”Supporting Parents Right from the Start”

1. healthy families NEW YORK Citizen Review Panel October 11, 2018 ”Supporting Parents Right from the Start”

2. About HFNY • Voluntary home visiting program for expectant and new parents. • Long-term in-home supportive services until the child is in school or Head Start.

3. HFNY GOALS • Promote positive parenting skills and parent-child bonding and interaction • Prevent Child Abuse and Neglect • Promote optimal prenatal care and child health and development • Enhance family self-sufficiency

4. About HFNY • Reaches out to isolated families. • Offers weekly visits until the baby is at least six months old, then less often as the family’s stability increases. • Promotes optimal child health • Assesses children for developmental delays. • Works with parents to achieve family self-sufficiency.

5. Multi-Site System • Collaboration of state, local, private, and publicly funded primary prevention home visiting programs affiliated with each other and with Healthy Families America (HFA).  • 43 Healthy Families Programs throughout New York State including 15 in New York City.

6. New York State

7. Central Administration

8. Program Demographics • HFNY targets many high need communities that have high poverty, low birth weights, high teen pregnancy rates, and little or no prenatal care, to ensure that children are properly cared for before and after their birth.

9. Referral Process • Families are referred to HFNY through community health and social service agencies and hospitals. • HFNY programs screen parents for risk factors, late or no prenatal care, young parent, single parent, inadequate income and other stressors, that may be predictive of child abuse and neglect. • Parents who screen positive are offered an assessment. The assessment provides the program with information, and leads to referrals to assist the family, and may include a referral to home visiting.

10. Home Visiting • Home Visiting is conducted by trained staff called Family Support Specialists. • These staff provide families with support, education and linkages to community services that can help fulfill the program goals as well as the individual family goals.

11. Home Visiting • Home visits are scheduled approximately every 2 weeks during the pregnancy and weekly during the first 6 months of the child’s life. • As families progress through the program, the frequency of visits declines.

12. Strength-Based Service Delivery • HFNY uses a strength-based service delivery model as a method to motivate and keep families involved with the program. • This means: • What is going well with the family • Do not rescue program participants, but by exploring competencies and resources with the participant. • distinguish unacceptable situations from disagreeable ones. • Services are done from a basis of shared expertise

13. Evidenced Based • HFA designated by HOMEVEE selected by HRSA to be included in MIECHV • HFNY designated by RAND as proven program