Center for
Native Child
and Family Resilience
Prevention. Intervention. Respect.
Tipis in a field

Partnership for Anishnaabe Binoojiinyensag Tribal Home Visiting Program

Summary
Family Spirit

The Inter-Tribal Council of Michigan combined its culture-based supplemental curriculum with the Family Spirit model to develop Tribal/community-based capacity to support and promote the health and well-being of American Indian children and families as well as to expand the evidence base of home visiting programs in Native communities.

The Inter-Tribal Council of Michigan combined its culture-based supplemental curriculum with the Family Spirit model to develop Tribal/community-based capacity to support and promote the health and well-being of American Indian children and families as well as to expand the evidence base of home visiting programs in Native communities.



"The Family Spirit program also benefits from the addition of a school-readiness component which integrates a culture based supplemental curriculum (developed by ITC of MI) featuring evidence-informed early literacy and numeracy tools and activities for use during visits with families of 3 to 5 year olds, conducting Family Spirit lessons with mothers who begin the program before 28 weeks gestation, use of parent-focused assessments (Protective Factors Survey and PICCOLO) to measure parent-based outcomes in place of Family Spirit Knowledge Assessments, incorporating staff from a variety of professional backgrounds in home visits including paraprofessionals, social workers, nurses and early childhood developmental specialists, and weaving examples of language, teachings, and other relevant cultural content specific to each community into home visits as appropriate."

Retrieved from https://www.acf.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/ecd/intertribal_council_of_…
Contact

Elizabeth Kushman

(906) 440-5660

elizabeth@itcmi.org
Details

The Anishnaabe Binoojiinyensag Tribal Home Visiting Program implements a version of Family Spirit is “the first programme to provide clear evidence of the effectiveness of   paraprofessionals   as home visitors to impact behavioural and mental health disparities” (Johns Hopkins Center for American Indian Health, p. 292). The Johns Hopkins Center for American Indian Health dossier on Family Spirit, retrieved from https://goodpracticessite.files.wordpress.com/2016/03/family-spirit.pdf, indicates that evidence from “three randomized controlled trials has documented the following programme outcomes: increased maternal knowledge;  increased parent self-efficacy; reduced parent stress; improved home safety attitudes; decreased maternal depression; decreased substance use; fewer behaviour problems in mothers; fewer  behaviour  problems  in  children  through age 3 (externalizing, internalizing and dysregulation); and predicts lower risk of substance use and behavioural health problems over the life course” (pp. 291–292).

The dossier includes references to publications related to the randomized control trials, including:

Barlow, A., Mullany, B., Neault, N., Compton, S., Carter, A., Hastings, R., Billy T., Coho-Mescal, V., Lorenzo, S. & Walkup, J. T. (2015). Effect of a paraprofessional home-visiting intervention on American Indian teen mothers’ and infants’ behavioral risks: A randomized controlled trial.

Barlow   A., Mullany B., Neault, N., et al. (2015). Paraprofessional-delivered, home-visiting   intervention for American Indian teen mothers and children:  3-year outcomes from a randomized controlled trial.  American Journal of Psychiatry, 172(2), 154–162. 10.1176/appi.ajp.2014.14030332

Barlow,  A.,  Varipatis-Baker,  E.,  Speakman,  K.,  Ginsburg,  G.,  Friberg,  I.,  Goklish,  N.,  Cowboy, B., Fields, P., Hastings, R., Pan, W., Reid, R., Santosham, M. & Walkup, J. (2006). Home-visiting intervention to improve childcare among American Indian adolescent mothers: A randomized trial. Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, 160(11), 1101-1107.

Mullany, B., Barlow, A., Neault, N., Billy, T., Jones, T., Tortice, I., Lorenzo, S., Powers, J., Lake, K., Reid, R. & Walkup, J. (2012). The Family Spirit trial for American Indian teen mothers and their children:  CBPR rationale, design, methods and baseline characteristics. Prevention Science, 13(5), 504-518. https://www.jhsph.edu/research/affiliated-programs/family-spirit/_docs/proven-results/publications/5_-_Mullany_Barlow_et_al._2012.pdf

 
Tribally adapted
  • Child
  • Family
  • Child disability
  • Lack of access to prenatal support/Lack of social or parental pregnancy support
  • Low birth weight
  • Parental temperament
  • Physical health problems
  • Pregnancy or birth complications
  • Substance abuse
  • Access to health and social services
  • Attachment to parent(s)
  • Family functioning
  • Knowledge of parenting and child development
  • Parental self-esteem
  • Self-efficacy
  • Social and emotional competence
  • Strong parent/Child relationship
  • Access to services
  • Balance
  • Community involvement/participation/contribution
  • Connecting with cultural resources
  • Cultural identity/sense of belonging to cultural group
  • Cultural teachings
  • Ethnic pride/self-esteem
  • Expressing Native identity
  • Family commitment, safe and healthy relationships
  • Healthy lifestyles/activities
  • Increasing coping skills
  • Native language
  • Personal capacities
  • Physical health/fitness
  • Spiritual values/well-being
  • Support (family, friends, community)/interdependence
Resource

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