raised by their biological parents, and toddlers in foster care.

Building Healthy Children
Utilizes evidence-based practices to provide and evaluate preventive intervention services for women who gave birth to their first child prior to the age of 21 years old. Intervention services provided include parenting education, parent-child attachment and maternal depression therapy, and any needed support services such as food, housing, and transportation.

Family Spirit Program Replication
John Hopkins University, Center for American Indian Health
Describes an evidence-based home visiting program for vulnerable Native American families and offers information about implementation sites.

Implementation of Evidence-based Home Visiting Programs Aimed at Reducing Child Maltreatment: A Meta-analytic Review (special Issue: Issues and Solutions in the Implementation of Evidence-informed Child Welfare Practices)

Child Abuse and Neglect, 53

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Reviews the literature regarding evidence-based home visitation program outcomes as a means of addressing risk factors for child maltreatment; a consideration and monitoring of program implementation is advised as a means of achieving optimal study results.

Implementing the Fussy Baby Network Approach

Zero to Three, 33(2)

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Describes the core processes of an approach to engaging parents around their concerns about their baby's crying, sleeping, or feeding in a way which builds their long-term capacities as parents, how to match these processes with what the parent needs in the moment, and illustrates the approach in three exemplary Fussy Baby Network national program sites in Arizona, California, and Colorado.

The Nurturing Parenting Programs
Presents a family-based program that involves both parents and children in activities that focus on building a positive regard for self and others. Several programs focus on specific age groups and racial populations.

Parent Child +
Details a 2-year home-based program for parents and their 2- and 3-year-old children who are challenged by obstacles to educational success, including poverty, low levels of education, and language difficulties. Offers research and publications, a newsletter, information on how to start a site, and other ways to get involved.

Policy Brief: Home Visiting in Delaware (PDF - 617 KB)
Gallagher, Sherman, & Woodall (2013)
Discusses the use of home-visiting programs in Delaware to support pregnant women and families with young children. This brief reports the cost effectiveness of home-visiting programs; reviews the history of home-visiting programs in Delaware; the impact of the Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting Program; and key goals that Delaware aims to achieve through home-visiting programs.

Promoting Father Involvement in Home Visiting Services for Vulnerable Families: A Pilot Study Final Report (PDF - 1,065 KB)
Guterman (2012)
University of Chicago
Reviews a study that was designed and pilot tested in the field for father involvement service enhancement “Dads Matter” intervention enhancement protocol, includes intervention manual, training package, and clinical supervision process, to support the implementation of the Dads Matter enhancement for future studies and implementation efforts in the field.

Start Early
Details an early childhood program that works directly with children and families, community partners and the workforce to promote equitable opportunity for all children and families to thrive.

Promoting First Relationships

CW360: A Comprehensive Look at a Prevalent Child Welfare Issue, p. 22

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Highlights Promoting First Relationships, a program consisting of a 10-week home-visiting intervention in which the provider videotapes parent-child interaction and watches the videos with the parent as an opportunity for reflective observation. Findings from the study are included.

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