The Practice of Family Life Education Within Early Head Start Home Visiting

• Published date: 01 April 2020
• Author: Bridget A. Walsh,Jennifer A. Mortensen,Adrienne L. Edwards,Dawn Cassidy
• Date: 01 April 2020
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/fare.12392

B A. W  J A. MUniversity of Nevada, Reno

A L. EWinthrop University

D CNational Council on Family Relations, Saint Paul, MN

The Practice of Family Life Education Within Early

Head Start Home Visiting

Objective: To investigate relevant profession-

als’ perspectives about potential collaboration

between family life education (FLE) and home

visiting in Early Head Start’s Home-Based

Option (EHS-HBO) to understand the merits

and challenges of this partnership.

Background: Practices for EHS-HBO pro-

grams vary, which prevents the development

of a consistent, evidence-based home visiting

model. Alignment with the strengths-based

family life education methodology (preven-

tion, education, collaboration) may bring more

consistency to EHS home visiting.

Method: A purposive sample of 123 family life

education, family science, and early childhood

professionals completed a topical, open-ended

survey. Responses were analyzed by using qual-

itative content analysis.

Results: Several themes emerged from the data

concerning (a) agreement that FLE is a viable

approach to EHS-HBO (e.g., the FLE approach

is benecial, includes relevant training, and pro-

fessionalizes home visiting); and (b) potential

obstacles in merging FLE and EHS-HBO (e.g.,

deciencies in FLE training for home visitors,

certication requirements are restrictive, and

lack of credential recognition).

William J. Raggio Building, Suite 3030, College of Edu-

cation, University of Nevada–Reno, Reno, NV 89557

(bridgetw@unr.edu).

Key Words: Early Head Start, family life education, home

visiting.

Conclusion: FLE is a viable approach to

EHS-HBO, and programs approved by the

National Council on Family relations provide

valuable training for future home visitors. Par-

ticipants expressed positive attitudes as well

as insight about the interface of FLE and EHS

home visiting.

Implications: A current FLE approach to

EHS-HBO needs to be conceptualized and

described more thoroughly, and a measure

of home-visitor delity to FLE should be

developed. Research and alignment efforts are

warranted on the synergy between FLE and EHS

home visiting, which currently shows promise.

Early Head Start (EHS) is a two-generational

program—meaning both parents and children

are the focus—that provides a range of family

and child support services to economically

disadvantaged pregnant women and families

until their children enter preschool. Agencies

that receive federal EHS funding serve families

through center-based early childhood programs,

home visiting services, or a mix of home-

and center-based care. The EHS Home-Based

Option (EHS-HBO) provides weekly home

visits by trained staff. The program’s goal is

to enhance children’s growth and development

by nurturing parenting skills and improving

the home-learning environment (Administra-

tion for Children and Families [ACF], 2000).

Individual EHS-HBO programs vary widely

in their approaches to home visiting and in

392Family Relations 69 (April 2020): 392–407

DOI:10.1111/fare.12392

Practice of Family Life Education393

their selection and preparation of home visitors.

Outcome effect sizes for EHS-HBO, like many

home visiting programs, are often statistically

small or null (Sama-Miller et al., 2018). Conse-

quently, some have questioned the effectiveness

of current home visiting models, encouraging

empirical evaluations of the essential program

components that promote healthy child, parent,

and family outcomes (e.g., Gomby, Culross, &

Behrman, 1999; Korfmacher, Green, Spellman,

& Thornburg, 2007; Petkus, 2015; Raikes et al.,

2006; Roggman, Cook, Peterson, & Raikes,

2008).

Although there may never be a

one-size-ts-all approach to home visiting,

the methodology, content, and training offered

with family life education (FLE) has the poten-

tial to strengthen EHS-HBO. FLE emphasizes

prevention, education, and collaboration as core

pillars for promoting child, parent, and family

well-being. Professionals with the Certied

Family Life Educator (CFLE) credential have

advanced knowledge in child development,

parenting, family relationships, and how to use a

strengths-based approach with families (Darling

& Cassidy, 2014). Despite this clear overlap,

researchers have yet to systematically explore

this promising collaboration. The rst step in

understanding a potential alignment between

an FLE approach and EHS-HBO is identifying

perspectives about this partnership from relevant

professionals. As such, we utilized a topical,

open-ended survey to gather and compare the

perspectives of CFLEs, family scientists, and

early childhood professionals about integrating

an FLE approach with EHS-HBO. The present

study provides a foundation for stakeholders to

begin serious exploration of FLE as a viable

option for EHS-HBO, including the CFLE

credential as a possible standard for EHS home

visiting professionals.

T N  S E H

S–H B O

The ACF Home Visiting Evidence of Effec-

tiveness (HomVEE) classies EHS-HBO as

an evidence-based program (ACF, 2013; Avel-

lar etal., 2016); however, there stands room

for improvement. The most recent HomVEE

report of 20 existing home visiting approaches

(Sama-Miller etal., 2018) examined effective-

ness across eight domains: (a) child health;

(b) maternal health; (c) child development

and school readiness; (d) reductions in child

maltreatment; (e) reductions in juvenile

delinquency, family violence, and crime; (f)

positive parenting practice; (g) family eco-

nomic self-sufciency; and (h) connecting

families with linkages and referrals. Although

EHS-HBO was included among the 20 most

effective programs, EHS-HBO did not statis-

tically improve any outcomes in the child and

maternal mental health domains (Sama-Miller

et al., 2018). Nearly twodozen rigorous impact

studies have demonstrated several modest yet

favorable effects in the other domains; how-

ever, across all impact studies, null effects

outnumber statistically signicant effects (ACF,

2013).

At present, EHS-HBO’s evidence-based

model is effective but with limited favorable

child and family outcomes (Walsh, 2017). An

FLE approach to EHS-HBO is a melding of

views that may serve as a useful guide to future

approaches and practice (Walsh, 2017). Consid-

ering the close alignment of EHS-HBO and FLE

principles, as well as the potential implications

the alignment has for family empowerment,

this partnership warrants more attention (Walsh,

2017). To explore these ideas, we adopted a

human ecological perspective of EHS-HBO

as an important community (i.e., exosystem)

program in which interactions between home

visitors and family members are proximal pro-

cesses within the home (i.e., microsystem) that

catalyze change in family and child well-being

(Bronfenbrenner & Morris, 2006). Research has

explored the conditions under which EHS home

visiting is most effective, primarily focusing

on bolstering the quality of interactions among

parents, children, and the home visitor through

program content, relationships, and home visitor

professional qualications (e.g., Korfmacher

et al.,2007;Raikeset al.,2006;Roggman,

Cook, Peterson, & Raikes, 2008; Roggman

etal., 2010). An FLE approach may have the

potential to bolster these elements. The follow-

ing sections detail how an FLE approach ts

within and strengthens the current EHS-HBO

program structure and the application of FLE

methodology to EHS home visiting.

An FLE Approach Within the EHS-HBO

Program Structure

The ACF Ofce of Head Start oversees reg-

ulations and funding for EHS and Head Start