This program is delivered to Native American mothers and is intended to impact mothers and their young children.

Family Spirit®, a culturally specific, community-based, home-visitation program, is designed to enhance parenting and life skills, decrease maternal drug use, and foster child health and well-being.

Two internal randomized controlled trials of pregnant Native American teens and young women found that, at 12-months postpartum, mothers who participated in Family Spirit had significantly greater parenting knowledge, parenting self-efficacy with less separation distress, and home-safety attitudes and fewer externalizing behavior problems compared to the control group. At a 3-year follow-up, mothers in the intervention group had significantly greater parenting knowledge and parental locus of control, fewer depressive symptoms and externalizing problems, and lower past-month use of marijuana and illegal drugs compared to mothers in the control group. Children in the intervention group had fewer externalizing, internalizing, and dysregulation problems compared to children in the control group.

Through home visits, paraprofessionals impart lessons to expectant or young mothers. The lessons discuss six modules that focus on the following:

• Prenatal Care – Understand what to expect during pregnancy, prepare for the arrival of your baby, and learn how to care for yourself and your unborn child;
• Infant Care – Learn basic infant care skills, understand how to respond to your baby’s needs and wants, and adapt your family life to be able to care for your infant;
• Your Growing Child - Address child development concerns from age 7 months to 3 years, including preparation for pre-school;
• Toddler Care – Become confident in your parenting skills and help your child build healthy habits that could last a lifetime;
• My Family and Me - Develop positive life skills that will benefit your family, friends, and those closest to you; and
• Healthy Living - Understand and address possible difficult life situations and discuss goal-setting, substance abuse prevention, family planning, and prevention of sexually transmitted infections.

Since 2006, this program has been implemented in dozens of Native American communities.

Paraprofessionals implement this program, and they must complete the training outlined for organizations below. Organizations that are interested in becoming Family Spirit affiliates must complete a pre-training consultation, multi-day training, and a post-training check-in and site visit. In addition, the Implementation Guide, which is included in the program curriculum, is designed to help the paraprofessionals deliver the program during the home visits. For more information on training and the costs associated with becoming a Family Spirit affiliate, please contact the program developers listed in the Contact section below.

Considerations for implementing this program include understanding there are costs associated with obtaining and maintaining certification; hiring paraprofessionals to serve as home visitors and ensuring they receive training; and acquiring buy-in from the local community, community leaders, and participants.

The Clearinghouse can help address these considerations. Please call 1-877-382-9185 or email Clearinghouse@psu.edu

If you are interested in implementing Family Spirit, the Clearinghouse is interested in helping you!
Please call 1-877-382-9185 or email Clearinghouse@psu.edu

The program curriculum is comprised of 63 lessons that are delivered between pregnancy and the child’s third birthday. Home visits last approximately 1 hour each.

There is a one-time initial affiliation fee and an annual renewal fee. Please use details in the Contact section to learn more about implementation costs.

To move Family Spirit to the Effective category on the Clearinghouse Continuum of Evidence at least one external evaluation must be conducted that demonstrates sustained, positive outcomes. This study must be conducted independently of the program developer.

The Clearinghouse can help you develop an evaluation plan to ensure the program components are meeting your goals.  Please call 1-877-382-9185 or email Clearinghouse@psu.edu

Contact the Clearinghouse with any questions regarding this program.
Phone: 1-877-382-9185 Email: Clearinghouse@psu.edu

You may also contact the Johns Hopkins Center for American Indian Health by mail Attn: Family Spirit, P.O. Box 1140, Chinle, AZ 86503, phone 1-928-674-7335 or 1-928-674-5051, email familyspirit@jhu.edu, or visit https://www.jhsph.edu/research/affiliated-programs/family-spirit/contact-us/

https://www.jhsph.edu/research/affiliated-programs/family-spirit/about/