Nearly 30 home visiting health professionals from across Maryland are now better equipped to address the multidimensional needs of the families they serve as part of the state’s home visiting program. On June 2, the psychology department and Division of Professional Studies held a graduation ceremony for its inaugural cohort of the Maternal, Infant Early Childhood Home Visiting (MIECHV) Training and Certificate Program.
The program is a collaboration among UMBC psychology faculty and staff, the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, and local Maryland Home Visiting Programs across the state and provides enhanced training and curricula to empower home visitors with current knowledge and empirically supported practices to meet the challenges of families they serve.
The group serves pregnant women and families with children from birth to age 5, with a focus on families at risk because the parents are younger than 21, low income, live in at-risk communities, have a history of child abuse or neglect, or have other factors that can put healthy child development in jeopardy.
The UMBC program uses training modules for home visitors and supervisors to address critical problems such as communication and motivation, infant and child care and behavior management, domestic violence, substance use, mental health, parenting, and culture. The ultimate goal of the program is to help home visitors in promoting the health and well-being of children and their families.
“Home visiting is a valuable service to enhance the health and development of young at-risk families,” says Carlo DiClemente, a professor of psychology and Home Visiting Training Center team member. “This academic community partnership extends psychology faculty research and expertise into the community and offers training and support to this impressive group of home visitors and supervisors across Maryland.”
The training program is part of the UMBC Psychology Training, Research, and Services Center (PTRSC). The UMBC program trained a pilot group of nearly 115 health professionals who will also receive certificates. To learn more about the program, visit MIECHV training website.
Image: Psychology Home Visiting Training Center graduates first cohort of home visitors during its Spring 2016 graduation. Photo by Carol Bateman.
Tags: CAHSS, Psychology
