Reductions in child maltreatment

In brief

Overview

Because young children are more likely than older children to be maltreated, the goal of some of the early childhood home visiting models in the HomVEE review is to prevent or reduce the incidence of child abuse and neglect. To achieve this goal, home visitors typically work with parents to improve knowledge, skills, and behaviors that are associated with maltreatment. For example, they may educate parents on how to interact with their children in a more responsive manner, teach them alternative ways to discipline their children, or provide strategies for meeting their children’s developmental needs. They may also attempt to decrease the numbers of stressors that may make families vulnerable to inappropriate parenting. For example, home visitors may work to enhance children’s functioning by improving child health and development or connect families with community resources (such as mental health and substance abuse services).

Measurement considerations

Outcomes in this domain include measures and assessments related to child maltreatment. Outcome measures include evidence of substantiated child maltreatment from administrative records and counts taken from medical records of encounters with health care providers for injuries or ingestions. Encounters with health care providers may include physician visits, emergency room visits, or hospitalizations. Parents in home visiting programs may be encouraged to use health care services more often, such as for well child care visits. In addition, families’ patterns of health care use may change after enrollment in a home visiting program. For example, if a program connects families with primary care physicians, they may reduce their use of the emergency room for health care. Therefore, in the HomVEE review, only health care encounters that may occur as a result of child maltreatment, such as treatment for injuries or ingestions, are included in the reductions in child maltreatment domain.

There is some concern that counts of child maltreatment reports may not be accurate indications of the incidence of maltreatment. For example, participation in early childhood home visiting programs increases surveillance of families and may result in increased reports of child maltreatment. Therefore, this review includes only substantiated reports of child maltreatment as an outcome measure; outcome measures based on unsubstantiated reports are excluded. HomVEE also includes child welfare outcomes such as placement outside the home.

HomVEE has classified the Conflicts Tactics Scale-Parent Child (CTS-PC), a measure that assesses neglectful, psychologically aggressive, and abusive parenting behavior, as a measure of child maltreatment.

HomVEE includes only substantiated reports of child maltreatment and child welfare measures such as custody loss and placement outside the home; outcome measures based on unsubstantiated reports are ineligible for review. There is some concern that counts of child maltreatment reports may not be accurate indications of the incidence of maltreatment. For example, participation in home visiting programs increases surveillance of families and may result in increased reports of child maltreatment.

Only health care encounters that may occur specifically as a result of child maltreatment, such as treatment for injuries or ingestions, are included in the reductions in child maltreatment domain. Encounters with health care providers may include physician visits, emergency room visits, or hospitalizations. Parents in home visiting programs may be encouraged to use health care services more often, such as for well child care visits. In addition, families’ patterns of health care use may change after enrollment in a home visiting program. For example, if a program connects families with primary care physicians, families may reduce their use of the emergency room for health care. Therefore, HomVEE places other health care encounter measures in the child health domain.

Categorizing runaway information. If a child running away is measured in child welfare records, that measure would be listed here. In contrast, if a parent or child reports that the child ran away from home, that measure would be reported in the child development and school readiness domain.

Summary of findings

The effects shown in the research are grouped into four categories: (1) favorable, (2) no effect, (3) unfavorable or ambiguous, and (4) not measured. Results for models that only have low-rated research are listed as “not applicable.” For more information on these categories please read the procedures and standards handbook. Only results from manuscripts that receive a moderate or high rating are considered below. This table includes manuscripts links to more information on the model’s effectiveness, implementation, and details on findings in this domain.

