EARLY HEAD START NATIONAL RESOURCE CENTER


Technical Assistance Paper No.2 

Early Head Start Home-Based 

Program Option ...............................................
 

Recruiting, Training, and Retaining 

Qualified Staff 

Prepared by Early Head Start National Resource Center @ ZERO TO THREE 
Technical Assistance Paper No. 2
 

Early Head Start Home-Based Program Option:
 

Recruiting, Training, and Retaining Qualified Staff
 

This document was developed by the staff of the Early Head Start National Resource Center (EHS NRC) @ ZERO TO THREE 

in collaboration with the Head Start Bureau. The contents of this paper are not intended to be an interpretation of policy. 

The information and the Early Head Start program profiles are offered to assist programs in the effort to develop and implement high quality services for pregnant women and families with infants and toddlers. 

Cover photo: Breckinridge-Grayson Programs, Inc. Early Head Start, Leitchfield, KY 

Early Head Start National Resource Center @ 

ZERO TO THREE 

734 15th Street, NW, Suite 1000 

Washington, DC 20005-1013 

Phone: 202-638-1144 

Fax: 202-638-0851 

Web site: www.ehsnrc.org 

The EHS NRC is funded by contract #105-98-2055 

U. S. Department of Health and Human Services 

Administration for Children and Families 

Administration on Children, Youth and Families 

Head Start Bureau 

© 1999 

ISBN #0-943657-43-1 

Printed in the United States of America 

First Printing, December 1999 
Technical Assistance Paper No. 2 1 ...............................................
 

Early Head Start Home-Based Program
 

Option: Recruiting, Training, and 


Retaining Qualified Staff
 ...........................................................................................................


Home visiting is a popular strategy for delivering 

Early Head Start services to expectant parents 

and families with infants and toddlers. Weekly 

home visits are one requirement for grantees choosing the 

Home-based program option. The selection, training, and 

on-going support of staff members hired to work with 

children and their families in their homes requires careful 

consideration of the unique needs of service providers 

doing this challenging job. 

Why is Home Visiting Unique?
 

Home visitors perform some of the most difficult tasks, 

under some of the most complex work conditions. 

The work of the home visitor occurs in the context 

of an interpersonal relationship. Building these family 

relationships takes time and effort. Families under 

stress often feel powerless. Simply getting in the door 

can be a tremendous challenge. This is intensive, 

demanding work. 

Families in poverty experience a kind of pervasive stress 

that makes family members vulnerable to a host of 

other concerns. Home visitors must posses a broad 

range of knowledge and skills to meet a multitude of 

needs. 

Home visitors must be skilled at working with both 

children and adults. Maintaining a delicate balance 

between the adult’s needs and the child’s needs is central 

to working effectively with families. 

• Home visitors must also be able to work one-on-one 

with individual families, as well as facilitate group 

socialization experiences as required in the Head 

Start Program Performance Standards. 

• Home visitors must regularly enter unfamiliar 

environments, consider their own safety on a daily basis, 

and manage the uncertainty of what lies behind the 

closed door each time they visit a home. 

Despite these challenges, home visiting is an effective 

program option because: 

• Service providers are able to reach families who 

otherwise may not seek needed help due to limited 

transportation or other factors which make it impossible 

for families to visit clinics or service centers; • 

• Working families are able to receive services on weekends 

or evenings when traditional offices are normally closed; 

• Home visitors frequently have the opportunity to 

interact with extended family members and more 

effectively support the entire family; and 

• 

• Working in the home environment allows the service 

provider to experience families’ circumstances and learn 

about families’ needs and strengths where they 

naturally occur. 

