Journals > Journal: Preventing Child Maltreatment > Article: The Role of Home-Visiting Programs in Preventing Child Abuse and Neglect
Journal Issue: Preventing Child Maltreatment Volume 19 Number 2 Fall 2009
Kimberly S. Howard Jeanne Brooks-Gunn
Conclusions
Although findings are at best mixed with respect to the effectiveness of home-visiting programs in preventing child neglect, evidence is mounting that these programs can positively alter parenting practices and, to a lesser extent, children’s cognitive development.121 Given the many measurement problems associated with accurately tracking substantiated cases of abuse and neglect, what is needed is not more evaluations of CPS reports attempting to show reductions in child abuse and neglect, but rather the development of new measures by which researchers can make sensitive and accurate assessments of child maltreatment. Experts know that cases of abuse or neglect that are substantiated by a child protective agency represent only a small fraction of children who are maltreated.122 That being the case, it would be far more useful to gain a better understanding of child maltreatment so that it can be prevented (and strategies to prevent it can be assessed) before it becomes necessary for the state to intervene.
Researchers have learned much about home-visiting programs since they were first reviewed in The Future of Children in 1993. At that time, programs such as the Nurse-Family Partnership were still fairly new, and analysts were evaluating most such programs using quasi-experimental designs. By 1999, evaluations were becoming more sophisticated, and new programs had been developed. The consensus at that time was that more research was needed to demonstrate clearly the benefits of these programs for families and children. After nearly another decade of research, many concerns remain, but the evidence base suggests much more strongly the important benefits of home-visiting programs for parents and children. Meanwhile home-visiting programs are rapidly being adopted as a way to provide services to at-risk families not only throughout the country, but around the world. Despite questions about the short- and long-term benefits of home visiting, theorists and policy makers alike believe strongly that it can be a beneficial and cost-effective strategy for providing services to families and children. Still, it is important to recognize the limits of home visiting and to encourage service providers to be vigilant in following the guidelines and protocols mandated by the respective programs. Developing more precise measures for assessing child maltreatment, using professional staff whose credentials are consistent with program goals, intervening prenatally with at-risk populations, and carrying out the programs with fidelity to their theoretical models will make it possible to evaluate home-visiting programs more adequately so that their promise can be fully realized.
