The Healthy Families America (HFA) program is a long-term home visiting program for families assessed as high risk for child abuse and neglect. Home visiting services begin prenatally or within three months after the birth of a baby and can last from three to five years, depending on the needs of the family. Specially trained paraprofessionals provide the home visiting services to parents.
The overall goals of the program are to promote positive parenting, enhance child health and development, and prevent child abuse and neglect.
The home visitor assists in helping parents with their life circumstances, personal issues, parenting needs, and successful adaptation to new infants. Home visitors are also available to help mobilise critical services to address substance abuse, domestic violence, and mental health issues. They attempt to model good parenting behaviour, review the child's developmental progress, ensure safety in the home, secure a “medical home” for the child, and provide emotional support to the parents as they adapt to the changing circumstances of their home life.
The HFA program is designed for families assessed as high risk for child abuse and neglect.
The program has only been evaluated in the USA.
Five randomised control trials were conducted:
The program has not been tested in Australia, or with Aboriginal Australians.
The HSP program had mixed research evidence on three different outcomes:
No negative effects were found.
Overall, The Healthy Families America program has a mixed effect on client outcomes.
Mixed research evidence (with no adverse outcomes):
The Healthy Families America program is implemented through regular home visits to families of pregnant mothers and newborn infants. The content of the visits is intended to be individualized and culturally appropriate.
Home visitors are there to:
During the prenatal period, the home visitor uses curricula such as “Partners for a Healthy Baby” to support expectant women to achieve an optimal pregnancy experience. Prenatal visits generally focus on:
Following the birth of the child, home visitors utilise other curricula, including “Parents as Teachers” and “Helping Babies Learn.” Postnatal home visits concentrate on:
Not reported
Five RCTs:
The Healthy Families America: https://www.healthyfamiliesamerica.org
16 Feb 2023
We acknowledge Aboriginal people as the First Nations Peoples of NSW and pay our respects to Elders past, present, and future.
Informed by lessons of the past, Department of Communities and Justice is improving how we work with Aboriginal people and communities. We listen and learn from the knowledge, strength and resilience of Stolen Generations Survivors, Aboriginal Elders and Aboriginal communities.
You can access our apology to the Stolen Generations.