• Finding the right people to work effectively with 

both children and families requires particular attention 

to these unique aspects of the home visitors role, as well 

as the program supports that are necessary to help them 

............................................
 do their job well. 
2 Early Head Start National Resource Center 

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Upper Des Moines Opportunity Inc. Early Head Start. Spencer, Iowa 

RECRUITING QUALIFIED STAFF 

Home visitors must have knowledge and experience in child 

development and early childhood education; the principles of child 

health, safety, and nutrition; adult learning principles; and family 

dynamics. They must be skilled in communicating with and 

motivating people. In addition, they must have knowledge of 

community resources and the skills to link families with appropriate 

agencies and services. Head Start Performance Standards 

1304.52(e) 

The Performance Standards (1304) and Program 

Option Regulations (1306) provide a framework for Early 

Head Start home visitor qualifications. Within that 

framework, program developers must decide the specific 

educational, professional, and personal experiences that 

are necessary to do the job in the specific community and 

agency where they will work. The types of orientation, 

training, and supervision offered to home visitors that are 

professionally trained (i.e. social workers, nurses, early 

childhood educators) will differ from what is provided to 

home visitors without those qualifications and 

experience. In addition to the requirements set forth in 

the Performance Standards, there are three essential 

components to effective staff recruitment and hiring: 

1.	 Determine the needs and resources of families. This 

is the time to revisit your Community Assessment and 

what was approved in your grant proposal. The 

needs of the infants and families that you serve will 

determine what kind of experience and training is best 

for achieving the outcomes you have specified. 

...........................................................................................................


2.	 Identify the knowledge, skills, and attributes home 

visitors and their supervisory staff must have to 

achieve program goals and meet the Performance 

Standards. Consider what you hope to accomplish with 

your program to select the people who can best do the 

job. For example, if a major program goal is to increase 

the rate of healthy, full-term births in the community, 

you might consider employing nurse home visitors to 

work with expectant parents because of their specific 

knowledge and training in the medical field. If job 

applicants with specific skills or training cannot be found 

in your community, consider how your approach to 

professional development will ensure that you are 

selecting the best applicant for the job. 

3.	 Design creative hiring practices to help identify the best 

“match” between each job and the person you hire. Use 

the interview process to fully explore how the potential 

employee would handle a variety of situations. Think 

creatively about how you can, within confidentiality 

guidelines, watch the candidate “in action”: using role 

plays,critiquing a videotape of a home visit,accompanying staff on an actual home visit, or participating in a 

group socialization experience.Involve a number of your 

staff in the interview process so you can get feedback 

about a candidate from different perspectives. 

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT 

AND TRAINING 

Grantee and delegate agencies must provide an orientation to all new 

staff, consultants, and volunteers that includes, at a minimum, the goals 

and underlying philosophy of Early Head Start and/or Head Start and 

the ways in which they are implemented in the program. Head Start 

Performance Standards 1304.52(k) (1) 

What if your community does not have a cadre of job 

applicants with the training and skills you are seeking? Once 

you have selected the staff with the greatest potential, how 

do you prepare them to do the job? When the “newness” 

of the job has worn off, how do you inspire your staff to 

learn new skills, or refresh the ones that they brought with 

them? How do you build individual and program 

excellence? Staffing issues such as these are directly related 

to your approach to professional development. 

............................................
 
3 

Mid-Iowa Community Action. Ames, Iowa 

The Advisory Committee on Services 

for Families with Infants and 

Toddlers reported “programs are 

only as good as the individuals who 

staff them.” Once you have recruited 

and hired qualified staff, on-going 

professional development activities 

are the key to building individual 

and program competence. 

Preservice Training and Orientation: 

Bringing New Staff On-Board 

How you bring new staff into your program sets the stage 

for how they work and grow within the organization. 

Consider the variety of learning experiences that may be 

offered to a new employee: 

•	 Written materials regarding the organization and its’ 

mission. 

•	 Verbal and written polices and procedures. 

•	 Shadowing experienced staff. 

•	 Role-playing challenging situations. 

•	 Case studies of particular families. 

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Technical Assistance Paper No. 2 

...............................................
 

•	 Video observation of actual home visits or group
 

socialization experiences.
 

•	 Mentorship or “buddy systems.” 

•	 Interdisciplinary or group staffing meetings. 

•	 Individual reflective or supportive supervision, which
 

involves a collaborative relationship between supervisor
 

and staff member that provides regular opportunities
 

to reflect on the work of providing high quality
 

services to expectant parents and families with infants
 

and toddlers.
 

Orientation to a new job is like being immersed in a
 

different culture. Even when the employee comes to the
 

job with a wealth of experience, there are new ways of doing
 

the job in a new setting. Each organization has its own
 

unique way of operating, from what is acceptable to wear,
 

to how, what, and with whom you can communicate.
 

