This study, funded as part of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s Systems for Action research program, evaluates the feasibility of a modified Church-based home visiting program that aims to align health and social services for households with young children and dismantle forms of structural racism faced by these households. The program to be modified and tested is delivered by Shiloh Baptist Church in Trenton New Jersey, a predominantly Black congregation, with the goal of reducing adverse childhood experiences (ACES) and promoting positive childhood experiences within historically marginalized families and communities. The study includes a racial equity needs assessment conducted with church leaders and congregants, the development and testing of training content designed to help families and faith leaders implement evidence-based child development practices, and a quality improvement process conducted with the current home visiting program that introduces new racial equity and child development practices into the existing program. The study also develops evaluation measures for use in a subsequent randomized trial to evaluate the impact of the revised home visiting program. The study is conducted by Tufts Medical Center in collaboration with Shiloh Baptist Church, Capitol County Children’s Collaborative, Prevent Child Abuse New Jersey, and Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital Hamilton.

Principal Investigator:
Allison Stephens, PhD, MEd
Assistant Professor of Medicine, Tufts University School of Medicine
Senior Program Manager, Center for Community-Engaged Medicine, HOPE National Resource Center

Co-Investigators:
Reverend Darrel Armstrong
Member, New Jersey Coalition of Religious Leaders
President, American Professional Society on the Abuse of Children

Laura Gallant, MSW
Research Associate, Center for Community-Engaged Medicine, HOPE National Resource Center

Community Partner:
Robert Sege, MD, PhD
Pediatrician, Tufts Medicine
Director, Center for Community-Engaged Medicine

Project Details

Year: 2023
Funding Amount: $99,916
Status: Active