The Advantages of Understanding and Encouraging Better Program Participation

Pamela Klebanov of Teachers College, Columbia University analyzed data from 377 families with low birthweight or premature infants who received home visiting as part of the Infant Health and Development Program. In her randomized controlled evaluation, Klebanov found that 85 percent of the families fell into “medium stable” or “high” level patterns of receipt of home visiting across the three-year program. These families experienced statistically significant positive effects on their children’s home learning environment and on the child’s IQ and verbal scores when compared with families who were not offered services. Families with “low” or “medium-decreasing” patterns of service receipt did not show improved outcomes. Download the executive summary and full report.

Jerrilyn Radcliffe and her colleagues at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia report on the MOM Program, a small home visiting program designed to encourage low-income mothers in an urban setting to obtain appropriate health and developmental services for their children ages zero to three. The retention rate of MOM program participants in the study was very high, and the researchers found few differences between the mothers who were and were not retained for the full duration of the program, except that mothers of boys were more likely to stay in the program. Download the executive summary and full report.

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