Providing the necessary physical, psychological, and
 

informational supports during this critical period is
 

essential to successful staff recruitment and retention.
 

On-Going Professional Development 

Professional development is a life-long, dynamic, and
 

evolving process. Professional development activities
 

should build on each other and repeat central themes and
 

beliefs of the Performance Standards and your EHS
 

program over time and in a variety of ways. An array of
 

training strategies is necessary to meet the varied needs
 

of individual staff. Each employee will bring different
 

experiences and skills to the job and will require different
 

approaches for building and refining their skills.
 

Making the Connection Between
 

Training and Providing Effective Services
 

The goal of all professional development and training
 

activities is to provide more effective services to infants
 

and their families. How do you evaluate the impact of your
 

professional development activities on what you do with
 

children and families? Both formal and informal methods
 

-for example, parent surveys or child development
 

checklists - provide useful information. Evaluation is a
 

integral part of training and professional development and
 

must be planned for when you create your individual and
 

program training plans.
 
4 Early Head Start National Resource Center 

...............................................
 

Establishing Links to Formal Education 

Grantee and delegate agencies must establish and implement a 

structured approach to staff training and development, attaching 

academic credit whenever possible. This system should be designed to 

help build relationships among staff and to assist staff in acquiring or 

increasing the knowledge and skills needed to fulfill their job 

responsibilities. Head Start Performance Standards 1304.52(k) (2) 

Providing formal educational opportunities, including 

college credit, provides a structure and a potential career 

ladder to allow staff to achieve specific goals. The 

Performance Standards state that whenever possible, 

academic credit should be attached to educational 

opportunities for staff training and development. 

Academic credentials, such as the Child Development 

Associate (CDA), help assure that staff achieve entry level 

training and experience, however this should not be the 

final goal. As stated above, professional development is a 

life-long learning process. 

STAFF RETENTION 

Keeping qualified staff is a continual challenge. While ongoing professional development allows for both personal 

and professional growth, it is often the tangible rewards 

that make a difference. Do staff have opportunities to 

advance within the organization? How is increased 

compensation tied to job performance, additional 

training, and education? Are the achievements of staff 

recognized? 

One of the biggest obstacles to retaining well-qualified 

home visiting staff is the level of burn-out that is prevalent 

in this work. Thus, it is paramount that program 

administrators support and allocate funds to address the 

issue of stress management and mental health. 

There are specific steps program directors can take to 

address the needs of the home visiting staff: 

......................................................................................................... ..
 ............................................
 

Heartland Programs. Salina, Kansas 

Nurturing the Nurturer: Ten Strategies that supervisors and administrators have found useful in 

nurturing home visitors, so that they can nurture 

families, so that they can nurture children. 

1. Regular, formal reflective supervision. 

Home visitors need a safe time and place in which they 

can candidly discuss the families with whom they are 

working from both objective and subjective points of 

view. They also need to receive nonjudgementnal and 

supportive feedback about their work. 

2. Supervision in the field. 

Home visitors feel validated when their supervisors visit 

homes with them, with the goal of understanding home 

visitors’ experiences with their families, not monitoring 

their performance. 

3. Informal peer support. 

Home visitors should have as many opportunities as 

possible to come together with their colleagues to 

discuss the challenges of home-based intervention and 

share strategies for meeting the needs of their families 

and of themselves. 

(Continued on page 5.) 
Technical Assistance Paper No. 2 5 ...............................................
 

(Continued from page 4.) 

4. On-going didactic and experiential training. 

Having regular opportunities to think intellectually about 

home visiting and to learn new information about families 

and techniques for working with them helps home visitors 

to become and feel more competent. 

5. Interdisciplinary case conferences. 

Because psychologically vulnerable families are often very 

complex, it is important to have scheduled, structured 

discussion of specific families that allows all the various 

professionals involved with the family to share their 

perspectives and expertise. 

6. Accessible mental health consultation. 

The psychological challenges that families often face 

require that home visitors have access to a mental health 

professional who can help them make family assessments, 

inform them of the needs of individuals with specific mental 

health diagnoses, advise them on intervention strategies, 

make treatment recommendations, and perhaps provide 

short-term treatment. 