Effects shown in research — Reductions in child maltreatment domain

Displaying 1 - 68 of 68
Model Meets HHS criteria Findings For more information

Arizona Health Start Program

Meets HHS criteria?
No
Findings
Not applicable
For more information

Attachment and Biobehavioral Catch-Up (ABC) -Infant

Meets HHS criteria?
Yes
Findings
Not measured
For more information

Attachment and Biobehavioral Catch-Up (ABC) -Toddler

Meets HHS criteria?
No
Findings
Not measured
For more information

Child First

Meets HHS criteria?
Yes
Findings
Not measured
For more information

Child Parent Enrichment Project (CPEP)

Meets HHS criteria?
No
Findings
Favorable: 0
No effect: 1
Unfavorable or ambiguous: 0
For more information

Childhood Asthma Prevention Study (CAPS)

Meets HHS criteria?
No
Findings
Not measured
For more information

Computer-Assisted Motivational Intervention (CAMI)

Meets HHS criteria?
No
Findings
Not measured
For more information

CAMI+

Meets HHS criteria?
No
Findings
Not measured
For more information

IMH-HB EHS

Meets HHS criteria?
No
Findings
Not measured
For more information

Early Head Start—Home-based option

Meets HHS criteria?
Yes
Findings
Favorable: 0
No effect: 1
Unfavorable or ambiguous: 0
For more information

Early Intervention Program for Adolescent Mothers

Meets HHS criteria?
Yes
Findings
Not measured
For more information

Early Start (New Zealand)

Meets HHS criteria?
Yes
Findings
Favorable: 2
No effect: 0
Unfavorable or ambiguous: 0
For more information

Early Steps to School Success™—Home Visiting

Meets HHS criteria?
No
Findings
Not applicable
For more information

Even Start-Home Visiting (Birth to Age 5)

Meets HHS criteria?
No
Findings
Not applicable
For more information

Family Check-Up® For Children

Meets HHS criteria?
Yes
Findings
Not measured
For more information

Family Connections (Birth to Age 5)

Meets HHS criteria?
No
Findings
Not applicable
For more information

Family Connects

Meets HHS criteria?
Yes
Findings
Favorable: 0
No effect: 3
Unfavorable or ambiguous: 0
For more information

Family Spirit®

Meets HHS criteria?
Yes
Findings
Not measured
For more information

First Born® Program

Findings
Not measured
For more information

Following Baby Back Home (FBBH)

Meets HHS criteria?
No
Findings
Not applicable
For more information

Health Access Nurturing Development Services (HANDS) Program

Meets HHS criteria?
Yes
Findings
Favorable: 1
No effect: 0
Unfavorable or ambiguous: 0
For more information

HealthConnect One's® Community-Based Doula Program

Meets HHS criteria?
No
Findings
Not applicable
For more information

Healthy Beginnings

Meets HHS criteria?
Yes
Findings
Not measured
For more information

Healthy Families America (HFA)®

Meets HHS criteria?
Yes
Findings
Favorable: 20
No effect: 188
Unfavorable or ambiguous: 1
For more information

Healthy Steps (National Evaluation 1996 Protocol)

Meets HHS criteria?
Yes
Findings
Favorable: 0
No effect: 1
Unfavorable or ambiguous: 0
For more information

Home Instruction for Parents of Preschool Youngsters (HIPPY)®

Meets HHS criteria?
Yes
Findings
Not measured
For more information

Home-Start

Meets HHS criteria?
No
Findings
Not applicable
For more information

HOMEBUILDERS (Birth to Age 5)®

Meets HHS criteria?
No
Findings
Not applicable
For more information

Intervention Nurses Start Infants Growing on Healthy Trajectories (INSIGHT)

Meets HHS criteria?
Yes
Findings
Not measured
For more information

Maternal Early Childhood Sustained Home-Visiting Program (MECSH)

Meets HHS criteria?
Yes
Findings
Not measured
For more information

Maternal Infant Health Outreach Worker (MIHOW)®

Meets HHS criteria?
Yes
Findings
Not measured
For more information

Maternal Infant Health Program (MIHP)

Meets HHS criteria?
Yes
Findings
Favorable: 0
No effect: 13
Unfavorable or ambiguous: 5
For more information

Minding the Baby® Home Visiting (MTB-HV)

Meets HHS criteria?
Yes
Findings
Not measured
For more information

MOM Program

Meets HHS criteria?
No
Findings
Not measured
For more information

Mothers’ Advocates in the Community (MOSAIC)

Meets HHS criteria?
No
Findings
Not applicable
For more information

New Forest Parenting Programme (NFPP)

