Evidence-Based Home Visiting Provisions and Child Maltreatment Report Rates: County-Level Analysis of US National Data From 2016 to 2018

This observational ecological study examined county-level associations between evidence-based home visiting (EHV) provisions and child maltreatment report (CMR) rates, using national county-level data from 2016–2018. We found that longitudinal changes of EHV provisions were significantly negatively associated with county CMR rates while controlling for potential confounders. Our model estimated that after EHV provisions were launched in counties, their CMR rates decreased (or after they were ceased, rates increased) by 2.21 per 1000 children overall, 2.88 per 1000 children aged 0–5, 2.59 per 1000 children aged 6–11, 2.13 per 1000 male children, and 2.24 per 1000 female children. When limiting attention to EHV provisions funded by the Maternal, Infant and Early Childhood Home Visiting (MIECHV) program, we found no significant association perhaps because MIECHV-funded EHV provisions were a small subset of all EHV provisions. These findings propose potential protective impacts of county EHV provisions on overall county CMR rates. Yet, the small effect sizes suggest that EHV provisions should be considered as a part of a complete response to child maltreatment rather than in isolation. Given that EHV is provided to a very small part of the population, nevertheless, our findings suggest that expanding coverage would increase effect sizes.