2016-2022
The Family-Level Assessment and State of Home Visiting (FLASH-V) project was designed to help contribute to the field’s understanding of how programs identify potentially eligible families, and the outreach and referral strategies used to enroll families and fill caseloads. In the first phase of the study, FLASH-V collected and analyzed descriptive information about recruitment and enrollment processes at the local level to better understand decision-making processes when programs are at capacity. FLASH-V found that more local implementing agencies (LIAs) were under capacity than expected. Therefore, the FLASH-V project conducted a study that was designed to understand recruitment and enrollment processes in home visiting programs by examining challenges to reaching caseload capacity and opportunities to overcome those challenges. This study included a national survey of Maternal Infant and Early Childhood Home Visiting (MIECHV) funded home visiting program managers, semi-structured interviews with program staff at a subset of programs, and a review of program outreach and recruitment materials. This information contributed to our understanding of the following broad questions:
- What are current approaches used by MIECHV funded programs to identifying, reaching, and recruiting potential eligible families? What opportunities exist to increase the number of identified potential eligible families?
- What is the current landscape for programs in terms of capacity? What accomplishments and challenges have programs experienced in maintaining caseloads, including those experienced during the COVID-19 pandemic?
- What types of community organizations currently refer families to home visiting? How do programs communicate and work with community referral partners? How can MIECHV funded programs work with community referral partners to strengthen the flow of incoming referrals and improve rates of successful enrollment?
The contract was awarded to James Bell Associates with a subcontract to MDRC. This project was led by the Administration for Children and Families in collaboration with the Health Resources and Services Administration.
Points of contact: Laura Nerenberg and Kelly McKenzie.