MOM Program

2

Manuscripts

Released in 1979 through 2012

1

Manuscript

Impact studies rated high or moderate quality

Services intended at ages
0-11 months (WILL BE REMOVED)
12-23 months
24-35 months
36-47 months
48+ months
Favorable results from well-defined research
Linkages and referrals

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The MOM Program is designed to address gaps in the use of health and early intervention services for developmental issues found among children under age 5, in order to improve their developmental and behavioral outcomes at kindergarten entry. The program targets low-income, postpartum mothers of healthy infants.

Effectiveness

Does not meet criteria established by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services for an evidence-based home visiting model.

Does not meet criteria for an evidence-based home visiting model for Indigenous peoples and communities.

Extent of Evidence

For more information about manuscripts, search the research database.

For more information on the criteria used to rate research, please see details of HomVEEʼs methods and standards.

2

Manuscripts

Released in 1979 through 2012

1

Manuscript

Eligible for review

1

Manuscript

Impact studies rated high or moderate quality

Note: When an individual manuscript reports findings from multiple studies, HomVEE reviews each study as a distinct manuscript. In these rare instances, HomVEE counts that manuscript multiple times in this table, once for each study identified, screened, and reviewed by HomVEE.

Summary of Findings

To see details on each manuscript HomVEE reviewed in well-designed research, click on the manuscript counts in the table.

Favorable:
A finding showing a statistically significant impact on an outcome measure in a direction that is beneficial for children and parents.

No effect:
Findings are not statistically significant.

Unfavorable:
A finding showing a statistically significant impact on an outcome measure in a direction that may indicate potential harm to children and/or parents.

Outcomes Manuscripts Favorable Findings No Effects Findings Unfavorable Findings
Child development and school readiness View 1 Manuscript 0 5 0
Child health Not measured - - -
Family economic self-sufficiency View 1 Manuscript 0 13 0
Linkages and referrals View 1 Manuscript 4 0 0
Maternal health View 1 Manuscript 0 4 0
Positive parenting practices Not measured - - -
Reductions in child maltreatment Not measured - - -
Reductions in juvenile delinquency, family violence, and crime Not measured - - -

Research Characteristics

Well-designed impact studies about this model included participants with the following characteristics:

Race/Ethnicity

Black or African American
94.00%
Unknown
6.00%

Well-designed impact studies about this model were conducted in the following locations:

  • Northeast
  • Pennsylvania
Enrollment in means-tested programs
55.40%

Implementation

In this section:

Overview

Theoretical approach, intended population, and targeted outcomes.

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Support Availability

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Service Delivery

Model services, adaptions and enhancements, model intensity and length.

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Requirements

Staffing and organizational requirements.

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Overview

Theoretical approach

The MOM Program was developed to address gaps in the use of health services and early intervention services for developmental issues for children under age 5. It is designed to provide professional support to help low-income mothers identify the need for early intervention and access appropriate services for their children.

Intended population

The MOM Program is offered to postpartum mothers of healthy infants until their children’s fifth birthdays. Mothers are recruited from an urban academic hospital and reside in high-poverty neighborhoods in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Targeted outcomes

The program aims to increase mothers’ use of child health care services and promote receipt of early intervention services for their child in order to improve developmental and behavioral outcomes at kindergarten entry.

Highlights

Services intended at ages
0-11 months (WILL BE REMOVED)
12-23 months
24-35 months
36-47 months
48+ months

Support Availability

Implementation support availability

The MOM Program is implemented by researchers and staff from the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, the City of Philadelphia, and the University of Pennsylvania. It was originally implemented as a demonstration program from 2001 to 2006.

The program director provides ongoing technical assistance to ensure that all materials are available and that all staff understand and adhere to data-tracking requirements.

Service Delivery

Model services

Until children reach age 3, the MOM Program provides home visits to mothers before planned well-child health care visits to prepare mothers for their appointment. Home visitors, consisting of both nurses and paraprofessional community workers, are not assigned to specific mothers, but instead alternate visiting participants.

