Bringing up baby: for new parents, home visits by trained professionals can make all the difference.

• Author: Clothier, Steffanie
• Position: CHILDREN & FAMILIES

There's nothing like becoming a new parent. The joys are great, but the demands are daunting, even for the well-prepared. For young, poor single parents--who often lack stable jobs, places to live or family support--the challenges can be overwhelming.

Since the 1990s, lawmakers have increasingly supported voluntary home visiting programs as a promising way to provide support for these families and a better chance of a good start for their children's health, development and well-being.

Forty-six states and Washington, D.C., now fund some type of voluntary early childhood home visiting program, according to the Pew Center on the States. These programs send a nurse, social worker or other specially trained visitor to work with expecting women and new parents in their homes.

These trained professionals come as often as weekly near the birth and less frequently as the child grows older--to teach interested parents how to provide good nutrition for their babies, deal with colicky ones, talk and interact in ways that stimulate babies' brains, and avoid potential health risks. They help parents recognize and address special challenges, such as learning disabilities and developmental delays. They can refer morns with depression or substance abuse problems to counseling and other resources. And they answer the flood of questions that come as parents adjust to pregnancy and caring for the baby.

Rigorous evaluations of home visiting practices have shown programs that target families with particular challenges such as first-time, teen or low-income parents or single morns can reduce child abuse, improve parenting skills, and enhance children's health and readiness for school.

Investments in these programs have produced significant returns through reduced spending on early childhood health care, child welfare, special education, grade retention and juvenile crime. Home visiting can reduce infant mortality, preterm births and emergency room visits. The Nurse Family Partnership program has shown the strongest results, with one study finding a 48 percent reduction in child abuse and cost-benefit research showing as much as a $5.70 benefit for every dollar spent.

"In times like these when we are cutting billions of dollars from our budget, we must invest our scarce resources where they will have the greatest return. Home visiting is such an investment," says Washington Representative Ruth Kagi.

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As is the case with many social programs...