UNM study reveals that local home
visiting program sets the bar
ISR concludes that CHI St. Joseph’s home visiting program
follows best practices
By Carolyn Gonzales — April 30, 2015
Paul Guerin, senior research scientist in the University of New Mexico Institute for
Social Research, conducted a study on behalf of Catholic Health Initiatives to determine
if CHI’s St. Joseph’s Children home visiting program was following evidence-based
practices.
After completing an intensive two-year study, which carefully monitored interactions of
St Joseph’s home visitors with client families, Guerin concluded that SJC’s large scale
home visiting program, with nearly 500 families, is consistently implementing evidencebased practices.
St. Joseph’s Children’s home visiting program follows socio-economically
disadvantaged pre-natal through age three firstborn children and their mothers in
Bernalillo, Valencia, Sandoval, Torrance and Luna counties. “This program could be a
model for other states in providing high quality service to children,” Guerin said.
Allen Sánchez, CEO of Catholic Health Initiatives’ St. Joseph’s Children said, “The
significance of this finding cannot be overstated.” He noted that the Legislative Finance
Committee documented last spring in its Results First Report: “Rigorous research has
demonstrated that evidence-based early childhood programs can improve education
outcomes. In many cases, the benefits to taxpayers and society from these programs
far outweigh the costs."
Evidence based early childhood programs, the LFC explained, “promote healthy early
development and lay the foundation for greater achievement, economic productivity and
responsible citizenship. The best early care environments maintain high-quality
standards such as highly-skilled teachers and caregivers, low caregiver- and teacher-tochild ratios, language-rich environments, consistent and stable caregivers and teachers,
healthy food, calm environments, and consistent participation."
Such an evidence-based implementation is exactly what UNM ISR concluded SJC had
achieved in one of the largest home visiting programs in the country.
Policy implications are clear, particularly regarding funding statewide early childhood
programs via a one-percent distribution from the State’s $15 Billion Land Grant
Permanent Fund.
Evidence based, scaled up, early childhood programs can be, and now have been,
successfully implemented.
Sánchez noted, “Today New Mexico ranks 49th nationally for children’s well-being as
published in the Annie E. Casey Foundation’s 2014 Kids Count data book. As the state
struggles to change the outcomes for our children, early, large-scale intervention is
plainly one of the answers.”
The LFC further concluded in its Results First Report: “Cost-benefit analysis shows
investment in high-quality early childhood programs produces future savings by
reducing remediation needs in public and higher education, special education, juvenile
rehabilitation, juvenile and adult criminal activity, and welfare assistance."
The UNM study reveals that a large home visiting program can deliver high quality
services with fidelity to known best practices. Social workers, educators and policy
makers have been faced with challenges of what to do to change the trajectory many
children are on.
The study demonstrates that a large home visiting program can deliver services that
educate first time parents with a curriculum for health and school readiness. There are
many national studies that prove that similar early childhood services create much
needed change; today this UNM study shows that a large program can deliver those
services.
Guerin said that today’s study is a preface to another UNM-designed study. “The
purpose of the next study is to determine the short-term and long-term impact and
effectiveness of the CHI SJC program model. The study will examine and compare
outcomes between families receiving home visiting services and those of a control
group. This will be a longitudinal study following children through 18 years of age.”
Outcome domains may include:
· Child development and school readiness
· Family economic self-sufficiency
· Maternal health
· Reductions in child maltreatment
· Child health
· Linkages and referrals
· Positive parenting practices
· Reductions in juvenile delinquency, family violence, and crime