Healthy Families Santa Barbara County has been awarded fidelity certification as a provider of high-quality home visiting services to pregnant families and families with infants and young children.
The award comes from Prevent Child Abuse America (PCA America). Healthy Families Santa Barbara County is an affiliate of Healthy Families America (HFA). HFA is the signature program of PCA America and has been leading home visiting services for some 30 years.
When expectant and new parents are facing new stressors and have questions about their child’s development, HFA connects with families through community partners like hospitals and pediatricians to support parents, meeting within the familiarity and convenience of the family’s own home.
One of the primary goals of HFA home visiting is to promote nurturing, responsive parent-child relationships.
Home visitors in each community receive extensive training on topics important to just about every new parent, such as caring for a new baby; ensuring the baby is receiving the nutrition needed; promoting healthy child development; and coping with other potential stresses. Other stresses might include financial, housing, or partner relationships that may become heightened with an addition to the family.
“HFA sites utilize evidence-based best practices to provide individualized support to families when needed most, and linkages to community services,” said Melissa Merrick, president/CEO of PCA America.
“We congratulate Healthy Families Santa Barbara County and we commend the staff for their leadership and commitment that has contributed to this important achievement,” Merrick said.
The Fidelity Assessment process is based on a stringent set of 12 key elements grounded in more than 30 years of research. The process involves an in-depth examination of the site’s operation, as well as the quality of visits made by HFA home visitors.
“We commend the Healthy Families Santa Barbara County for opening itself up to this review process,” said Kathleen Strader, national director of HFA. “We believe that all families and all communities deserve access to quality home visiting services.”
“We launched our HFA home visiting program in July 2021 during a worldwide pandemic,”
said Kelley Barragan, Maternal, Child & Adolescent Health director, and HFA program manager.
“We are proud to have achieved accreditation and to be currently serving 50-plus familes and counting throughout Santa Barbara County,” Barragan said.
PCA America was established in 1972 with the belief that child abuse and neglect is preventable. The not-for-profit, volunteer-based organization is committed to preventing child abuse in all forms through education, research, public awareness, and public policy development.
PCA America implemented the Healthy Families America initiative in 1992. HFA serves families of all ethnic and socio-economic backgrounds, meeting the needs of close to 600 communities in 38 states, D.C., the U.S. Territories, and Israel.