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Considerations on the Implementation, Innovation, and Improvement of Evidence-Based Home Visiting Programs

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Home Visitation Programs

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Abstract

Home visiting as an approach to deliver services to at-risk young children and families, particularly mothers, has grown in visibility and acceptance. Home visiting has been endorsed by many organizations, including those in the business community, and research reviews have found supportive evidence. However, some concerns with the magnitude of home visiting outcomes and with discrepancies in replication research on identified programs in different communities have been found. A recent US federal initiative (Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting [MIECHV]) funds the implementation of evidence-based programs while requiring impacts in outcome areas not necessarily identified in the research studies that supported the programs’ evidence-based designation. There exists a tension between research-identified directions for home visiting and policy-mandated directions. This chapter focuses on this tension between research, policy, and practice and the innovations needed to reduce this tension when implementing programs. The identification of evidence-based practices is discussed along with some cautions. Programs that work with at-risk families can use these research based strategies to incorporate innovative program components as they expand, allowing them to remain true to program fidelity. The goal of this chapter is to provide innovative solutions that can help programs meet required outcomes, for most families, most of the time.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    For more information on evidence-based practice, there are many books on different topic areas (e.g., Buysse & Wesley, 2006). An easy primer on the topic is provided by Child Trends (Metz, Espiritu, & Moore, 2007). Websites that link to the evidence-based practice criteria and findings for different organizations may be more helpful. The National Early Childhood Technical Assistance Center, for example, has a page with links to early childhood organizations (http://www.nectac.org/topics/evbased/evbased.asp#practices) and the Metz and colleagues’ article also has links.

  2. 2.

    Information on the process and outcomes from HomVEE can be found at the following website: http://homvee.acf.hhs.gov/document.aspx?rid=5&sid=20&mid=2.

  3. 3.

    More detail on this process can be found at: http://homvee.acf.hhs.gov/document.aspx?rid= 4&sid=19.

  4. 4.

    The term “program models” has been used to indicate the programs being implemented are evidence-based models. From this point, programs will be defined as the implementation of a program model.

  5. 5.

    For example, see http://www.wkkf.org/knowledge-center/resources/2006/02/WK-Kellogg-Foundation-Logic-Model-Development-Guide.aspx for a guide developed by the W. K. Kellogg Foundation.

  6. 6.

    Fixsen and colleagues operate the National Implementation Resarch Network (http://nirn.fpg.unc.edu/), which has useful resources.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Center for Persons with Disabilities, Emma Eccles Jones College of Education and Human Services, Utah State University, 84322-6580, Logan, UT, USA

    Mark S. Innocenti

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  1. Mark S. Innocenti
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Correspondence to Mark S. Innocenti .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Dept. Family, Consumer and Human Development, Utah State University, Logan, Utah, USA

    Lori Roggman

  2. Center for the Study of Violence, University of SĂŁo Paulo, SĂŁo Paulo, SĂŁo Paulo, Brazil

    Nancy Cardia

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Innocenti, M. (2016). Considerations on the Implementation, Innovation, and Improvement of Evidence-Based Home Visiting Programs. In: Roggman, L., Cardia, N. (eds) Home Visitation Programs. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-17984-1_9

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