Nurturing Parenting Programs (Birth to Age 5)
Last updated: 2011
In brief
Evidence of model effectiveness
This model does not meet the criteria established by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) for an “evidence-based early childhood home visiting service delivery model” for the general population or for tribal populations because there are no high- or moderate-rated effectiveness studies of the model.
Model description
The Nurturing Parenting Programs target families with children from the prenatal period to age 18 who are at risk for child abuse or neglect. There are five general Nurturing Parenting Programs that specifically target children during the prenatal period or from birth to age 5 and that can be delivered primarily in the home: (1) Nurturing Program for Prenatal Families; (2) Nurturing Program for Parents and their Infants, Toddlers and Preschoolers; (3) Nurturing Program for Teen Parents and their Children; (4) Nurturing Skills for Families Program; and (5) Nurturing Skills for Teen Parents Program. In all five programs, home visitors engage in activities to promote positive parenting skills, self-nurturing, and child brain development. Depending on the model selected, the home-based-only model for adult and teen parents and their infants, toddlers, and preschoolers contains up to 55 home sessions each lasting 1.5 hours. The home-based programs have been adapted for several special populations, including military families, Hispanic families, and families with children with special needs and health challenges. For more information, please read the Model Overview.
Extent of evidence
For more information, see the research database. For more information on the criteria used to rate research, please see details of HomVEE’s methods and standards.
Criteria established by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
Notes: If the model does not meet criterion 3 but meets criteria 1 and 2 based on findings from subgroups, the impacts must be replicated in the same domain in two or more studies using non-overlapping analytic study samples. HomVEE assesses and reports criteria 4 and 5 for all models that have well-designed research, but meeting those two criteria is only required of models for which all findings are from randomized controlled trials. Please read the HHS criteria for evidence-based models for more information.