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Abstract: 

Home visiting can be one of the earliest ways to prevent mental health problems, because services are often provided prenatally and extend into early childhood. Programs must ensure that families remain engaged in services in order to achieve positive outcomes for participating families. Existing data suggest that many home visiting programs are struggling with retention nationally. This comprehensive literature review focuses on lessons learned about retaining families in evidence-based home visiting programs from 11 articles published in peer-reviewed journals over the last 15 years. The review team built upon previous research and theory to create a framework to guide the analysis and synthesis of studies. The framework is based on the four levels associated with retention: family, home visitor, program, and neighborhood. Results are presented using the analytic framework, and implications for practice and future research and evaluation efforts are provided.

Keywords: Home visiting, parent engagement, mental health, participant retention, children’s social and emotional health, prevention programs

Affiliations:  1: Georgetown University Center for Child and Human Development (GUCCHD); 2: Kaye Implementation & Evaluation, LLC; 3: GUCCHD; 4: GUCCHD.