Specifications include, but are not limited to: HFO is an evidence-based, voluntary, Home Visiting program nationally accredited by HFA. The HFO program contributes to the economic prosperity of Oregon by preventing child abuse and neglect, promoting healthy child development, improving family self-sufficiency and helping parents prepare their children for kindergarten. Services begin early, during pregnancy or shortly after the birth of a baby, and can last up to three years. Parents are voluntarily assessed by an HFO Eligibility Screener to determine eligibility for the program. Families who are at risk, as determined by the NBQ, and who live in the Service Delivery Area are invited to participate in the program. The parents who accept services are connected with a trained Home Visitor. All families, regardless of whether they participate in Home Visit services, are offered referrals to community resources as needed. Families who participate receive weekly Home Visits that decrease in frequency as families increase protective factors and make progress toward providing a safe, healthy, stable environment for their children. During Home Visits, Home Visitors focus on the following types of activities: • Educate parents on how to recognize and respond to their babies’ cues and needs at every developmental stage; • Serve as models of positive parent-child interaction that promotes bonding and healthy brain development; • Educate parents on the importance of immunizations and well-child checks; • Connect parents and children to medical providers; • Screen for maternal depression and child developmental delays; • Teach parents positive discipline techniques, how to cope in healthy ways with the dayto-day stress of parenting, and how to problem solve when crises arise; • Instill confidence and empower parents and caregivers to accept personal responsibility for themselves and their children by setting goals that lead to family self-sufficiency. This process starts by helping families identify their strengths and using those to reach their goals; • Help parents recognize and address potential safety hazards in and around their homes; • Provide information on prevention topics including safe sleep to prevent infant suffocation, water safety to prevent drowning, and ways to cope with crying to prevent shaken baby syndrome; • Connect parents to community resources and a support network of family, friends, neighbors and faith-based organizations; • Increase parents’ creative problem-solving skills by using empowering strategies that increase positive decision-making; and • Use reflective strategies to help parents reflect on their history and how that has influenced their current parenting practices. Strong community partnerships are necessary to provide families with additional services such as child care, mental health counseling, substance abuse treatment, domestic violence intervention, and access to basic needs such as food, housing, and clothing.
