Defining quality and designing a quality assessment measure for home visitation programs is a complex and multifaceted undertaking. This article summarizes the process used to create the Home Visitation Program Quality Rating Tool (HVPQRT) and identifies next steps for its development. The HVPQRT measures both structural and dynamic features of…

It is a common assumption that mothers who have had previous births would participate less fully and have poorer outcomes from early home visitation programs than would first-time mothers. The authors conducted a qualitative and quantitative study to test that assumption by measuring three aspects of participation: time in the program, the number…

A growing body of evidence suggests that involving families in home visiting services promotes positive experiences during the initial years of a child's life; however less is known about whether or not the benefits continue to accrue after a child enters school. This article describes the results of a study examining the effectiveness of an…

Variations in dosage, content, and family engagement with Early Head Start (EHS) home visiting services were examined for families participating in the EHS Research and Evaluation Project. Families were grouped by characteristics of maternal age, maternal ethnicity, and level of family risk. All home visiting variables were related differentially…

The authors describe the research and evaluation activities connected to the new Maternal, Infant and Early Childhood Home Visiting program. The goal of these activities is to provide information on federal, state, and local efforts to strengthen programs by providing much needed knowledge on the best ways to support the implementation of home…

The Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting (MIECHV) Program is part of The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and provides $1.5 billion over 5 years to states, territories, and tribes with the goal of delivering evidence-based home visiting services as part of a high-quality, comprehensive early childhood system that promotes…

The MOM Program is an innovative home visiting program whose aim is to empower low-income urban mothers to obtain health and early intervention services for their children. The authors discuss a recent evaluation of the MOM program which sought to examine maternal involvement in the program. The results raise important questions and call for…

The author explores the reflective components of observation, listening, wondering, and response. Together, these components invite parents to discover who their babies are as well as to understand the importance of nurturing relationships, past and present, to development, growth, and change. Of equal interest, reflective practice offers Infant…

Since the National Education Goals Panel was convened in 1991, school readiness for all children has remained a high priority across our nation. The Foundations of Learning Framework is a tool to understand what it means for a child to be "ready." Preparation for educational success requires two key ingredients--relationships and play. In the…

Gaping disparities in educational achievement exist at kindergarten entry. Research indicates that school readiness requires a holistic approach directed by the pivotal question: What will allow babies to become successful learners? By understanding the real-life situations of babies and their families in the context of their communities and…

Prenatally and in infants and toddlers, the brain is being constructed as a foundation for all later learning. Positive early experiences contribute to the formation of a brain that is capable, early in infancy, of utilizing and strengthening the basic processes of learning. Throughout a lifetime, a person will repeatedly use these approaches to…

Contrary to the concept of school readiness as achieving a particular set of attributes considered essential for educational success, this article is grounded in the assumption that all children are ready to learn, but what they are expected to learn varies widely from one cultural setting and historic period to another. The authors challenge the…

Fostering healthy social and emotional development provides the foundation for school readiness in programs serving infants, toddlers, and their families. In this article, the author explores four key concepts that make the link between social and emotional development and early learning: 1) Cognitive and social-emotional development are…

Phyllis Glink, the executive director of the Irving Harris Foundation, describes the Foundation's strategic approach to grantmaking in the infant and early childhood field. The Harris Professional Development Network evolved out of Irving Harris's growing appreciation for the importance of supporting very young children's mental health and…

To create a just and equitable society for the infants and toddlers with whom its members work, the infant mental health field must intentionally address some of the racial, ethnic, socioeconomic, and other inequities embedded in society. The Diversity-Informed Infant Mental Health Tenets, presented and discussed here, are guiding principles…