Well-child visits are planned according to American Academy of Pediatrics guidelines. During the visits, home visitors:

  • Ask mothers whether they have concerns about their child’s development;
  • Show mothers checklists of age-specific developmental milestones and ask how their child compares;
  • Encourage mothers to ask about their child’s development at the upcoming well-child visit;
  • Discuss expectations for the upcoming well-child visit in terms of procedures and immunizations;
  • Inform mothers of appropriate early education services;
  • Conduct developmental screenings when children are ages 18 and 36 months.

Home visitors also call mothers to remind them of their scheduled well-child appointments. They call again after the scheduled visit to check that the mothers went to their appointment and received all recommended services. If one home visitor encounters persistent nonresponse from a mother, another home visitor takes over. In addition to varying the home visitor attempting communication, home visitors also vary the days and times of contact efforts.

The MOM Program offers two additional visits to mothers of children with developmental delays before they reach 33 months. During these additional visits, home visitors inform mothers about the procedures for enrolling their children in early intervention services and obtaining missing documents, such as their children’s birth certificates.

When children are 36 to 60 months of age, home visits are offered to all mothers to support enrollment in preschool and kindergarten and, when applicable, to facilitate the transition between early intervention and preschool special education services.

The curriculum is based on Hospital and American Academy of Pediatrics’ guidelines for the care of children’s health. Developmental milestones are based on guidance from The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia’s Neonatal Follow-Up Program.

Model intensity and length

The MOM Program offers most mothers nine visits before planned well-child appointments until children are 3 years old and two visits per year when children are from 3 to 5 years old. The target dosage for the first 3 years is completion of 75 percent (seven of nine) of planned visits. For mothers of children with developmental delays, the program offers two additional visits before the children reach 33 months. Visits typically last 15 minutes. The MOM Program avoids frequent or long visits to avoid seeming intrusive or burdensome and to foster positive relationships with the mothers.

Adaptations and enhancements

No information is available.

Requirements

Staffing requirements

Home visitors include nurse practitioners and community workers.

A supervisory group of health professionals and a program manager oversees the home visitors.

Nurse practitioners have masters’ degrees. Community workers must have completed high school.

Supervisory group members include a pediatrician, two Ph.D.-level clinical psychologists, a Ph.D.-level director of a nurse practitioner training program, and a program manager.

Throughout the program, weekly, 90-minute supervision meetings are held with all home visitors and the supervisory group. During the meetings, the supervisory group reviews home visitors’ detailed records of attempted contact with mothers, briefly discusses each mother’s progress, and recommends strategies to engage unresponsive mothers. Strategies include varying the timing and type of outreach, as well as having a different home visitor conduct the outreach.

During the supervisory group meetings, home visitors receive trainings tailored to each home visit. The trainings are designed to help visitors prepare mothers for each specific well-child health care appointment. Please contact the model developer for additional information about the pre-service training requirement.

Home visitors are also trained to administer the Ages and Stages Questionnaire (ASQ) to screen for developmental problems and the need for early intervention services.

Weekly supervisory group meetings also include ongoing cross-discipline training. Nurse practitioners receive ongoing training in the culture of the families and the neighborhoods, and community workers are trained to discuss health and development issues with families. Staff meetings also discuss system-wide issues, such as barriers to accessing services. Please contact the model developer for additional information about the ongoing professional development requirement.

Organizational requirements

Implementing agencies must be able to provide adequate oversight of a team composed of lay and professional staff. No other details are available about the type of organizations that implement the program.

No information is available about the ongoing fidelity guidelines that implementing programs or home visitors are required to meet.

HomVEE requests input and feedback from the model developers on their profiles. The information in this implementation profile reflects feedback, if provided, from this model’s developer as of the above date. HomVEE reserves the right to edit the profile for clarity and consistency. The description of the implementation of the model(s) here may differ from how the model(s) was implemented in the manuscripts reviewed to determine this model’s evidence of effectiveness. Model developers are encouraged to notify HomVEE of any changes to their contact information on this page.