Introduction
Trusting relationships are at the heart of home visiting, a service delivery strategy that depends on connections between home visitors and families. But what role do connections play even earlier—before families enroll in home visiting?
The Family Level Assessment and State of Home Visiting (FLASH-V) study was designed to expand the field’s understanding of how Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting (MIECHV) programs reach and recruit families.
Study results suggest that programs see positive relationships between programs, prospective participants, and community referral partners as vital for the successful enrollment of families.
Purpose
This brief summarizes three relationship-building strategies and promising practices that emerged from the study findings:
- Leveraging trusted referral sources,
- Enlisting home visitors in recruitment, and
- Nurturing relationships with referral partners.
Although some of these findings come from a small number of programs, they suggest potentially promising strategies and opportunities for further study.
Key Findings and Highlights
Key takeaways include the following:
- Engaging referral sources families trust may increase interest in home visiting. Many programs said endorsements and word-of-mouth recommendations from current or former program participants were their most successful strategies for getting families interested in home visiting. Similarly, most said service providers helped build families’ interest in home visiting, which may be due to positive relationships families have with their current providers.
- Enlisting home visitors in recruitment may spark families’ interest in home visiting. Having home visitors build relationships and trust with families during recruitment may increase the likelihood that those families will enroll. Programs reported that direct contact and personal connection with home visitors early in the recruitment process may positively influence families’ enrollment decisions.
- Nurturing relationships with referral partners can facilitate referrals. Programs reported ongoing communication as being a contributor to the number of referrals received from their top referral partners. Strategies they used to strengthen relationships with referral partners include: maintaining frequent communication with referral partners, establishing a clear point of contact, and showing gratitude for referrals. Study participants also explained that simplifying the referral process may make the process easier for referral partners and increase the number of referrals received.
Methods
Two hundred sixty-six programs funded by the MIECHV Program completed a survey between March and June 2021 as part of the FLASH-V descriptive study. A subset of these programs (n=41), identified through purposive sampling, participated in semi-structured telephone interviews between April and August 2021.
Recommendations
This brief presents FLASH-V study results related to building relationships and trust between home visiting programs, prospective participants, and community referral partners to facilitate enrollment. Examples from the study illustrate how programs leverage trusted referral sources, enlist home visitors in recruitment, and nurture partner relationships. These findings may help programs increase family interest and enrollment in home visiting, though the strategies that work best for individual programs may vary based on community context, organizational structure, and available resources. Programs that struggle to enroll families might consider testing some of the strategies described in this brief during future outreach and recruitment efforts.
Citation
Childress, L., & Zaid, S. (2022). The importance of relationships and trust in home visiting outreach and
recruitment (OPRE Report No. 2022-128). Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation; Administration for Children and Families; U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Glossary
- Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting (MIECHV) Program:
- The MIECHV Program funds states, territories, and tribal entities to provide evidence-based early childhood home visiting services to support the well-being of expectant families and families with young children.
- Outreach and recruitment:
- For the purposes of this study, outreach involves efforts to widen enrollment in services. Recruitment involves efforts to engage potentially eligible families to participate in services. They often overlap.