Randomized Controlled Trial (RCT)

Baseline and follow-up data were collected for 1,173 womenin the HFNY and control groups at the time of the child's birth and at the first, second, third, and seventh birthdays(with various levels of retention). Data were collected from in-depth interviews with mothers, child welfare and public assistance administrative records, the HFNY Management Information System (MIS), and videotaped observations of parent-child interactions. The target children were also interviewed when they were approximately seven years old and their first grade school records were requested from their schools.

Based on the evaluation's rigorous random assignment design and the program's significant and positive effects on a range of outcomes, HFNY was designated as a "proven program" by RAND's Promising Practices Network and an effective program by both Child Trends and the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention.These findings also played a substantial role in the designation of Healthy Families America home visiting programs like HFNY, as meeting the federal DHHS criteria for an evidence-based early childhood home visiting service delivery model.