Early Start is a home visiting program designed to improve child health, reduce child abuse, improve parenting skills, support parental physical and mental health, encourage family economic well-being, and encourage stable, positive partner relationships. Early Start was designed for at-risk families in the general population, and the developers took steps to make the model culturally responsive to the Māori, an indigenous population of New Zealand. Early Start serves families with newborns and children up to age 5.
Home visitors deliver services at varying levels of intensity depending on the family’s needs. Families with the highest needs receive up to three hours of home visits and indirect contact per week (level 1); families with moderate needs receive up to three hours of home visiting every two weeks (level 2); families with lower needs receive up to one hour of home visiting monthly (level 3); and "graduate" families receive up to one hour of contact every three months (level 4). Home visitors in consultation with their supervisors determine when a family is ready to progress to the next level.