HFA Goals
HFA goals are to build and sustain community partnerships; systematically engage
overburdened families in home visiting services prenatally or at birth; cultivate and strengthen
nurturing parent-child relationships; promote healthy childhood growth and development; and
enhance family functioning by reducing risk and building protective factors.
Protective Factors
Factor
Definition
Understanding and utilizing effective child
management techniques and having age
appropriate expectations for children’s abilities.
Having adaptive skills and strategies to persevere in
times of crisis. Family’s ability to openly share
positive and negative experiences and mobilize to
accept, solve, and manage problems.
Perceived informal support (from family, friends,
and neighbors) that helps provide for emotional
needs.
Perceived access to tangible goods and services to
help families cope with stress, particularly in times
of crisis or intensified need.
The emotional tie along with a pattern of positive
interaction between the parent and child that
develops over time.
Knowledge of Parenting and Child
Development
Parental Resilience (Family Functioning)
Social Connections/Support
Concrete Support for Parents
Social and Emotional Competence of
Children/Nurturing and Attachment
How to Get Help
Families may obtain services from HFA in a number of ways. Usually, physicians, prenatal clinics or
hospital labor and delivery nurses or social workers provide contact information and/or referral to the
local HFA program. Families may also make a self-referral if they are interested in home visiting.
For more information, contact Patricia McCollum, MS HFA – MIECHV Program Consultant, at
[email protected] or call 816-305-5409.
5