Child First
Child First helps to heal and protect children and families from the effects of trauma and chronic stress by providing a psychotherapeutic intervention that promotes nurturing caregiver-child relationships, enhances adult capacity, and provides care coordination to connect families with services and supports.
What is the model’s approach to providing home visiting services?
Home visits take place twice per week during a month-long assessment period and
a minimum of once per week thereafter. Services are provided for families and their children prenatally through 5 years old for approximately 6 to 12 months, but can extend beyond 12 months depending on a family’s need.
Child First’s service population includes the following:
- Children with emotional or behavioral concerns
- Caregivers with depression, PTSD, and other mental health concerns
- Families with low incomes
- Caregivers experiencing domestic violence or trauma
- Children experiencing abuse, neglect, or other trauma
- Families with a history of substance use or in need of treatment
- Families experiencing homelessness
- Children with developmental delays or disabilities
Who is implementing the model?
Home Visitors
Child First was implemented by 176 home visitors in 2020. The model requires care coordinators to have a bachelor’s degree and mental health clinicians to have a master’s degree in a mental health specialty with a license. Home visitors typically maintain a caseload of 12 to 16 families.
Supervisors
Child First was implemented by 36 supervisors in 2020. The model requires a master’s degree in a mental health specialty with a license for supervisors.
Where is the model implemented?
Child First operated in 23 local agencies across 3 states in 2020.
Families Served Through Evidence-Based Home Visiting in 2020
Race
* American Indian/Alaska Native
<1% Asian
27% Black
* Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander
62% White
10% Multiple
Caregiver age
3% ≤21 years
32% 22-29 years
48% 30-44 years
18% ≥45 years
Caregiver education
18% No HS diploma
35% HS diploma or GED
31% Some college or training
16% Bachelor's degree or higher
Ethnicity
29% Hispanic or Latino
71% Not Hispanic or Latino
Household income
94% Low-income status
6% Not low-income status
Child age
12% <1 year
16% 1-2 years
58% 3-5 years
15% ≥6 years
Child insurance status
93% Public
6% Private
<1% None
Primary language
89% English
10% Spanish
<1% Another language