Massachusetts Children's Trust Fund Study: Home Visits and Parenting Education Can Reduce...

BOSTON -- Tufts University's independent evaluation of Healthy Families Massachusetts program finds fewer incidents of child maltreatment and better education among teen moms

Massachusetts Children's Trust Fund (CTF), the state's leading organization for child abuse prevention,

Researchers at Tufts University conducted a two-year study of the Healthy Families program in Massachusetts. The results show that among families participating in the program:

--Child maltreatment occurred at substantially lower rates than expected. The rate of child abuse and neglect among Healthy Families mothers was two-thirds lower than the 33 percent rate among teen moms in a demographically comparable study.

--Teen mothers improved their education. 83 percent of the Healthy Families mothers were in school, had graduated or had received their GED by the end of the evaluation, a rate significantly higher than national statistics, which indicate only 53 percent of teen mothers graduate from high school or complete GED programs by age 25.

--Overall, child development was better than expected. As a group, children of Healthy Families participants showed encouraging development in all assessed areas - from physical development to social and emotional development - despite national research that indicates children of teen parents are at greater risk for poor health and developmental delays.

"These groundbreaking results clearly show that the cycle of child abuse can be broken," said Suzin Bartley, Executive Director of the Massachusetts Children's Trust Fund. "The Healthy Families program is having a positive impact on young mothers, fathers and children throughout the Commonwealth. Young parents are not alone - we are working with them to ensure a better life for them and a better future for their children."

The Healthy Families Massachusetts program is a comprehensive, voluntary home visiting program that provides support and information to all first-time parents age 20 and under in the Commonwealth. Home visits can begin during pregnancy and continue until the child's third birthday. Launched in 1997 as a statewide adaptation of the Healthy Families America program, Healthy Families Massachusetts is the first home visiting program in the United States that offers education, support and referrals to all first-time teen parents in the state rather than targeting only "high-risk" teen parents.

Tufts University experts in the School of Arts and Sciences - M. Ann Easterbrooks, Ph.D., of the Eliot-Pearson Department of Child Development and Francine Jacobs, Ed.D., of the departments of Child Development and Urban and Environmental Policy and Planning - led the evaluation team.

The team compiled three sets of data for the evaluation: 1) basic information collected on enrolled mothers along with documentation of services received from the total Healthy Families Massachusetts population of 13,000 participants, 2) in-depth information on a representative sample of 361 participant mothers based on demographic and program variables including age of child, maternal age and education levels, and 3) ethnographic detail on clusters of participants represented by a combination of socioeconomic background, ethnic heritage and immigrant history.

In addition to state funds, CTF received grants from The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the W.K. Kellogg Foundation for the financing of this study.

About the Massachusetts Children's Trust Fund

The Massachusetts Children's Trust Fund (CTF) leads statewide efforts to prevent child abuse and neglect by supporting parents and strengthening families. An umbrella organization, CTF funds, evaluates, and promotes the work of more than 100 agencies. Supported by private, state and federal funding, CTF invests in Massachusetts' most precious resource - children and their families.

About Tufts University

Tufts University, located on three Massachusetts campuses in Boston, Medford/Somerville, and Grafton, and in Talloires, France, is recognized among the premier research universities in the United States. Tufts enjoys a global reputation for academic excellence and for the preparation of students as leaders in a wide range of professions. A growing number of innovative teaching and research initiatives span all Tufts campuses, and collaboration among the faculty and students in the undergraduate, graduate and professional programs across the University's eight schools is widely encouraged.