Home Visiting Start-Up: Lessons Learned From Program Replication in New Mexico

Growth in federal, state, and private funding is fueling the initiation of home visiting programs around the country. As communities expand home visiting programs, they need information to help them successfully start up new sites. This paper documents lessons learned about home visiting installation and initial implementation from the replication of the First Born(®) Program in six counties in New Mexico. Specifically, we examine how well sites met staffing, family referral and enrollment, program model fidelity, and financing goals in the first year of providing services. Data come from semi-structured interviews with program staff and document review. The findings are likely to be valuable to a wide spectrum of communities starting or expanding home visiting services, as well as to public and private funders of programs.