Indicator: Home Visiting Indicators

Priority or Priorities: Early Childhood Development, ACES/Resiliency
Initiative(s): Promote and Support Universal Home Visiting Services 7, 8, 10
Outcome (s): Families recognizing the rewards and responsibilities of raising children, Families living safe and healthy lives, Communities creating colloborative partnerships

Why This is Important

Maine’s Home Visiting Programs, available in all counties through 15 contracted agencies, provide services to first-time families and pregnant and parenting adolescents. Program services enhance family functioning by building trusting relationships, supporting problem-solving skills, and identifying family’s natural support systems. Healthy childhood growth, founded in positive parent-child interaction, is supported through family visits that focus on the use of child development and attachment as a framework for promoting and sustaining healthy family functioning.

Home visiting provides families with an ongoing connection to community services, particularly assistance with applying for public insurance (MaineCare); participating with Women, Infants and Children (WIC) nutritional services; and obtaining referrals to Child Development Services, Maine’s IDEA Part C provider.

Where We Stand

Current and future improved program services for families emphasize development of a sustainable professional training infrastructure for providers and adoption of the Brazelton Touchpoints, an evidence-based approach for enhancing the competence of parents and building strong family-child relationships.

Data Source and Context

Data are provided by Maine DHHS Office of Child and Family Services fiscal year 2006 reporting and Maine Children’s Cabinet Annual Report Update 2007.