Who Gets What? Describing the Non‐supervisory Training and Supports Received by Home Visiting Staff Members and its Relationship with Turnover. Issue 3 (17th May 2019)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Chen, Wei‐Bing; Spiker, Donna; Wei, Xin; Gaylor, Erika; Schachner, Abby; Hudson, Laura
• Other Names: Cappella Elise guestEditor.; Godfrey Erin guestEditor.; Chacko Anil guestEditor.; Tebes Jacob guestEditor.
• Is Part Of: American journal of community psychology. Volume 63:Issue 3/4(2019)
• Page Start: 298
• Page End: 311
• Publication Date: 2019-05-17
• Subjects: Home visiting -- Workforce development -- Staff training -- Turnover; Community psychology -- Periodicals; Community mental health services -- Periodicals; Community psychiatry -- Periodicals; Community Mental Health Services -- Periodicals; Community Psychiatry -- Periodicals; 155.905
• DOI: 10.1002/ajcp.12331
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0091-0562

Abstract

Highlights: Technical assistance (TA) received by home visiting staff members differed based on staff members' characteristics. Supervisors received more TA hours and more remote and individual TA compared to home visitors. Home visitors more commonly participated in on‐site trainings for multiple staff members. TA received by staff members also differed by program characteristics including model, size, and maturity. Characteristics of the TA that staff members received did not predict staff members' turnover. Abstract: The early childhood home visiting field lacks a basic understanding of home visiting program staff members' receipt of on‐the‐job training from experts outside of their programs who are not their immediate colleagues or supervisors. To address this gap, we created a unique dataset by asking program leaders to log the external technical assistance (TA) that staff members received, and we collected a survey from 288 of the same staff members. We performed descriptive analyses to learn how many hours of TA staff members were receiving, what topics the TA most commonly addressed, and what formats (e.g., in‐person or virtual/remote, individual, or group) the TA was most commonly provided in. We then associated characteristics of the TA received with staff and program characteristics, as well as with staff members' turnover. Multilevel analyses showed the TA supports that home visiting staff members received differed by role (home visitor or supervisor) and program characteristics, including home visiting model—Nurse Family Partnership (NFP) or Parents as Teachers (PAT)—program size, and maturity. About 23% of the home visiting staff members left their programs over the course of 18 months. PAT staff members were more likely to leave their programs than NFP staff members. We did not find that characteristics of TA received were predictive of staff members' turnover. Implications and the need for further research are discussed.