7. Standard protocols for family crises and high-risk 

situations. 

Home visitors are much more effectively prepared for the 

challenging situations that confront them in the field if they 

are provided with explicit information on handling 

emergencies and crises (for example, when a child becomes 

ill during a home visit, when a family has no food or place 

to live, when the home visitor is exposed to inter-adult 

violence in the home, when the home visitor suspects or 

witnesses child maltreatment, etc.). 

8. A focus on safety. 

Contemporary home visitors, particularly those working in 

urban areas, often must work in unsafe communities. Their 

safety should be a primary consideration of their supervisors. 

The following five strategies contribute to the home visitors’ 

safety and also enhance home visitors perception of security 

and trust in the agency for which they work: 

Teaming: Home visitors can go out together, particularly 

in the most dangerous neighborhoods. Supervisors can 

routinely accompany home visitors to the most


dangerous homes or neighborhoods. 

Police training: A local police department may be able 

to provide self-defense and crime-prevention training. 

They can also inform home visitors of where the most 

dangerous neighborhoods are located, and what time 

of day it is safest to travel there. A relationship with the 

police department may also provide greater protection 

for the home visitors if the police are aware of their 

presence in the community. 

• Communication technology: Cellular telephones and 

beepers provide an important connection between the 

home visitor and the agency, as well as a way to get 

immediate help in a crises. Allocating funds for this 

resource is more of a necessity than a luxury. 

• Crisis protocols: Each home visitor should be instructed 

on what to do in a crisis situation, and should have the 

opportunity to practice these protocols in a “role play” 

to ensure they are well-prepared should an emergency 

arise. A supervisor or administrator should be “on-call” 

whenever a home visitor is in the field to immediately 

respond to a home visitor in a crisis situation. 

• Participant involvement in home visitor safety: Families 

participating in the home visiting program should be 

encouraged to help plan for the home visitors safety. 

Family members often know of potential safety hazards 

in the neighborhood (i.e. crack houses, gang activity, 

etc.) and can inform home visitors of the safest way to 

travel through the neighborhood. 

9. Celebrations. 

The work of home visitors should be constantly celebrated, 

through self-recognition programs, regular informal and 

formal meetings of staff in which efforts are recognized, 

impromptu meals that provide sustenance to both body 

and spirit, and praise from supervisors. 

10. Mental health time-outs. 

• 

Supervisors should be attuned to home visitors and 

recognize when they feel burned out or have had an 

experience that has been particularly exhausting, physically 

or mentally. In these circumstances, supervisors should help 

home visitors stop and take a “time out” (or a day off) from 

the difficult work of home visiting. 

• 

Harden, B. J., 1998, Zero To Three, Vol.17(4), pp.14,16.
 

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6 Early Head Start National Resource Center 

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IN SUMMARY.... 

Recruiting, training, and retaining qualified home visitors 

requires a comprehensive approach to professional 

development, including: 

•	 Knowledge of the unique aspects of the home visitors 

role; 

•	 Clearly articulated needs and resources of the families 

you are serving, and the staff qualifications to meet 

those needs; 

•	 Hiring practices to identify the best match for the job; 

•	 Professional development experiences that build on each 

other, use a variety of adult learning strategies, honor 

individual needs, and provide links to formal education; 

•	 Evaluation mechanisms to ensure that your training 

and professional development experiences are having 

the desired impact on the work you do with children 

and families; and 

• Resources to maintain staff commitment and avoid 

turnover, such as adequate compensation, career 

advancement, and mental health needs. 

...........................................................................................................


Murray Early Head Start, Murray, KY 

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Technical Assistance Paper No. 2 7 ...............................................
 


...

Early Head Start 
 

Program P............

rofiles
 


....... .....................................................................................


The program profiles which follow provide a 

snapshot of home visiting in action in three EHS 

programs that offer services through home 

visiting. Each program has outlined their particular 

approach to staff recruitment, training, and retention. All 

EHS programs are empowered to develop services to meet 

the needs of their own communities, thus each program 

model will be unique. 

Hamilton Center, Inc.
 


