From Our Data Team: Kicking Off the New Jersey MIECHV Families Level of Service Evaluation
Family Health Initiatives (FHI) is proud to introduce the New Jersey Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting (MIECHV) Families Level of Service (LOS) Evaluation Project—a statewide initiative designed to strengthen and expand evidence-based home visiting programs for families across New Jersey.
County-based home visiting programs funded by the MIECHV Program, including Parents as Teachers, Healthy Families and Nurse Family Partnership, play a crucial role in supporting families, improving child health and building resilient communities. To maximize their impact, it’s essential that these programs reach as many families as possible and consistently deliver high-quality services.
Project Goals and Approach
Our primary goal is to increase the LOS for New Jersey’s MIECHV-funded evidence-based home visiting programs by 10% over the next year. Here, LOS refers to the percentage of available program slots that are actively filled by participating families. Achieving this milestone will allow MIECHV evidence-based home visiting programs to expand services to more communities, ensuring that no family is left behind.
To reach this goal, the project brings together a diverse team—including Family Health Initiatives, New Jersey Department of Health, local implementing agencies program staff and MIECHV-serviced families. To further strengthen our efforts, Family Health Initiatives is adopting a community liaison model. Three experienced evaluation liaisons from across New Jersey will be hired to provide hands-on support in outreach, training, data collection and process improvement in their local communities.
We are committed to a collaborative, data-driven approach that includes:
Comprehensive exploratory analysis of current service delivery and identification of barriers using existing quarterly and monthly reports, supplemented by new data collected through surveys, interviews, focus groups or events with MIECHV staff and families
Setting clear, measurable performance targets
Piloting and tracking process improvements using proven quality improvement methods
Providing targeted staff training and professional development
Exploring technology solutions to enhance efficiency and accessibility
Actively engaging program staff and families and incorporating their feedback into program design
Fostering partnerships with community organizations and stakeholders
What to Expect
The project will roll out in several phases, beginning with existing data analysis, community liaisons building connections with MIECHV staff and families in their local area to collect additional data, working in partnership with MIECHV staff to identify goals for improvement and perform tests of change, and ongoing monitoring and evaluation. Throughout, we will prioritize transparency, open communication and continuous learning.
By working together, we aim to ensure that every family in New Jersey has access to culturally responsive, high-quality home visiting services. The MIECHV Families LOS Evaluation Project is more than an evaluation—it’s a commitment to building healthier future for children, families and communities statewide.
Author: Mikaela Litterio, MPH, Public Health Data Analyst
References:
1. Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting (MIECHV) Program | MCHB
2. Healthy Families America – Prevent Child Abuse New Jersey