Home-Visiting Programming in Kindergarten-Readiness Interventions: Retention and Loss of Families

Abstract

Background

Home-visiting programs are an often-used intervention for supporting the well-being of families with young children, and there is long-standing interest among researchers in ensuring the effectiveness of this practice. Especially, retention and attrition play important roles in achieving desired outcomes of the intervention.

Objective

This study aims to examine home-visit participation levels among low-income families and explore correlates of the participation levels. It also aims to evaluate patterns of attrition over time and to investigate child and family characteristics that potentially contribute to completion of the program.

Methods

We examined data from 113 families whose children participated in a 15-month kindergarten-transition intervention. All families received supplemental home-visiting activities as a key component of the intervention, beginning at the start of preschool and extending through middle of kindergarten year.

Results

We found that, on average, families completed four out of nine planned home visits, with large dispersion in the number of visits completed. Survival analyses suggested that families who dropped out were most likely to do so at the beginning of the program, with 39% of caregivers maintained to the final visit. Participation in the home-visiting program was related to children’s age and race, as well as children’s academic skill levels.

Conclusion

Study findings have implications for the design and implementation of kindergarten-readiness initiatives targeting low-income families, especially in terms of advancing strategies to maintain families in longitudinal activities.