The purpose of the Enhanced Home Visiting Project (EHVP)
What is Kith and Kin Care?
Why is EHVP an area of Interest for Early Head Start
What does EHVP Hope to Accomplish?

Overview

The purpose of the Enhanced Home Visiting Project (EHVP) is to develop and implement enhanced home visiting models which recognize that, when a caregiver of an Early Head Start child is not the child’s parent, it is important that the caregiver has the knowledge, training and skills necessary to help the child develop to his or her highest potential, including the development of such important skills as language, reasoning, and problem solving.

Early Head Start and Migrant Infant/Toddler programs serving children in a home-based option where the child’s parents are working and the child is in the care of a relative or neighbor were invited to apply for funding to develop and implement an enhanced home visiting program to serve children who are in these “kith and kin” settings. Twenty-four programs successfully competed to participate in the three-year project.

What is kith and kin care?

Kith and kin care is defined as child care provided by family, friends and neighbors. “Kith refers to individuals who serve as surrogate family; kin refers to immediate family and other relatives” (Bank Street College of Education website). “It is a care relationship between a specific child and adult because of family or family-like relationships” (Collins and Carlson, 1998).

Why is it an area of interest for Early Head Start?

Research consistently shows that more than 50 percent of low-income families make use of relatives, friends, and neighbors for the care of their very young children. In addition, infants and toddlers are more likely to be with relatives, while three-and-four year olds are more often found in center-based arrangements. In fact, the Early Head Start National Research Study (Mathematica 2002) indicated that for 3-month-old children, 74 percent of out-of-home primary care arrangements were with relatives, friends, or neighbors. By the time the children were 36 months of age, this figure had dropped to 42 percent.

Both the relationship between the child and caregiver and the home environment have a significant impact on cognitive and language development, and ultimately on school readiness. Because a significant number of infants and toddlers are not in formal center-based or family child care settings, but rather are in the care of relatives, friends or neighbors, it is important that those caregivers receive support and training to promote the early language, literacy, and learning of the children in their care.

How are EHVP programs approaching this work?

Applicants to the EHVP submitted diverse approaches to address this need in their communities. In most cases, EHVP models consistently called upon their community partners to assist them in designing supportive approaches to address kith and kin provider needs. These collaborative models will provide training, resources, and services to relatives and neighbors who are caring for Early Head Start infants and toddlers. Approaches represent the diversity of the children and families receiving services.

Early Head Start and Migrant Head Start programs serving children in a home-based program option were invited to apply, and all selected EHVP programs meet the Head Start Program Performance Standards for the home-based program option.

Is there an evaluation component?

The Head Start Bureau is committed to collecting information about the development and implementation of the EHVP. This research will allow for dissemination of information beyond the funded sites to the broader Early Head Start community. In order to ensure consistency in research design and data collection, the evaluation will be designed and conducted by an external evaluator. The evaluation team, with input from programs, will determine a uniform method for collecting administrative information across all sites. The evaluation team will help programs implement the record keeping system. The evaluation team will also conduct site visits at least annually to record the development, implementation, and outcomes of these new community partnerships.

What does the EHVP hope to accomplish?

The expected outcomes include:

• Infants and toddlers will receive enhanced quality care as a result of the support, training, resources, and home visiting activities that their caregivers receive.
  
• Positive experiences during the early years in enhanced caregiving settings will lay a strong foundation for early learning, improve child outcomes, and ensure that infants and toddlers will be better prepared for school.
  
• The project will identify the needs of non-parental kith and kin providers, and what support they need to provide quality care.
  
• Relationships, communication, and understanding between programs, parents and caregivers will be enhanced, to the benefit of children.
  
• Head Start community collaborations with local home visiting agencies will be developed, thereby integrating and coordinating local community resources.
  
• Caregivers will be trained and qualified in infant/toddler caregiving, increasing the number of quality caregivers in the field.

What support is going to be provided to funded programs?

An orientation conference is being planned for June 2004 to provide information, resources, and networking opportunities to support programs implementing this project. The Head Start Bureau, Regional Office Federal Staff, Regional T/A Consultants and The Early Head Start National Resource Center will provide support throughout the project period. EHVP programs will participate in annual group training sessions.