Every Child Succeeds Evaluation and Related Research
Every Child Succeeds (ECS) provides home visitation services to first-time mothers and their children in Southwestern Ohio and Northern Kentucky. Eligible mothers meet at least one of four demographic risk factors:
- unmarried
- low income
- 18 years or younger
- receiving late or no prenatal care.
Mothers are recruited during pregnancy through three months of age, and home visitation is provided over 2 ½ - 3 year period.
Administered through Cincinnati Children's Hosptial Medical Center, services are provided by 15 contracted social service agencies in seven counties. ECS has a current caseload of about 1800 mothers and has provided over 160,000 home visits since its inception in 1999. ECS has an extensive evaluation component. Data are collected throughout the service period covering such areas as child development, maternal substance use, maternal mental health, quality of the child environment, home safety, and parenting attitudes, to name a few. Studies have been conducted on depression and trauma in mothers in home visitation, treatment of maternal depression in home visitation, retention and attrition, and Continuous Quality Improvement in prevention programs.
Additional research initiatives address breastfeeding rates and predictors of breastfeeding success, maternal smoking, infant mortality, and course of depression through the service. Research has been partially supported by the Health Foundation of Greater Cincinnati and Ohio Tobacco Use Prevention and Control Foundation.
For more information, contact at Dr. Ammerman at (513) 636-8209, robert.ammerman@cchmc.org.