Terre Haute, Indiana
 


Hamilton Center Early Head Start provides home-based 

services to 60 families throughout Vigo County, Indiana. This 

mostly rural community is largely Caucasian, with a

smaller African American and Asian population. The EHS 

program prioritizes families with the youngest moms, the 

youngest children, and the lowest income. 

Needs and resources of participating families: Initially 

upon receiving the EHS grant award, we utilized the 

Community Assessments, gathered information from other 

programs in the community serving low-income families, 

and spoke with families about their needs. Now in our 

fourth year of operation, the participating families 

continually teach us about their resources and needs. 

Community partners continue to be a source of pertinent 

information. 

............................................
 


The needs of families in our community include: formal 

education (GED, college), jobs with adequate salaries, 

medical care for adults, social support systems, 

transportation, safe neighborhoods, mental health 

services, and help with domestic violence issues. The 

resources of these families include: the knowledge of how 

to survive on a limited income, how to utilize community 

services, the desire to make positive changes in their lives, 

a love of their children, the willingness to share with others, 

and a network to get things done in the face of seemingly 

insurmountable obstacles. 

Staff qualifications: We employ six EHS Educators to 

provide home visiting services. All Educators have 

Bachelor’s Degrees in Child Development and Family Life 

or Early Childhood Education. Prior experience of these 

staff members include community early intervention 

programs and child care settings. 

Staff hiring practices: The interview process consists of 

a panel interview. Candidates are questioned regarding 

their education, experience, interpersonal skills, attitudes/ 

values, adaptability, maturity, and professional goals and 

objectives. Staff members ideally have a solid knowledge 

base of infants, toddlers, and families, but recognize that 

they have much to learn. Staff should have a passion for 

working with families and children, but will let families 

make their own choices. It is also important that staff 

members work well as a team, but are also able to work 

effectively on their own. Finally, we want staff who 

recognize that there is more than one answer to a question 

and no one individual has to have all the answers. 
8 Early Head Start National Resource Center 

...............................................
 

During the interview process we encourage the 

candidate to talk and share with us how they would handle 

certain situations, why they want to work with young 

children and their families, what they see as their strengths 

and weaknesses, what makes them feel successful, and what 

they want to get out of their employment. 

Approach to training: The orientation process for new 

employees is tailored to meet the individual needs of the 

staff member. All employees attend an agency orientation 

meeting, and we use a checklist to ensure each employee 

has received information on key topics. Other orientation 

activities include: watching videos, shadowing veteran 

home visitors, one-to-one instruction with a supervisor, 

and selected readings. 

On-going training is provided to all staff. We offer 

monthly inservice training, quarterly agency-wide training, 

weekly staff presentations, access to professional literature, 

and the opportunity to attend conferences and workshops. 

Staff retention: In order to retain our qualified staff we 

offer competitive salaries and benefits, recognize the 

accomplishments of staff, encourage staff to share their 

knowledge, do fun activities, and have an enjoyable and 

supportive work environment. We are developing a 

career ladder within the home visiting services. We also 

encourage our staff to be involved in teams that are 

working on agency-wide activities to keep them 

connected to the work of the agency as a whole. Staff are 

involved in making decisions about how the supply 

budget is spent, and select items that they will use in their 

work. We have also invested in technology to support staff 

in their work. 

All supervisors have been trained in reflective 

supervision and all staff have a scheduled time to speak 

with their supervisor about their work with children and 

families. We also offer Mental Health Consultation on a 

monthly basis. We contract with a mental health therapist 

who is available to meet with staff regularly to talk 

confidentially about strategies for working with particular 

families, the staff members personal reactions to their work, 

and goal-setting for themselves and for the families they 

work with. 

Contact: Anita Lascelles, Director 812-231-8336 

...........................................................................................................


Florida State University (FSU) 


Early Head Start
 

Tallahassee, Florida
 

The Florida State University EHS serves 40 families in the
 

home-based option and 20 children in the center-based
 

option. The families in this rural community are
 

predominately African American. FSU EHS recruits
 

expectant women at 25 weeks or less of pregnancy, first-time
 

parents, and new parents with infants less than one year of
 

age for enrollment in home-based services. The mothers range
 

in age from 17 to 28 years.
 

Needs and resources of participating families: The general
 

needs of the families in our community were identified
 

through a community assessment process conducted with
 

the Healthy Start Coalitions and Pre-K Councils in the
 

participating counties. Individual family needs are
 

identified through the Survey of Family Concerns, developed
 

by our project. The survey is completed during the
 

application process with all families to determine whether
 

the family would benefit from EHS. The survey process also
 

helps families understand that enrollment in EHS requires
 

their participation in weekly home visits of one and a half
 

hours, and twice monthly group socializations.
 

The survey identified: prenatal education and care,
 

maternal health and self-esteem, family building and
 

support, nutrition education, infant health and
 

development, parenting education and skill-building as part
 

of what families need and want from the program. The
 

resources of participating families include: support from
 

relatives and friends; and collaborative partners in the
 

community, including Florida Healthy Start, Healthy
 

Families America,local Head Start programs,and Even Start.
 

Staff qualifications: Minimum staff qualifications for
 

FSU EHS home visitors include a high school diploma and
 

two years of experience in working with expectant women,
 

or families with infants and toddlers. We currently employ
 

four EHS home visitors: one is a licensed practical nurse,
 

one is a certified home health aide, and one is a parent who
 

received home visiting serves through he federal Healthy
 

Start program and then trained as a Healthy Start home 


............................................
 
9 

visitor. One home visitor has her infant and toddler CDA, 

while the others are working toward their CDA credentials. 

We believe that the personal characteristics of home 

visitors, such as a warm, outgoing personality, good 

listening skills, and sensitivity to cues, are the most 

important ingredients to effective home visiting. In our 

experience, well-trained paraprofessionals are able to 

relate well to the participating families, thus we hire home 

visitors from the communities which we serve. 

Regardless of professional training and personal experience,we strongly believe that the key to home visitor effectiveness is strong, reflective supervision and ongoing training. 

Staff hiring practices: All job applicants are screened 

by phone before being granted an interview. A team 

consisting of the Director, Home-based Supervisor, a 

program area specialist and Policy Council representative 

conduct interviews using a protocol consisting of probing 

questions and role playing. Role playing consists of 

“acting out” typical scenarios which might occur during 

home visits. All responses are recorded and scored using 

a rating scale. Final recommendations on hiring are 

made by the Director, in consultation with the Home-based 

Supervisor, and are approved by the Policy Council. All 

staff are hired for a 6 month probationary period and 

receive intensive supervision and support during the 

probationary period, including mentoring/modeling, 

videotaped role playing, and weekly observations of 

home visits by the Home-based Supervisor. 

Approach to training: Our EHS program began with two 

weeks of intensive preservice training and on-going inservice 

training held monthly.Based on our previous experience with 

the federal Healthy Start program, we learned that merely 

covering core content in training does not ensure competency 

on home visits. Most home visitors need practice and 

guided opportunities to practice skills before they feel 

comfortable using those skills with families. Adequate time 

must be given for home visitors to master how to balance 

family issues with specific content to be covered in the home 

visit. Thus, the EHS Home-based Supervisor follows up on 

training by scheduling immediate home visit observations 

with each staff member to observe how they apply the new 

knowledge with their families and provide further guidance ............................................


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Technical Assistance Paper No. 2 

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as necessary. Such focused supervisor observation not only 

provides assistance to the home visitor, but also provides 

important feedback to the project director about the 

effectiveness of training and curricula design. Regular 

inservice training also provides opportunities for home visitors 

to critique themselves via videotape and offers time for 

additional practice in specific topic areas. 

Every two weeks, home visitors have an opportunity to 

meet as a group to discuss strategies for dealing with 

common challenges, explore new topics, and stay abreast of 

new activities in the EHS program. Our EHS home visitors 

often participate in pilot training projects of the FSU 

Center for Prevention and Early Intervention’s national home 

visiting training institute. These training sessions are used 

to refine home visiting content, determine appropriate 

context for use of specific curriculum topics, outline realistic 

scenarios, and focus on supervisory issues. 

We are partners in the Florida A&M University EHS/HS 

Training Partnership. This collaborative initiative provides 

EHS caregivers and home visitors with college credit 

courses leading to a Bachelor’s degree in Early Childhood 

Education. The grant funds tuition and books, while FSU 

EHS provides classroom space and Quality Improvement 

Funds for fees associated with the college application and 

entrance exams. In addition, all FSU EHS employees are 

eligible to take up to 6 hours of tuition-free university course 

work per school term, providing the courses are directly 

related to their current job responsibilities. 

