Tedd McDonald, senior researcher for the Center for Health Policy (CHP), professor and director of the Master of Health Science program, continues to evaluate Idaho’s Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting program through his work at the CHP.
McDonald and Sandina Begic, researcher and project manager for the CHP, have again been contracted to serve as principal investigators for the “Idaho Maternal, Infant, Early Childhood Home Visiting (MIECHV) Program Evaluation Year Three.” The Idaho Department of Health and Welfare is sponsoring the contract for the third consecutive year.
Begic, as well as Stephanie Lindsay, graduate research assistant with the CHP, McDonald, and Zeynep Hansen, professor and chair of the Boise State Department of Economics, published a technical report, titled “Year Two Annual Report: Evaluation Activities on Idaho’s Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting (MIECHV) Program” about the results of program evaluations completed in year two of the project.
During year three of this evaluation, McDonald, Begic and their research team will monitor the collection of data on 35 federally-required benchmarks related to the health and well-being of high-risk families with young children and expectant mothers. Once all data is collected, the team will analyze it and write a report, similar to the year two report, that will provide quality improvement information to local agencies.
Through the initial Idaho home visiting needs assessment, the Idaho MIECHV program identified four counties for initial implementation: Kootenai, Shoshone, Jerome, and Twin Falls. The Idaho MIECHV program has provided funds to the following agencies in these counties to carry out home visiting programs: Parents as Teachers, Early Head Start Home-Based, and Nurse-Family Partnership.
In addition to the MIECHV funded home visiting programs, there are other home visiting programs available throughout the state. Home visiting programs help families with infants and young children learn more about how children grow and learn, and the supports they need to become healthy and successful in life. Home visiting programs are voluntary and can enroll pregnant women, families with infants and toddlers, or families with young children birth to five years old.