Early Childhood Topics

• Head Start/Early Head Start
• Early Care & Education Settings
• Home Visiting
• Early Childhood Education Practices
• Studying Children in a Multicultural Society
• Clients

Supporting Evidence-Based Home Visiting to Prevent Child Maltreatment

A growing body of research suggests that home visits from a professional social worker, nurse, early childhood expert, or paraprofessional can go a long way in the prevention of child abuse, particularly for high-risk parents. Home visitors can help parents improve their child-rearing skills and build and strengthen family relationships by offering support and advice. Rigorous research demonstrates that a number of home visiting program models are effective in changing these important parent behaviors and outcomes for children.

In 2008, the Children’s Bureau in the Administration for Children and Families funded 17 cooperative agreements to support the implementation of evidence-based home visiting programs to prevent child maltreatment. The grantees, located in 15 states, conduct collaborative planning efforts to leverage other existing federal, state, and local funding sources into evidence-based home visiting programs and practices. They then build the necessary infrastructure for the adoption, implementation, and sustainability of these programs.

Mathematica and Chapin Hall at the University of Chicago are conducting a participatory, utilization-focused cross-site evaluation to:

• Identify implementation strategies and challenges
• Examine the degree to which system change occurred
• Document the fidelity with which the program models were implemented
• Evaluate the effects of home visiting programs in reducing child maltreatment and achieving other family and child outcomes
• Analyze the cost involved in implementing and sustaining home visiting programs

As part of the evaluation, Mathematica and Chapin Hall established and are coordinating a peer learning network. This network connects grantees, federal staff, and other stakeholders, allowing them to share information with one another and utilize evaluation technical assistance.

Publications

"Cross-Site Evaluation of the Supporting Evidence-Based Home Visiting Grantees: Summary of the Planning Year" (November 2009)
"Cross-Site Evaluation of the Supporting Evidence-Based Home Visiting Grantee Cluster: Evaluation Design. Volume 1" (October 2009)
"Supporting Evidence-Based Home Visiting to Prevent Child Maltreatment: Overview of the Cross-Site Evaluation" (October 2009)
"Evaluating Systems Change Efforts to Support Evidence-Based Home Visiting: Concepts and Methods" (September 2009)