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Duggan, A., Fuddy, L., McFarlane, E., Burrell, L., Windham, A., Higman, S., & Sia, C. (2004). Evaluating a statewide home visiting program to prevent child abuse in at-risk families of newborns: Fathers’ participation and outcomes. Child Maltreatment, 9(1), 3–17.

Manuscript screening details
Screening decision Screening conclusion HomVEE procedures and standards version
Passes screens Eligible for review Version 1
Study design details
Rating Design Attrition Baseline equivalence Compromised randomization Confounding factors Valid, reliable measure(s)
Moderate Randomized controlled trial Low Established on race and ethnicity; not established on SES; outcomes not feasible to assess at baseline None None Not assessed in manuscripts reviewed before 2021
Notes:

In 2020, HomVEE updated this review to remove a mother's partnership status/family structure finding from the Family Economic Self-Sufficiency domain because ACF determined that mother's partnership status is ineligible for review by HomVEE. 

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Two outcomes (maternally reported father violence and mother’s designation of child’s biological father as her partner) were assessable at baseline. Authors did not establish baseline equivalence or control for baseline differences.

Study characteristics
Study participants Hawaii Healthy Start Program (HSP) staff screened the medical records of mothers from Oahu communities delivering children at Kapiolani Maternity Hospital for risk factors for child abuse and neglect. Families were eligible for HSP if one or both parents scored at least 25 on the Family Stress Checklist, mothers could be interviewed in English, and families were not already enrolled in HSP. If HSP home visiting intake was open on the day a family was deemed eligible, the family was invited to participate. A total of 897 families were eligible to be enrolled, and 730 of them agreed to participate. Using a table of random numbers, families were randomly assigned to one of three groups: a study treatment group or a study control group (both evaluated at one, two, and three years), or a testing control group (evaluated only at three years). The analytic sample for this study does not include families evaluated only at three years. The final analytic sample includes 600 families, 354 in the HSP group and 246 in the control group. Of these, at baseline, approximately 67 percent of mothers were high school graduates, and 49 percent were currently working. Mothers were 44 percent Native Hawaiian, 11 percent Other Pacific Islander, 25 percent Asian, 6 percent white, and 15 percent some other race.
Setting Six Healthy Start Program sites operated by three community-based organizations in Oahu, Hawaii.
Intervention services Home visiting services are provided to the mother and, when possible, also to the father. Home visits are weekly in the beginning, then gradually decrease to quarterly meetings, lasting from three to five years. The goal of home visits is to prevent child abuse and promote child health and development by focusing on improved family functioning. After addressing immediate crises, home visitors work on family functioning through role modeling, problem solving, and accessing social services. Home visitors also identify needs for professional support, such as domestic violence, substance abuse, mental health, and community resources.
Comparison conditions The comparison group was referred to community resources.
Subgroups examined This field lists subgroups examined in the manuscript (even if they were not replicated in other samples and not reported on the summary page for this model’s report).

• Cohabitation status (lived together or did not live together) • Intimate partner violence (3 or more incidents of physical violence or 2 or fewer incidents)

Funding sources Maternal and Child Health Bureau (R40 MC 00029, formerly MCJ 240637; R40 MC 00123, formerly MCJ 240838); the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation 18303); the Annie E. Casey Foundation (94-4041); the David and Lucile Packard Foundation (93-6051, 94-7957, 97 8058, and 98-3448); and the Hawaii State Department of Health (99-29-J).
Author affiliation None of the study authors are developers of this program model.
Peer reviewed Peer reviewed status is not listed for manuscripts reviewed before 2021.
Study Registration:

Clinicaltrials.gov Identifier: NCT00218751. Study registration was assessed by HomVEE beginning with the 2014 review.

Findings that rate moderate or high

Positive parenting practices
Rating Outcome measure Effect Sample Timing of follow-up Sample size Intervention group Comparison group Group difference Effect size Statistical significance Notes
Moderate Change in father’s engagement score
FavorableUnfavorable or ambiguousNo Effect
All families Years 1-3 600 families Not available Not available OR = 0.20 HomVEE calculated = -0.97 Not statistically significant, p ≥ 0.05
Moderate Change in father’s responsibility score
FavorableUnfavorable or ambiguousNo Effect
All families Years 1-3 600 families Not available Not available OR = 0.00 Not available Not statistically significant, p ≥ 0.05
Moderate Father has daily contact with child
FavorableUnfavorable or ambiguousNo Effect
All families Years 1-3 600 families Not available Not available OR = 1.12 HomVEE calculated = 0.07 Not statistically significant, p ≥ 0.05
Reductions in juvenile delinquency, family violence, and crime
Rating Outcome measure Effect Sample Timing of follow-up Sample size Intervention group Comparison group Group difference Effect size Statistical significance Notes
Moderate Maternally reported father violence
FavorableUnfavorable or ambiguousNo Effect
All families Years 1-3 600 families Not available Not available OR = 0.78 HomVEE calculated = -0.15 Not statistically significant, p = 0.12