April 2006Vol. 7, No. 3Recognition for Healthy Families New York
The Promising Practices Network of RAND Corporation has added Healthy Families New York (HFNY) to its list of "Programs That Work." HFNY received the recognition when a recent program evaluation showed generally positive outcomes, including a reduced incidence of child abuse or neglect, for the at-risk mothers and infants who participated in the program.
Based on the national Healthy Families America model, HFNY is a community-based prevention program that seeks to improve the health and well-being of children at risk for abuse and neglect by providing intensive home visitation services with specially trained paraprofessionals. The target population consists of expectant parents and parents with infants less than 3 months old who are considered to be at high risk for child abuse and neglect.
The home visitation program has four goals:
- Promote positive parenting skills and parent-child interaction
- Prevent child abuse and neglect
- Ensure optimal prenatal care and child health and development
- Increase parents' self-sufficiency
The program began in 1995 and now operates in 28 sites throughout New York State.
The evaluation of HFNY, conducted by S. Mitchell-Herzfeld, was supported through a grant from the Children's Bureau of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
A complete program description and discussion of the evaluation process can be found on the Promising Practices Network website:
