Mother and Infant Home Visiting Program Evaluation (MIHOPE

MIHOPE includes two groups of participants. First, the included 4,229 women across 88 local home visiting programs (sites) in 12 states. Women will be randomized so that half can receive home visiting services and half are in a control group that receives referrals to other services in the community. Local home visiting programs chosen for the study must meet the following criteria: (1) they have been in operation for at least two years, (2) they are receiving funds through the MIECHV program, (3) they are operating one of the four evidence-based models described earlier, and (4) there is enough need for the program's services that they can provide a control group without reducing the number of families that receive home visiting.

Families were recruited as follows. Mothers were identified as eligible for a local home visiting program by staff from that program, using the program's current procedures. If the mother appears to be eligible for MIHOPE (based on the mother's age and pregnancy status or child's age), the home visiting staff will mention that a study is going on and that someone from the study team would like to be in touch to explain the study and to see if the mother is interested in participating. The home visiting program entered the mother's address and phone number. In addition, the home visiting program provided Mathematica with the mother's name and date of birth and the child's date of birth for purposes of making sure the family is not already in the study or has not previously declined to participate in the study. The MDRC Institutional Review Board determined that a partial authorization of the HIPAA Authorization requirement was warranted for use of the mother's information for sample recruitment.

Study field staff attempted to contact the family and schedule a visit to explain the study, request their participation, and obtain informed consent for research activities. Potential study participants were asked to sign two consent forms at the beginning of the study: one to participate in the study and to allow the team to collect administrative and survey data, and a second to be video-recorded during two home visits, if assigned to the home visiting group. Mothers also provided consent to allow us to collect information from the home visiting programs about the services they receive and information from the government on various information, including Medicaid records, vital records, child welfare records, and employment and earnings information from the National Database of New Hires. If an applicant was a non-emancipated minor, assent was obtained from the minor and written consent was obtained from her parent or guardian if the parent or guardian was in the home at the time of the recruitment visit. If the parent or guardian was not in the home, verbal consent was obtained. If verbal consent was provided, the parent or guardian was mailed a copy of the assent form that the woman signed and that explains what the research entails.

After consent was provided, study staff in the family's home initiated a call to the study's survey operations center for purposes of administering a one-hour survey. The family baseline survey included information on several domains specified in the ACA: newborn health; parental health and well-being; parenting practices, attitudes, and beliefs; domestic violence; history with the criminal justice system; family economic self-sufficiency; and referral and coordination of social services. In addition, the baseline survey collected information on demographics and household composition to describe the study sample, and contact information for family members or friends who can help locate the family at follow-up if they move. The survey also contained information about the parent's expectations regarding the home visiting program, which will inform research on program implementation. While the mother was completing the baseline survey by phone, the study field staff conducted the Home Observation for Measuring the Environment (HOME) to assess the quality and amount of stimulation that the child receives in the home as well as observations of the home environment. At the end of the telephone survey, the interviewer determined whether the family was assigned to the program (home visiting program) or control group (comparison group that will receive referrals to other services in the community); the result of random assignment was sent by automated email to the point of contact at the local program.

A second round of data was collected when the child was about 15 months old. These include: (1) a one-hour telephone interview (the family follow-up survey), (2) a 30-minute video-recording of the mother and child playing with some toys (the Three Bags task), (3) a direct assessment of the child's receptive language skills (expected to take 40 minutes), (4) measurement of the child's weight and height and the mother's weight (expected to take 5 minutes), and (5) observations of the family's home environment, which will not add time to the data collection procedures. Finally, data were collected from three state systems: (1) Medicaid, (2) vital records, and (3) child welfare. Follow-up data collection plans have been approved by the federal Office of Management and Budget.