Prevention of Childhood Maltreatment in Families With Young Children

Embedding Mental Health Consultation Within Prenatal Home Visiting to Prevent Child Maltreatment and Violence Exposure

This study will examine the efficacy of Enhanced First Connections, which is a short-term perinatal home visiting program that includes infant and early childhood mental health consultation. Mothers with a history of adversity or trauma will be the focus of this research. Hypothesized outcomes of Enhanced First Connections include the prevention of child maltreatment (child abuse and neglect), prevention of child exposure to adult intimate partner violence, increases in family engagement in longer-term evidence based home visiting programs, increases in family engagement in specialized support services to address maternal adversity and trauma, reductions in maternal risk factors, and the promotion of positive parenting and the parent-child relationship.

Inclusion Criteria:

• Pregnant women
• Recruited in the second or third trimester of pregnancy
• At least one self-reported experience of adversity or trauma
• English or Spanish speaking

Exclusion Criteria:

- Does not meet all inclusion criteria above