Massachusetts Healthy Families Evaluation

For the past decade, our team of researchers has been contracted by the Massachusetts Children's Trust Fund (MCTF) to evaluate the Healthy Family Massachusetts newborn home visiting program (HFM). In 2005 we completed our first phase of evaluation, the Massachusetts Healthy Families Evaluation (MHFE-1). In 2008, we began collecting data for the second phase of the HFM evaluation (MHFE-2). MHFE-2 is a randomized controlled trial designed not only to assess whether or not HFM is meeting its five stated long-term goals, but also to examine the ways in which participants' personal, family, program, and community contexts influence and/or explain program utilization and program outcomes. Study participants were randomly assigned to a program group (called the Home Visiting Services group [HVS]) or control group (Referrals and Information Only group [RIO]). To date, TIER has collected three waves of data, which we are currently analyzing. Additionally, we are collecting fifth and sixth waves of data as part of the Massachusetts Healthy Families Evaluation-2 Early Childhood Study (MHFE-2-EC).