Conducting home visits to families in need
Abstract
The Family Empowerment Project in Oregon depends on the use of community volunteers, rather than agency personnel, to befriend and support parents in their efforts to be better caregivers. Parents who neglect their children are often isolated and lonely, with low self-esteem, little knowledge of child development and parenting, and a history of substance abuse. Volunteers for the Family Empowerment Project in Oregon regularly visit parents with a history of child neglect in their homes to break their isolation and connect them with a network of support. This paper by AmeriCorps member Stephanie Hamrick won first place in the 1997 Northwest National Service Symposium, hosted by the Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory (NWREL).Issue
Oregon's child protective services agency defines neglect as "negligent treatment or maltreatment of a child, which causes actual harm or substantial risk of harm to a child's health, welfare, and safety." Many neglectful parents share the qualities of isolation and loneliness, low self-esteem, limited parenting skills, and a history of substance abuse. Neglectful parents usually lack a positive support system and form primarily negative social relationships. Neglectful parents most often grew up in a neglectful environment, and perpetuate the intergenerational cycle to which they've become accustomed.Action
Although caseworkers are able to identify family needs and secure resources with great skill, heavy caseloads rarely allow workers time to visit families in their homes for the sole purpose of establishing a personal connection, which is vital to reducing the family's isolation.
AmeriCorps members at the project sites recruit and train volunteers, review client referrals, and pair volunteers with families.
Training for Volunteers
- Volunteers serve as home visitors for one year, and receive initial and ongoing training throughout their service.
- The initial training consists of three sessions: The first session is an orientation provided by the volunteer program that covers topics such as department policies, conflict of interest, mandatory reporting issues when abuse or neglect is witnessed, and confidentiality; the second session covers issues such as family interactions, trust building, and appropriate volunteer roles. For the third session, volunteers attend a local resource training presented by community representatives, who provide information on where and how to access various services that the families may need.
- Additionally, volunteers attend monthly support meetings where they can share their frustrations and successes as well as receive further trainings in the topics they choose.
- Because long-term interventions have been most effective with chronically neglectful parents, a commitment of four to six hours per week for one year is required of both the volunteers and the families for the home visits.
Support for Families
- Family strengths are continually emphasized to instill in the family the ability to recognize and expand its own potential. Families are made aware of community resources, which they can access themselves, showing them that they are capable of self-sufficiency.
- Additionally, support groups are provided for the families enrolled. The goal is to connect parents to others in their communities and establish a strong support system that will still be there for them once they exit the program. It is hoped that through participation in these support groups, parents will not only gain a resource to consult when they have problems but will also gain the lifelong ability to form positive support systems on their own.
Choice and Confidentiality
Perhaps the most important component of this program is that it is voluntary. Families who are eligible for the program can decide for themselves whether or not they want to participate. If they choose to decline, there are no penalties. If they choose to sign up, their relationship with a volunteer is confidential. Details about the family are not shared with Oregon's child protective services agency unless abuse or neglect is witnessed by the volunteer or communication with the agency is supported by, and made known to, the family.
Context
The Family Empowerment Project began operating in four counties in the southern and central regions of Oregon in 1994. In 1995, the project was honored with the Governor's Innovative Award. In 1996, the project expanded to nine counties in Oregon.Citation
Hamrick, Stephanie. "Family Empowerment Project" Second Annual NW National Service Symposium. Portland, Oregon: Northwest Regional Education Laboratory, May 1997.Outcome
As of May 1997, a total of 32 families had participated in the program. On average, families remain in the program for about a year. However, this takes into account unique families such as one which had been involved for two years as well as the numerous families who withdrew after only a few months, either voluntarily, because they moved to a different county, or because their children were permanently removed from the home.
By giving local citizens the opportunity to volunteer as home visitors to families in crisis, the program has allowed the community to take ownership of, and responsibility for, the well-being of all its children instead of depending on a state agency to single-handedly eliminate abuse and neglect.
Posted On
June 7, 2001For More Information
Resources
Read "The Family Empowerment Project" by Stephanie J. Hamrick.
From The Resource Center library:
Second Annual NW National Service Symposium.
Item number: M1681
Source Documents
Related Practices
Related sites
Child Welfare Information Gateway