Page 32 - BTC Yearbook 2016

The Connecticut Office of Early Childhood is pleased to be a Touchpoint affiliate site. For the
past three years we have provided Touchpoints training to home visitors and clinical supervisors
in our state-funded Nurturing Families Network (NFN) Parents as Teachers program. We
recently expanded Touchpoints Training to our federally-funded NFN programs and are
expanding the training to other Maternal Infant Early Child Home Visiting (MIECHV) programs
in our state.

The Nurturing Families Network home visiting program is a statewide system of continuous care
designed to promote positive parenting and reduce incidences of abuse and neglect. The program
focuses on high-risk, first-time mothers. This free and voluntary home visiting program initiates
services at or before the child’s birth, and continue through five years of age. Home visiting
services for fathers, incorporated in 2009, also provide direct, individual parenting education,
and encourage father engagement.

NFN families are dealing with multiple and significant stressors in their lives, such as financial
strains, relationship issues, poor mental health, substance abuse, and domestic violence. As
outlined in the 2014 NFN Annual Report, (84%) of mothers in the program are single, or never
married when they enter the program. Thirty-eight percent of NFN mothers experienced severe
maltreatment as children. Further, 33% of mothers are teenage mothers, 73% experience
financial difficulties, 22% are socially isolated, and 17% of mothers have an arrest history.

Through weekly home visitation and case management services, home visitors support families
in prenatal guidance, baby care, safety, developmental milestones and community resources.

Our Touchpoints training team consists of our program director, Linda Harris and four program
liaisons Ashley Murphy, Jennifer Wilder, Luz Rivera and Catherine Lenihan.

Quotes from some training participants:

• Touchpoints gives me a new way to assist and support my home visitors in being
reflective and purposeful during home visits. (clinical supervisor)
• Touchpoints gave me a more effective way to communicate with parents about their
child’s development (home visitor)
• I will embrace Touchpoints and will help parents plan for the next Touchpoint using a
collaborative approach. (home visitor)
• I plan to integrate this into my work. I will be more observant of both the parents and
children. (home visitor)