Healthy Families America Receives Highest Rating from Federal Evaluator

Chicago—Prevent Child Abuse America (PCA America) announced today that its signature evidence-based home visiting program, Healthy Families America (HFA), has received the highest rating—“well-supported”—from the Title IV-E Prevention Services Clearinghouse. Developed by the US Department of Health and Human Services in accordance with the Family First Prevention Services Act (FFPSA) of 2018, the clearinghouse systematically reviews research and evaluates programs and services intended to provide enhanced support to children and families, including mental health, substance abuse and parenting assistance, and prevent foster care placements nationwide.

The FFPSA, for the first time ever, enables funds typically reserved for “after-the-fact” intervention services to be used for upstream strategies such as home visiting.

“Our model is rooted in science that shows early nurturing relationships are the foundation for healthy development and lifelong well-being,” explained HFA National Director of Operations Kathleen Strader. “We’re pleased that the clearinghouse recognizes the significance and value of our proactive approach and the positive impact it has on children, families, and communities across the country.”

The clearinghouse is an objective, rigorous, and transparent source of information on evidence-based programs and services. More than 360 unique responses from key stakeholders and input from the California Evidence-Based Clearinghouse for Child Welfare helped determine the first twelve services and programs considered for review by the clearinghouse, which also includes two other evidence-based home visiting programs, Nurse-Family Partnership and Parents as Teachers.

“A major distinction of our approach is that interactions between our direct service providers and families are strength and relationship-based, family-centered, culturally sensitive, reflective, and ultimately designed to promote positive parent-child relationships and healthy attachment,” continued Strader. “Moreover, a considerable amount of research has been conducted on our model—nearly 20 publications document independent, randomized control trials that demonstrate positive outcomes for HFA families compared to control groups not receiving HFA services. These are among the factors likely contributing to our high rating.”

HFA is designed for parents facing life stresses such as single parenthood, low income, childhood history of abuse and other adverse child experiences, and current or previous issues related to substance abuse, mental health issues, and/or domestic violence. Families are typically enrolled prenatally or within three months of birth, and for HFA sites approved to use the model’s child welfare protocols, up to age twenty-four months. Once enrolled, services are offered to families for a minimum of three years. To learn more about HFA, please visit healthyfamiliesamerica.org.