Staff retention: FSU EHS home visitors are university 

employees with full benefits, including state retirement, 

life, and health insurance. Salaries are based on the 

university pay scale. Staff are encouraged to obtain higher 

degrees, and are rewarded with an increase in salary. 

Supervision of home visitors who are spread over 

several counties and office locations can be a challenge for 

even the most experienced managers. Therefore, 

supervisors are responsible for no more than 4 to 6 home 

visitors, based on their office and work locations. 

We have found the supervision of paraprofessional home 

visitors requires increased support, with weekly individual 

conferences which include time for discussion of caseloads, 

strategies for working with individual families, review of 
10 Early Head Start National Resource Center 

...............................................
 

weekly written reports, and mentorship. It is also important 

for the supervisor to be familiar with each family. Our 

Home-based Supervisor co-visits each newly referred 

family within the first month to explain her role as 

supervisor. On-going, periodic co-visitation facilitates the 

Supervisor’s monitoring and assessment of services, 

understand families strengths and needs, and helps her to 

effectively manage any crisis situations which may arise. 

Home visiting, especially in rural areas, can be a lonely 

job. The stress of working with family facing complex 

problems can sometimes dampen enthusiasm and ability 

to cope. We have found that it is important for the 

supervisor to have daily contact, even if only by phone, 

and at least weekly individual conferences, usually at the 

home visitors office. Performance and morale are also 

boosted by offering regular opportunities for home 

visitors to meet together and share experiences, celebrate 

successes, brainstorm ideas, solve problems, and laugh and 

cry together. Additionally, a Mental Health Consultant 

periodically conducts staff sessions on relaxation 

techniques and stress reduction strategies. All staff are 

encouraged to access counseling services as needed. 

Contact: Rebecca Pruett, Director 850-922-1330 

First Steps Early Head Start 

Canon City, Colorado 

First Steps Early Head Start provides home-based services 

to 75 children in a rural, mountain community. The 

participating families are primarily Anglo, with a smaller 

percentage of African American, Asian, and Native 

American families. 

Needs and resources of participating families: The 

strongest needs of our families include: jobs that pay an 

adequate salary, drug and alcohol abuse treatment, and 

issues of domestic violence. The resources in the 

community include the strong collaborative relationships 

among service agencies, and the inner resourcefulness the 

families have in order to cope with life in an economically 

depressed location. 

...........................................................................................................


Staff qualifications: The minimum educational
 

requirement is a GED; however we have employed staff
 

with advanced training at the Master’s level. Staff are
 

selected primarily for their ability to establish rapport with
 

families and to follow a strengths-based approach to their
 

work with children and families. Personal experience is
 

also valued, for example, we have home visitors who have
 

raised twins, had a child with special needs, or delivered
 

a baby prematurely.
 

Staff hiring practices: We attempt to recruit staff from
 

qualified participating families. Potential candidates are
 

interviewed by two staff members and one parent. The
 

skills that we are looking for include the ability to
 

establish rapport, and a family-strengths based approach
 

to their work. We value staff who have relevant personal 


experience, such as a child with a disability. The interview
 

consists of probing questions, responding to specific
 

scenarios, and gaining an understanding of the candidates
 

philosophy of raising children.
 

Approach to training: All staff receive an orientation to
 

the center prior to going on any home visits. This
 

includes familiarization with community collaborations
 

and funding sources. Next, staff attend a week-long
 

Parents as Teachers training. This training provides
 

information regarding the principles of home visiting,
 

recognizing family strengths, skill building, child
 

development, screening, working with high needs
 

families, and includes observation of a home visit.
 

Following the PAT training, the home visitor is assigned
 

to a “buddy” in the EHS program. New staff accompany
 

their more experienced colleague on several home visits.
 

New staff are also assigned a Mentor who provides reflective
 

supervision. The Mentor meets individually with the
 

home visitor twice a month for one hour during the first
 

two months, and then monthly for on-going support.
 

