The authors describe the research and evaluation activities connected to the new Maternal, Infant and Early Childhood Home Visiting program. The goal of these activities is to provide information on federal, state, and local efforts to strengthen programs by providing much needed knowledge on the best ways to support the implementation of home…

This article is excerpted from "Who's Watching the Babies? Improving the Quality of Family, Friend, and Neighbor Care" by Douglas R. Powell ("ZERO TO THREE," 2008). The article explores questions about program development and implementation strategies for supporting Family, Friend, and Neighbor (FFN) caregivers: How do programs and their host…

Relationship-based infant mental health home visiting services for infants, toddlers, and their families intensify the connection between the personal and professional. To promote the therapeutic relationship and maximize the effectiveness of the intervention, home visitors must exercise good judgment, in the field and in the moment, to set and…

The evidence of the benefits of home visiting has revealed varying results and little is known about the elements that make programs of value to the families at highest risk for dysfunction. The variability in the effects of home visiting programs is linked to many factors, including program content and goals, the family and community context, the…

The implementation of Part C of IDEA has continued to evolve as states have built and modified service delivery systems. The number of children served has increased dramatically with nearly 350,000 children and their families now receiving early intervention services. Meanwhile, challenges to the provision of quality services--such as securing…

The contributors to this article reflect on the process and value of participating together in a monthly reflective supervision group for supervisors in a child abuse prevention program. Some of them joined the group with considerable interest in and experience with reflective supervision. For others this was an entirely new experience that they…

Creating reflective, relationship-based services and programs takes time, commitment, resources, and sustained effort. This article describes the experiences of two very different organizations: the Training and Staff Development Group for New York State's Healthy Families Program; and Southwest Human Development, a community-based agency serving…

The authors, directors of the Chicago-based Pritzker Early Childhood Foundation, advocate "replication," the adaptation of a successful model program or practice to new locations or to new populations. Studies have shown that successful replications of early childhood programs that help at-risk children and their families can have long-term,…

Since 1982, the Ounce of Prevention Fund's network of Parents Too Soon (PTS) programs for teen parents throughout Illinois has supported communities, programs, and families through a mix of mechanisms: funding, program development, extensive training and support, and public policy advocacy. This article describes a qualitative view of how…

This article examines two programs chosen by the Early Head Start National Resource Center (EHSNRC) Pathways to Prevention (PTP) initiative to participate in a study of their mental health services. Both Wyoming's The Learning Center and Colorado's Developmental Opportunities found that working with the PTP mental health consultant catalyzed…