SRI Education evaluated a coaching, support and technical assistance model to gather information on what it takes to support home visiting programs and staff so they can provide the most effective services possible to children and families.
In the RISE (Researching Implementation Support Experiences) Home Visiting Evaluation, SRI investigated the innovative model of coaching, support, and technical assistance used in Washington State.
The objectives were to:
- Understand the experiences that home visiting program staff have with the technical assistance available to them
- Understand how the assistance develops over time
- Investigate the effectiveness of the RISE model compared with technical assistance provided in other states
Using semistructured interviews, focus groups, surveys, case studies, extant program data, and program documentation about practices, SRI learned about changes in the centralized system of technical assistance, coaching, and support received by programs over time, as well as how well different technical assistance approaches support the provision of high-quality home visiting services, improve fidelity to home visiting models, and increase program staffs’ self-efficacy and competency. The study provided much-needed information on what it takes to support home visiting programs and staff so they can provide the most effective services possible to children and families.
The project was funded through the federal Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting (MIECHV) funds provided to the state of Washington. MIECHV is an unprecedented scale-up of evidence-based home visiting models across the country, with each including a thoughtful evaluation to generate knowledge about how to most effectively implement home visiting programs that produce positive outcomes. SRI worked with Washington’s Department of Early Learning to conduct the study. Other key partners were Thrive Washington, the Nurse-Family Partnership national office, the Parents as Teachers national office, and the many programs participating in the project.
This project was supported by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Grant no. D89MC23536, “Research Design to Measure the Progress & Effects of a Centralized System on Rapidly Scaled-up Evidence-based Home Visiting in Washington State” for $1,100,000. This information or content and conclusions are those of the author and should not be construed as the official position or policy of, nor should any endorsements be inferred by HRSA, HHS or the U.S. Government.