New York State Office of Children & Family Services WORKING PAPER SERIES: EVALUATING HEALTHY FAMILIES NEW YORK Effects of Healthy Families New York on Maternal Behaviors: Observational Assessments of Positive and Negative Parenting

This paper examines the effectiveness of Healthy Families New York (HFNY), a home visiting program based on the Healthy Families America model, in promoting parenting competencies and preventing maladaptive parenting behaviors. The evaluation used a randomized controlled trial, in which women were randomly assigned during pregnancy or shortly after the birth of the target child to an intervention group that was offered home visitation services or to a control group that was given information and referral to other appropriate services. The original data collection effort included maternal self-report and administrative data gathered at baseline, birth, and one, two, and three years post-birth. At Year 3, we incorporated observational assessments of 522 of the original mothers while they interacted with their three-year-old children in a series of structured tasks, including a Puzzle Problem Solving Task, a Delay of Gratification Task, and a Cleanup Task. The trial evaluated HFNY's effects on positive and negative parenting behaviors. The study also investigated whether, consistent with findings from Year 2, HFNY was particularly effective for young, first-time mothers who were randomized during pregnancy (the prevention subgroup) as compared to other mothers (the non-prevention subgroup). Results indicate that across all three tasks, the program promoted the use of positive parenting skills, increasing the extent to which mothers engaged in cognitive stimulation and maternal responsivity. With respect to negative parenting, HFNY mothers in the prevention subgroup were substantially less likely than their counterparts in the control group to use harsh parenting, while no differences were detected for the non-prevention subgroup. Thus, we recommend prioritizing HFNY services for young, first-time mothers who are offered the program during pregnancy and additional research to investigate more effective strategies to reduce negative parenting practices among women belonging to the non-prevention subgroup.