Implementing Family Check-Up^® For Children

Family Check-Up is a strengths-based, family-centered intervention designed to support parents’ efforts to promote children’s competence, mental health, and risk reduction. The model is tailored to address the specific needs of each family and can be integrated into a variety of service settings, including home visiting.

The REACH Institute at Arizona State University (ASU) offers training, implementation support, and resources to Family Check-Up service providers.

The target population for this model is families with risk factors including socioeconomic disadvantage, maternal depression, family and child risk factors for child conduct problems, and academic failure.

Families with children ages 2 through 17 years are eligible for Family Check-Up. Family Check-Up for Children is a version of the model that is appropriate for families with children ages 2 through 5. For the purpose of the HomVEE review, only studies of sites that used home visiting as the primary service delivery method and that included families with children ages 2 through 5 were included.

Family Check-Up is designed to reduce children’s conduct, academic, and internalizing problems, and to improve maternal depression, parental involvement, and positive parenting.

Family Check-Up has two phases. Phase 1 is composed of three sessions that occur within the home and involve an interview, assessment, and feedback. During the feedback session, the home visitor, referred to as a provider, and family collaboratively decide what follow-up services may be needed, if any. As needed, the provider may refer families to additional community services which would initiate Phase 2. In Phase 2, providers may deliver the Everyday Parenting family management training program to families in the home (Everyday Parenting consists of 1 to 15 sessions). Everyday Parenting provides a basis for more intensive parenting support and is designed to enhance parents’ skills in positive behavior support, healthy limit-setting, and relationship-building. Phase 2 may also include support for child’s school success or services to address parent behavioral or mental health. Phase 2 services are tailored to the family’s needs.

When used as a health maintenance model, Family Check-Up involves yearly check-ups, in which families complete Phase 1 and participate in Phase 2, as needed. This annual contact enables providers to track family and child behaviors over time and continue to motivate families to change persistent areas of difficulty.

Phase 1 of Family Check-Up consists of three initial one-hour sessions (interview, assessment, and feedback), which are scheduled in close proximity to one another. In Phase 2, parents may choose to engage in follow-up services, which may include Everyday Parenting. As a health promotion and prevention strategy, Phase 2 of Family Check-Up can be limited to 1 to 3 Everyday Parenting sessions. As a treatment approach, Phase 2 can range from 3 to 15 Everyday Parenting sessions. Families typically participate in Everyday Parenting for an average of 3 to 6 sessions.

When used as a health maintenance model, Family Check-Up recommends annual check-ups (Phase 1, and Phase 2 as needed) through age 17.

Family Check-Up is currently being offered in the following states: Arizona, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Virginia. It is also implemented in Canada, the United Kingdom, and in Sweden by the Center for Progress in Children’s Mental Health.

Phase 1 of Family Check-Up has been delivered in two, rather than three, sessions: one extended interview and assessment session, plus one feedback session.

The information contained on this page was last updated in October 2019. Recommended Further Reading lists the sources for this information. In addition, the information contained in this profile was reviewed for accuracy by the REACH Institute at Arizona State University on May 6, 2019. HomVEE reserves the right to edit the profile for clarity and consistency.