Healthy Families America®: We’re the national home visiting program focused on early childhood relational health – partnering with you to help the children in your life thrive.
What is relational health?
HFA embodies the four cornerstones of healthy relationships (safety, comfort, predictability, joy). Once parents experience these in a genuine way and in the context of a relationship with another, they are able to provide the same experience for their children.
HFA Family Support Specialists are trained to be nurturing, attuned, and responsive in their relationships with parents. We use trauma-responsive and healing strategies that create an environment of safety, empowerment, and self-efficacy. We encourage critical thinking and build on the knowledge and skills parents already possess.
The Evidence
HOMVEE
Positive findings in all 8 domains examined by the HHS Home Visiting Evidence of Effectiveness (HOMVEE) Review. HFA is 1 of only 3 to achieve this out of 26 Evidence-Based Models.
TITLE IV-E
Highest rating possible from Title IV-E Prevention Services Clearinghouse. HFA is 1 of 19 rated as Well Supported out of 177 reviewed.
CEBC
Highest rating possible from CEBC (California Evidence-based Clearinghouse) in category, “home visiting programs for child well-being”. HFA is one of only 3 to achieve this rating out of 16 reviewed.
HFA is the only program rated by the Title IV-E Prevention Services Clearinghouse that had research indicating effectiveness with children and families across all racial and ethnic groups.
HFA Families Build Nurturing Relationships with their Children.
HFA Parents create positive experiences for their children and navigate challenging parenting moments
Promote healthy child development
Interact more positively with their children
Express confidence as parents, with lowered parenting stress
HFA Families Champion their Children’s Health and Development.
Off to a good start:
Better birth outcomes
More likely to be breastfed
48% fewer infants are born at low birthweight
Ready for and Succeed in School:
Show enhanced cognitive development
More excel academically and receive gifted services
26% fewer children receive special education services
Receiving Health Care Services:
More likely to have health insurance
Receive more well-child visits and developmental screenings
HFA Families Cultivate a Flourishing Future for their Family.
HFA Families are connected to community services and economic supports HFA Parents are enhancing their personal and family well-being
5x more likely to enroll and participate in school and training programs
27% fewer families were homeless
Improved mental health for parents
Better able to cope with stress with less need to use alcohol or drugs as coping mechanisms, and less intimate partner violence
Safe and high quality home environments for their children
Single mother Raecine was “very concerned” about her situation: she didn’t have a job and was still in school. The Kansas Children’s Service League, a Healthy Families America affiliate, was there to help, visiting Raecine at home, answering her questions, and helping her to adapt to her son’s developmental milestones. She learned to “work with [my son] where he needs to be, and to bond with him on that level, and that brings us closer together.”
According to Scot, Healthy Families America “brings experts into your home every week, and you can ask them anything. Their compassion is off the charts, and the developmental activities and information they bring is…essential. These are people that know what they’re doing, and they have your best interests at heart…Thanks to Healthy Families, they have brought us instruments and information to help us become better parents.”
When his son Jayden was on the way, Norland connected with the Children’s Trust program, part of the Healthy Families America affiliate network, which paired him with a trained professional to meet with them, one-on-one, every week, until Jayden was three. Norland had a vision for the future for his family and himself. Working with HFA, Norland got what he needed to ensure that his son Jayden would grow up in a safe and nurturing home.
“There is no better program, dollar-for-dollar, than Healthy Families America.”
– Ron Wyden
US Senator (D-Oregon)
