Identify and discuss the effectiveness of home visitation, parental training, and preschool

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

Home Visitation
The best-known home visitation program is the Nurse–Family Partnership. The program targeted first-time mothers-to-be who were under 19 years of age, unmarried, or poor. The mothers-to-be received home visits from nurses during pregnancy and during the first two years of the child's life. The home visitors gave advice to the mothers about care of the child, infant development, and the importance of proper nutrition and avoiding smoking and drinking during pregnancy.

Fifteen years after the program started, children of the mothers who received home visits had half as many arrests as children of mothers who received no home visits (the control group). It was also found that these children, compared to those in the control group, had fewer convictions and violations of probation, were less likely to run away from home, and were less likely to drink alcohol. In addition to the program's success in preventing juvenile crime and other delinquent activities, it also produced a number of improvements in the lives of the mothers, such as lower rates of child abuse and neglect, crime in general, and substance abuse, as well as less reliance on welfare and social services. A Rand study found that the program's desirable effects, for both the children and the mothers, translated into substantial financial benefits for government and taxpayers, and that the total amount of these benefits was more than four times the cost of the program.

Improving Parenting Skills
Another form of family support that has shown some success in preventing juvenile delinquency is improving parenting skills. Although the main focus of parent training programs is on the parents, many of these programs also involve children with the aim of improving the parent–child bond.

Results of a research showed significant effects across a number of important domain outcomes, including educational success, delinquency, cognitive development, involvement in the justice system, and family well-being. These programs also produce a wide range of other important benefits for families, including improved school readiness and school performance on the part of children and greater employment and educational opportunities for parents.

Preschool
Highly structured, cognitive-based preschool programs give young children a positive start in life. Some of the key features of preschool programs include the provision of:
• Developmentally appropriate learning curricula
• A wide array of cognitive-based enriching activities
• Activities for parents, usually of a less intensive nature, so that they may be able to support the school experience at home
Evaluation studies of various programs have demonstrated fewer lifetime arrests, higher levels of schooling completed, lower rate of dropping out of school, and higher annual earnings.