Manuscript Detail | Home Visiting Evidence of Effectiveness

Jacobs, F., Easterbrooks, A., & Mistry, J. (2015). The Massachusetts Healthy Families evaluation-2 (MHFE-2): A randomized, controlled trial of a statewide home visiting program for young parents: Final report to the Children's Trust of Massachusetts. Medford, MA: Tufts Interdisciplinary Evaluation Research.

Model(s) Reviewed: Healthy Families America (HFA)^®

Additional sources:

Easterbrooks, M. A., Fauth, R. C., & Lamoreau, R. (2021). Effects of a home visiting program on parenting: Mediating role of intimate partner violence. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 36(1–2), NP803-NP823. https://doi.org/10.1177/0886260517736879.

Manuscript screening details
Screening decision	Screening conclusion	HomVEE procedures and standards version
Passes screens	Eligible for review	Version 1

Study design details
Rating	Design	Attrition	Baseline equivalence	Compromised randomization	Confounding factors	Valid, reliable measure(s)
Moderate	Randomized controlled trial	Low	Established on race and ethnicity; not established on SES or baseline measures of the outcomes; some outcomes not feasible to assess at baseline.	None	None	Not assessed in manuscripts reviewed before 2021

Notes:

Four outcomes from this report were also reported in Jacobs et al. (2015), and those findings are reported elsewhere on the website. Those outcomes include: (1) at least one substantiated report of maltreatment, through 27 months post-enrollment; (2) mother finished one year of college, two years post-enrollment; (3) mother finished high school/GED, two years post-enrollment; and (4) repeat birth (self-report), two years post-enrollment. There were slight differences in the odds ratios reported for the four outcomes between this report and the journal article, but in both cases the statistical significance and favorability of the outcomes were the same within both reports. Information on attrition and baseline equivalence was based on correspondence with the author.

Study characteristics
Study participants	Among the 837 women who were recruited for the study, 517 were randomly assigned to receive home visiting services and 320 were randomly assigned to a control group that received referral and information only. Eligible participants were female, first-time parents between the ages of 16 and 20 and spoke either English or Spanish. The ethnicity of the full sample was as follows: 37 percent white non-Hispanic, 19 percent black non-Hispanic, 36 percent Hispanic, and 8 percent of other race/ethnicities. On average, mothers were 18.8 years old upon the birth of the child. Eighteen percent received cash assistance and 17 percent received food assistance prior to enrollment in the study.
Setting	The study took place within 18 sites in Massachusetts.
Intervention services	Home visiting services were offered from pregnancy through the child's third birthday. On average, mothers received 24 home visits over 14.7 months. In addition to home visiting, the program included goal-setting and group-based activities and linkages and referrals to additional resources.
Comparison conditions	Mothers in the comparison condition received information about child development and were referred to other services but they did not receive home visits.
Subgroups examined	This field lists subgroups examined in the manuscript (even if they were not replicated in other samples and not reported on the summary page for this model’s report). • Race/ethnicity (White, Black, or Hispanic) • Cohabitation status (lived together or did not live together) • Maternal depression (present based on screening) • Intimate partner violence (low, moderate, or high based on Conflict Tactics Scale) • Mother reports being victim of maltreatment during own childhood (yes or no) • Adequacy of basic resources (low or moderate/high) • Level of financial difficulty (low or moderate/high) • Relationship status (in committed relationship with father of child) • Mother has post-traumatic stress disorder (yes or no) • Mother has trauma exposure (yes or no)
Funding sources	The evaluation was funded by the Children's Trust of Massachusetts.
Author affiliation	The authors are affiliated with Tufts Interdisciplinary Evaluation Research, the evaluation partner of Massachusetts Healthy Families.
Peer reviewed	Peer reviewed status is not listed for manuscripts reviewed before 2021.

Study Registration:

Clinicaltrials.gov Identifier: NCT01926223. Study registration was assessed by HomVEE beginning with the 2014 review.

Findings that rate moderate or high

Linkages and referrals
Rating	Outcome measure	Effect	Sample	Timing of follow-up	Sample size	Intervention group	Comparison group	Group difference	Effect size	Statistical significance	Notes
Moderate	Mother received mental health services after pregnancy (self report), time 3	FavorableUnfavorable or ambiguousNo Effect	MA sample	2 years post enrollment	611 mothers	Not reported	Not reported	OR = 1.23	HomVEE calculated = 0.13	Not statistically significant, p = 0.26

Maternal health
Rating	Outcome measure	Effect	Sample	Timing of follow-up	Sample size	Intervention group	Comparison group	Group difference	Effect size	Statistical significance	Notes
Moderate	Repeat pregnancy (self report), time 3	FavorableUnfavorable or ambiguousNo Effect	MA sample	2 years post enrollment	612 mothers	Not reported	Not reported	OR = 0.94	HomVEE calculated = -0.04	Not statistically significant, p = 0.72	Submitted by user on Fri, 03/15/2019 - 14:29 Negative value is favorable to the intervention.