The Potential of Universal Strategies – Innovative Ways to Reach the Most Vulnerable Children

The University-Based Child and Family Policy Consortium, in collaboration with the Society for Research in Child Development, hosted a webinar on February 15, 2017 on universal home visiting.

While targeted prevention services such as early home visiting for pregnant women and new parents have achieved notable success, such programs continue to experience high dropout rates and an inability to successfully engage those facing the greatest challenges. Beyond these implementation challenges, targeted programs, which require that families be identified as having certain deficits either economic or personal, can be stigmatizing. The very families one hopes to engage in such efforts may refuse participation for fear of being labeled as being inadequate parents. This webinar will discuss the limitations of current prevention efforts and outline ways in which more universal platforms in structuring our practice, policy and research agendas can improve outcomes for all children.

This webinar featured a presentation by Dr. Deborah Daro, Senior Research Fellow at Chapin Hall, and one of the nation's leading experts in the the area of child abuse prevention policy. It was moderated by Dr. Ihemoa Iruka, Director of Research and Evaluation at the University of Nebraska's Buffett Early Childhood Institute.