Guide to Effective Programs
for Children and Youth





Home Visiting


Adolescent Community Reinforcement Approach
Program increased care linkage and retention and longer abstinence from marijuana.

Child Health Supervision
Program improved diet and feeding, development, and problem behaviors.

Cognitive Behavioral Family Intervention (CBFI)
Program reduced maternal depression and child disruptive behavior

Comprehensive Child Development Program
Program did not produce positive impacts for participating families.

Creating Lasting Connections
Program showed positive impacts on service utilization by parents and youth as well as on measures of parent knowledge.

Early Head Start
Program with center- and home-based services had positive impacts on parents and children in low-income families.

Early Intervention Program for Adolescent Mothers
Program reduced premature births and infant hospitalization duration through promotion of positive maternal behaviors

Early Risers
Program reduced disruptive behavior among children who have exhibited aggressive behavior through parent education and skills training

Fast Track Prevention Project
Comprehensive, ten-year intervention program had positive impacts on high-risk children’s development.

First Step to Success (FSS)
Program positively impacted young children’s behavior problems. 

Focus on Families
Program reduced drug use and domestic conflict and increased problem-solving for parents, but showed no direct impact on children.

Healthy Families New York (HFNY)
Home-visiting program effective in reducing the amount of child abuse and neglect.

Healthy Steps for Young Children
Program increased likelihood of usage of covers on electrical outlets.

High Scope/Perry Preschool
High-quality preschool/home-visiting program produced numerous positive, long-term impacts.

Home Instruction Program for Preschool Youngsters (HIPPY)
Home-visitation program improved school readiness in children.

Home Visiting to Vulnerable Families by Nurses
Program increased parent and family functioning and parental satisfaction with community health services.

Infant Health and Development Program (IHDP)
Program with home visiting, child care, and parenting meetings produced positive impacts in low birthweight children.

Informed Parents and Children Together (ImPACT)
Program increased demonstration of adolescents' condom-use skills.

Multidimensional Treatment Foster Care (MTFC)
Program reduced rates of incarceration, arrests, and drug use among youth.

Multisystemic Therapy
Program improved family correlates of antisocial behavior and ameliorating adjustment problems.

Nurse-Family Partnership
Home visiting-based program had several positive impacts on poor unmarried mothers and their children.

Parent-Child Assistance Program
Children of mothers in the program were not more likely to have received regular medical care or appropriate immunizations. 

Parent-Child Home Program
Program increased graduation rates and decreased drop-out rates later in life for children.

Parents as Teachers
Home visiting-based parent education program had small but positive impacts on parents and their young children.

Project CARE
Program increased cognitive development among children at risk for delayed development.

Raising Healthy Children
Program increased students' academic performance and commitment to school and decreased antisocial behaviors.

Transactional Model of Early Home Intervention
Program improved child's home environment and cognitive development.

UCLA Family Development Project
Program was effective in increasing the mothers’ responsiveness to their child’s needs as well as increasing children's secure, autonomy, and task involvement.

Woodrock Youth Development Project (WYDP)
Multi-component program positively impacted substance use, race relations, and other outcomes in at-risk children and teens.