Impact on Children
A child’s first relationships and earliest experiences establish the foundation for health and well-being throughout life…this is the core of an infant mental health approach.
Healthy Families America (HFA) nurtures the parent-child relationship to promote child well-being and prevent adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), especially child abuse and neglect.
Proof of Impact
School Readiness & Adjustment
The largest long-term rigorous study of HFA to date demonstrates impacts on academic success, with more children in gifted programs, fewer retained in first grade, and fewer receiving special education services. HFA also increases positive learning behaviors (works and plays cooperatively, follows oral directions and rules, and completes work on time).
These results are consistent with other studies reporting early indicators of children who are ready to learn, including higher scores for HFA children compared to controls on tests of cognitive development or developmental screening at one or two years, and fewer behavioral problems.
Child Abuse & Neglect
Parents’ self-reports provide a powerful measure of child maltreatment. Several rigorous studies show reductions in harsh parenting, neglect, physical abuse, and psychological abuse measured from one to seven years, and increased use of non-violent discipline.
Studies also show reduced rates of substantiated maltreatment, with strongest results for subgroups such as first-time moms who enrolled prenatally, moms who are not depressed, parents with prior CPS involvement, and those who received the recommended number of visits.
Children’s Health
HFA improves birth outcomes, including low birth weight, a problem with tremendous public and personal costs. When moms enroll in HFA before the third trimester, multiple studies report positive impacts on birth weight, and fewer birth complications. HFA has also been shown to increase breastfeeding.
HFA improves parents’ access to health care for their child by helping them:
- obtain insurance coverage,
- complete well-baby visits, and
- establish a medical home for routine and preventative health care needs.
References are available here.
THE BOTTOM LINE: HFA nurtures child development, including long-term improvements in children’s school performance, and prevents adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), such as child abuse and neglect. These outcomes have been shown in rigorous studies in multiple states.
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Interested in learning more about our home visiting programs or helping transform childhoods and communities? Get in touch—we’ll respond as quickly as we can.