Trying to bridge the worlds of home visitation and child welfare: Lessons learned from a formative evaluation

Abstract

Young children in families contacting the child welfare system are at high risk of recurrent maltreatment and poor developmental outcomes. Home visitation programs to support parenting may offer hope as a preventive resource but these programs are rarely linked with child welfare. This article describes findings from a formative evaluation of a program designed to connect child welfare-involved families to an existing evidence-supported home visitation program. The program, Early Childhood Connections (ECC), was developed by a field-university partnership including leaders from a public state child welfare system, regional early childhood education systems, and several local agencies providing family support services. Despite extensive and rigorous planning by the workgroup and collaborative refining of the intervention approach as agency needs changed, the continued structural and policy changes within both the home visitation agency and the child welfare agencies created significant ongoing barriers to implementation. On the other hand, child welfare-involved families were receptive to engaging with home visitation. Implications of lessons learned for ongoing program development in this area are discussed.

Strategies for implementation of virtual home visitation in the United States

“…Further, the literature on termination of telepractice services is scant. Reports within the home visitation literature note that changes in family status including returning to work, multiple competing appointments, or other scheduling barriers often lead families to discontinue services (Jack et al., 2016; Stahlschmidt et al., 2018). Likewise, changing a provider has been noted as a barrier for continuing services in both the home visitation and mental health literature (Beasley et al., 2018; Newman et al., 2015).…”

“…Home visitation is a service model, generally focused on parenting of children birth to 3 years, that seeks to support families in better understanding and responding to the developmental needs and skills of young children (Stahlschmidt et al., 2018). In the standard model of home visitation, a provider enters the family's home to offer developmental assessment, parent coaching, and family support.…”

A Review of Screened-Out Families and Child Protective Services Involvement: A Missed Opportunity to Prevent Future Maltreatment With Community-Based Services

“…Loman et al (2009) suggest that the low acceptance rate may also be related to who is initiating contact with the family (CPS instead of a community provider), how they explain the reason for contact, and how they present the services offered. Related child welfare studies have found that families reported to CPS are amenable to voluntary services from other agencies when engagement is made easier (Stahlschmidt et al, 2018). This difficulty to engage clients is likely associated with the stigma attached to CPS agencies, which needs to be addressed (Allan et al, 2018; Kemp et al, 2009).…”

Improving engagement with services to prevent Sudden Unexpected Death in Infancy (SUDI) in families with children at risk of significant harm: A systematic review of evidence

“…Home visiting and regular contact with a case worker improved engagement in a supported housing programme for families with both child protection concerns and unstable living arrangements (Farrell et al, 2012). Families were more receptive to home visiting and home-based delivery of services in a study of Early Childhood Connections (ECC), a service integration process attempting to coordinate an evidence-supported home visiting programme with usual child welfare care (Stahlschmidt et al, 2018).…”