Hawaii Healthy Start
Hawaii Healthy Start is the name of a state program in Hawaii . The aim of the program is to combat child abuse and neglect. Mothers were visited by trained family helpers. These help them in crisis situations and give tips on which institutions to turn to if problems arise. They try to strengthen the problem-solving skills of the mothers and provide information about raising children.
The program is aimed at lower-class mothers who have had drug or mental health problems, or were children of abusive parents.
The program costs $ 185 million annually.
All previous interventions have shown that the program is completely ineffective. The intervention group was compared with a control group:
- The children were equally likely to be hospitalized for abuse
- The children had to be placed in foster families equally often
- The responsible authorities were equally aware of child abuse or neglect in both groups.
Given these facts, scientists urged that the money should rather be put into effective intervention programs.
See also compensatory education for effective programs .
credentials
- ^ Duggan, Anne, Loretta Fuddy, Lori Burrell, Susan M. Higman, Elizabeth McFarlane, Amy Windham, and Calvin Sia. Randomized trial of a statewide home visiting program: impact in preventing child abuse and neglect. Child Abuse & Neglect 28 (2004) 597-622.
- ↑ Duggan, Anne, Elizabeth C. McFarlane, Amy M. Windham, Charles A. Rohde, David S. Salkever, Loretta Fuddy, Leon A. Rosenberg, Sharon B. Buchbinder, Calvin CJ Sia. "Evaluation of Hawaii's Health Start Program." The Future of Children - Home Visiting Programs: Recent Program Evaluations, Vol. 9, No. 1, spring-summer 1999