Home visitor readiness, job support, and job satisfaction across three home visitation programs: A Retrospective Analysis

Abstract

Home visitation programs are recognized as a preferred model for delivering services to children, parents, and families identified as at-risk. This study compares newly hired home visitors' (N = 82) perceptions of their job readiness, initial training, supervision and support, commitment to the intervention model, and job satisfaction from ten sites: Nurse–Family Partnership (NFP; three sites), Home-based Early Head Start (hereafter EHS-HBO; two sites), and Healthy Family America (HFA; five sites) programs. Data were collected between 1999 and 2004. Results indicated that NFP home visitors had bachelor's degrees in nursing, while HFA and EHS home visitors were largely paraprofessionals. NFP and HFA home visitors reported the highest scores on job satisfaction. There were no significant differences between programs on frequency or quality of supervision or commitment to the intervention model. Qualitative data indicated a need for more initial training on challenging topics, a greater attention to supervision and support, clearer articulation of the intervention model, and issues related to job satisfaction. Implications for improving the experiences of home visitors are discussed in the context of current training and supervision practices.