|
|
|
July 27, 2010
What Works for Home Visiting Programs
Home visiting is not a single, uniform intervention but rather an approach to service delivery that often offers a combination of supports and services. A new Child Trends fact sheet, What Works for Home Visiting Programs, synthesizes the findings from 66 rigorous evaluations of programs with a home visiting component. Overall, 32 programs had positive impacts on at least one child outcome, 23 had mixed reviews, and 11 were not proven to work.
The characteristics of an effective home visiting program differ depending on the age group being targeted, the duration and intensity of services, and the type of home visitor providing the services. Among the findings:
- For programs serving early childhood (ages 0-3), "high-intensity" programs that lasted for more than one year and averaged four or more home visits per month have been found to be effective for one or more child outcomes.
- Among programs serving preschool-age children (ages 4-5), using trained non-professionals and conducting weekly home visits produced mixed results.
- In middle childhood (ages 6-11), half of the programs that taught parenting skills (such as discipline, time management, and support) during home visits had a positive impact on at least one outcome; however, providing families with referrals to other services has mostly not been found to work.
- For programs serving adolescents (ages 12-17), those that use trained non-professionals as visitors and that last one year or longer showed positive impacts.
The fact sheet includes short descriptions of the rigorously evaluated programs and whether they were found to work, were not proven to work, or had mixed findings.
Related Research from Child Trends
|
|
|
|
|
|