Seasoned home visitors, who have been on the job for
 

at least a year, can become a “buddy” for new staff. These
 

experienced staff must be knowledgeable about available
 

resources, skilled in crisis management, and effectively
 

maintain professional boundaries while establishing
 

supportive relationships with families.
 

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11 

All home visitors meet together twice a month for one 

and a half hours to discuss their work, share resources, and 

support one another. Each month, one half day is set aside 

for inservice training. This inservice may range from 

training from the WestEd Program for Infant Toddler 

Caregivers, to a guest speaker on a topic of interest. Each 

year we provide a week-long training retreat during 

which staff do not serve families. 

A local community college offers classes in Early 

Childhood Education during evening hours which 

enables staff to earn credits toward an AA degree. 

Staff retention: We have found the best way to retain 

qualified staff is to make sure that they have wonderful 

training opportunities and professional growth 

experiences. We encourage staff to make presentations and 

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Technical Assistance Paper No. 2 

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become trainers. Flexibility is important both for our staff 

and our families; work hours can be arranged to allow staff 

to meet their own family obligations as long as work duties 

are fulfilled. We also honor staff for their expertise and try 

to utilize their unique talents and skills to the fullest. 

The mentoring strategies mentioned above, including 

reflective supervision, are used to address the mental health 

needs of staff. Every six months the mentor accompanies 

the home visitor to observe: ability to establish rapport, 

observations of child development, parent/child activity, 

and discussion. The mentor records the home visit wordfor-word to help home visitors assess their skills and areas 

for improvement. 

Contact: Katherine Bair, Home Visitation 

Coordinator 719-269-1523 
12 Early Head Start National Resource Center 

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Selected Resources
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Almonte, B. E. (1994). Professionalism as culture

change: Issues for infant/family community workers 

and their supervisors. Zero to Three, 15 (2), 18-23. 

Eggbeer, L. & Fenichel, E.(Eds.) (1995). Educating and 

Supporting the Infant/Family Work Force: Models,

Methods, and Materials. Washington, DC: ZERO TO 

THREE.
 

Fenichel, E. (1992). Learning through supervision and 

mentorship to support the development of infants, 

toddlers, and their families: A sourcebook. Washington, 

DC: ZERO TO THREE.
 

Fenichel, E., and Eggbeer, L. (1990). Preparing 

practitioners to work with infants, toddlers, and their 

families: Issues and recommendations for educators and 

trainers. Washington, DC: ZERO TO THREE. 

Gomby, D., & Cuiress, P. (Eds.) (1999). Home visiting: 

Recent program evaluations. The Future of Children, 

9(1).
 

Harden, B. J. (1997). You cannot do it alone: Home 

visitation with psychologically vulnerable families and 

children. Zero to Three, 17 (4), pp. 10-16. 

McGuckin, R. & McClellan, P. Model Personnel Policy 

Manual for Child Care Agencies. Luberville, PA: 

Support Services for Child Care Professionals. 

National Resource Center for Family Centered 

Practice. (1996). Family based job descriptions. 

Washington, DC: Department of Health and Human 

Services. 

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• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

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Powers, S., & Fenichel, E. (1999). Home visiting: 

Reaching babies and families “where they live.” 

Washington, DC: ZERO TO THREE. 

U. S. Department of Health and Human Services. 

(1997). Home-Based Program Option. Washington, 

DC: Head Start Bureau 

U. S. Department of Health and Human Services. 

(1997). Head Start Home-Based Handbook. 

Washington, DC: Head Start Bureau. 

U. S. Department of Health and Human Services. 

(1997). Home-Based Supervisor’s Guide. Washington, 

DC: Head Start Bureau. 

U. S. Department of Health and Human Services. 

(1997). Fun and Learning for Parents and Children: An 

Activities Handbook. Washington, DC: Head Start 

Bureau. 

Head Start Bureau. (1997). Head Start at Home: A 

Partnership with Parents [2 Videos]. Available from 

Head Start Publications Management Center, fax: 

(703) 683-5769.
 

U. S. Department of Health and Human Services. 

(1997). User’s Guide for A Partnership with Parents. 

Washington, DC: Head Start Bureau. 

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Early Head Start National Resource Center @ ZERO TO THREE