Factors That Influence Successful Start-Up of Home Visiting Sites: Lessons Learned from Replicating the First Born® Program

Abstract

Growth in federal, state and private funding is fueling the initiation of home visiting programs around the country. As communities expand home visiting programs, they need information about how they can successfully start up new sites. This paper proposes measures of successful home visiting program implementation and identifies factors that promote successful implementation or serve as barriers to program initiation. It focuses on lessons learned from the replication of the First Born® Program in six counties in New Mexico. Specifically, it examines how well sites met staffing, family referral and enrollment, program fidelity, and financing goals in the first year of providing services. Data come from semi-structured interviews with senior program staff and program documentation. The findings are likely to be valuable to a wide spectrum of communities starting or expanding home visiting services, as well as to public and private funders of programs.