Contributed by Beth P., Sprout Contributor
Compiled by the Pennsylvania Family Network, March 2011
Family Centers are an early childhood, parent education, and family support program serving families throughout pregnancy until their child is five years old. Pennsylvania invests 4 million dollars in 66 Family Centers designated through the Department of Public Welfare line item—Community Based Family Centers—a line item that is eliminated in the Governor’s proposed budget. Currently over 13,000 children and their families receive services through Family Centers.
Preserving Family Centers demonstrates commitment to protecting these children from harm, not just helping them after it’s happened.
Family Center Facts
For two decades Family Centers have provided home visits, group meetings, developmental screenings, and case management to help Pennsylvania families:
Understand child-rearing and child development practices.
Gain confidence with their parenting abilities.
Engage in parent-child interactions that increase cognitive, communication, motor, social-emotional, and self-help skills in children.
Increase family involvement in their community.
Improve access to resources in their community that support family needs.
Family Centers use the Parents as Teachers home visitation model, a high-quality program federally recognized as evidence-based and meeting rigorous standards for effectiveness.[1]
Family Centers are available to any family with young children regardless of income or need, however data shows that services are targeted to the neediest families in Pennsylvania.
85% of the families served are considered high-risk. [2]
These high-risk families may be left unserved with the current state budget proposal.
Cost-Benefits of Family Centers
Investments in prevention save on expensive out-of-home placements. The average annual cost per family in Parents As Teachers/Family Center services is $1,400-$1,500, compared to $16,907 for foster care and $64,148 for residential care.
The RAND Corporation studied the impact of home visiting programs to high-risk children and families and found a return to society ranging from $1.80 to $17.07 for each dollar spent on the program. [3]
The current budget proposal is eliminating this value for families.
Lasting Impact of Family Centers
Research shows that Parents As Teachers (PAT), the program utilized by Family Centers, prevents child abuse and neglect, and improves maternal and child health.
Preventing Child Abuse and Neglect
A second wave study of the PAT program found documented cases of child abuse and neglect to be significantly lower for PAT families than the state average. [4]
A randomized trial showed that adolescent mothers who received PAT and case management had fewer child abuse investigations. [5]
Another study found PAT had significant effects in lowering substantiated or verified child maltreatment rates. [6]
In ignoring the facts of these studies, the current state budget proposal leaves these children vulnerable.
Improving Maternal and Child Health
A randomized controlled trial showed that adolescent mothers who received PAT and case management had lower repeat pregnancy rates. [7]
Another randomized controlled trial showed that children of PAT families were more fully immunized than children in the control families. [8]
Safety net services through Family Centers that ensure healthy outcomes for children and families will be lost with the current state budget proposal.
Increasing Child Development Skills
A randomized controlled trial in Cleveland, OH found that PAT children showed higher mastery motivation and social skills. [9]
Another study in CA showed that children of Latina mothers enrolled in PAT performed significantly better than the control in 4 of the 5 areas examined: cognitive, communication, social and self-help. [10]
Numerous studies have found that PAT children had higher school readiness scores at Kindergarten entry in comparison to children with no PAT or preschool. [11]
Educating our children is central to our future. The current state budget proposal will leave children lacking a promising start.
Funding Investment
Pennsylvania Family Centers are funded with $4,195,000 in state dollars through the Department of Public Welfare's like item, Community Based Family Centers. State funds match $4,844,821 in federal funding through Title 4-B part 2 and Community Based Child Abuse Prevention.
If the Community Based Family Center line item is eliminated, Pennsylvania will not be able to draw down all possible federal home visitation dollars through the Maternal, Infant, Early Childhood Home Visiting Program (MCHVP). This could jeopardize Pennsylvania's opportunity to receive a projected $2.07 million annually over the next five years through the MCHVP- funds that are available within the federal health care reform's Affordable Care Act.
Given the federal Maintenance of Effort (MOE) requirement, Pennsylvania cannot afford to reduce their investment in evidence based home visitation programs like the Pennsylvania Family Centers.
Pennsylvania Family Centers are an investment worth preserving.
[1] The Parents As Teachers model satisfies the criteria and requirements outline in the Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting Program enacted as part of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PL 111-148).
[2] 2009-10 Parents as Teachers Annual Program Report for PA Family Centers showed percentage served with a high need characteristic such as low income, low educational attainment, involvement in the mental health or social service system, or are teen parents.
[3] The RAND Corporation, The Economics of Early Childhood Policy, 2008
[4] Pfannenstiel, J. Lambson, T. and Yarnell, V. Second wave study of the Parents as Teachers program. Overland Park, KS: Research and Training Associates.
[5] Wagner,M & Clayton, S. (1999). The Parents as Teachers program: Results from two demonstrations. In Home Visiting: Recent Program Evaluations, The Future of Children, Vol9, no. 1.
[6] Reynolds, A.M., Mathieson, L.C. & Topitzes, J.W. (2009). Do early childhood interventions prevent child maltreatment? Child Maltreatment, OnlineFirst, February 24, 2009.
[7] Wagner,M & Clayton, S. (1999). The Parents as Teachers program: Results from two demonstrations. In Home Visiting: Recent Program Evaluations, The Future of Children, Vol9, no. 1.
[8] Wagner, M. & Spiker, D. (2001). Multisite Parents a Teachers Evaluation: Experience and Outcomes for Children and Families. Menlo Park, CA: SRI International. Obtained on 8/31/04 from www.sri.com/policy/cehs/early/pat.html
[9] Drotar, D., Robinson, J., Jeavons, I., Kirchner, H.Al. (2009). A randomized controlled evaluation of early intervention: The Born to Leanr curriculum. Child: Care, Health & Development, 356(5), 643-649.
[10] Wagner,M & Clayton, S. (1999). The Parents as Teachers program: Results from two demonstrations. In Home Visiting: Recent Program Evaluations, The Future of Children, Vol9, no. 1.
[11] Pfannenstiel, J., Seitz, V., & Zigler, E. (2002). Promoting school readiness: The role of the Parents as Teachers program. NHSA Dialog: A Research-to-Practice Journal for the Early Intervention Field, 6, 71-86.