Meets HHS criteria?
No
Findings
Not applicable
For more information

North Carolina Baby Love Maternal Outreach Workers Program

Meets HHS criteria?
No
Findings
Not applicable
For more information

Nurse-Family Partnership (NFP)®

Meets HHS criteria?
Yes
Findings
Favorable: 7
No effect: 19
Unfavorable or ambiguous: 0
For more information

Nurses for Newborns®

Meets HHS criteria?
No
Findings
Not applicable
For more information

Nurturing Parenting Programs (Birth to Age 5)

Meets HHS criteria?
No
Findings
Not applicable
For more information

Oklahoma’s Community-Based Family Resource and Support (CBFRS) Program

Meets HHS criteria?
Yes
Findings
Not measured
For more information

Parent-Child Assistance Program (PCAP)

Meets HHS criteria?
No
Findings
Not applicable
For more information

ParentChild+® Core Model

Meets HHS criteria?
No
Findings
Not measured
For more information

Parents as Teachers (PAT)®

Meets HHS criteria?
Yes
Findings
Favorable: 0
No effect: 4
Unfavorable or ambiguous: 0
For more information

Baby FACE, an adaptation of PAT®

Meets HHS criteria?
No
Findings
Not measured
For more information

Parents as First Teachers (New Zealand)

Meets HHS criteria?
No
Findings
Not measured
For more information

Philani Outreach Programme

Meets HHS criteria?
No
Findings
Not applicable
For more information

Play and Learning Strategies (PALS) Infant

Meets HHS criteria?
Yes
Findings
Not measured
For more information

PALS Infant + Toddler/Preschooler

Meets HHS criteria?
No
Findings
Not measured
For more information

PALS Toddler/Preschooler

Meets HHS criteria?
No
Findings
Not measured
For more information

Preparing for Life—Home Visiting

Meets HHS criteria?
Yes
Findings
Not measured
For more information

Pride in Parenting (PIP)

Meets HHS criteria?
No
Findings
Not applicable
For more information

Promoting First Relationships®—Home Visiting Intervention Model

Meets HHS criteria?
Yes
Findings
Favorable: 1
No effect: 2
Unfavorable or ambiguous: 0
For more information

Promoting First Relationships®—Home Visiting Promotion Model

Meets HHS criteria?
No
Findings
Not applicable
For more information

Promoting Parental Skills and Enhancing Attachment in Early Childhood (CAPEDP) Trial

Meets HHS criteria?
No
Findings
Not measured
For more information

Resource Mothers Program

Meets HHS criteria?
No
Findings
Not applicable
For more information

Resources, Education, and Care in the Home (REACH)

Meets HHS criteria?
No
Findings
Not measured
For more information

REST Routine

Meets HHS criteria?
No
Findings
Not measured
For more information

SafeCare®

Meets HHS criteria?
No
Findings
Not applicable
For more information

Australian Adaptation of UCLA Parent-Child Health and Wellness Project

Meets HHS criteria?
No
Findings
Not measured
For more information

SafeCare Augmented

Meets HHS criteria?
Yes
Findings
Favorable: 1
No effect: 8
Unfavorable or ambiguous: 0
For more information

Seattle-King County Healthy Homes Project

Meets HHS criteria?
No
Findings
Not applicable
For more information

Triple P - Positive Parenting Program®—Variants suitable for home visiting

Meets HHS criteria?
No
Findings
Not applicable
For more information

Triple P - Home Visiting: Standard Stepping Stones

Meets HHS criteria?
No
Findings
Not measured
For more information

British Autism Study of Infant Siblings (iBASIS-VIPP)

Meets HHS criteria?
No
Findings
Not measured
For more information

Video-Feedback Intervention to promote Positive Parenting-Sensitive Discipline® (VIPP-SD)

Meets HHS criteria?
Yes
Findings
Not measured
For more information

Video-Feedback Intervention to Promote Positive Parenting adapted to Autism (VIPP-AUTI)

Meets HHS criteria?
No
Findings
Not measured
For more information

Video-Feedback Intervention to promote Positive Parenting (VIPP)

Meets HHS criteria?
Yes
Findings
Not measured
For more information