Creation of an Interdisciplinary Family Focused Home Visitation Program (The Clinic at Kid's Place)

The creation of an interdisciplinary family focused home visitation program using paraprofessionals and a volunteer, part time professional staff demonstrates how grass roots approaches can make use of scarce resources. The specific home visitation program that the interdisciplinary program is built upon is designed to enhance early mental health and address potential physical or mental health problems in children aged 1-3. The program began with paraprofessionals making home visits to provide a standard early childhood developmental education program. Many of the parents had concerns about their children's growth, health and development that the paraprofessionals did not have the expertise to address. With the help of volunteers in family therapy, speech and language development and maternal child nursing from a variety of local universities, a team was created to support the paraprofessionals. Each professional collaborated with the paraprofessional to visit the child and family to conduct an assessment during the same week. When all evaluations were complete, the team met and reviewed all input and created a therapeutic plan for addressing the deficits identified. The paraprofessionals were present at all team meetings and most of the evaluations, and interfaced with the families. At the conclusion of the planning meeting, the paraprofessionals implemented the plan with the families and monitored outcomes in the children. This model of an interdisciplinary team to support paraprofessionals in conducting home visiting interventions has shown its worth and is providing an important service to an underserved population while using resources efficiently.