The Mother and Infant Home Visiting Program Evaluation (MIHOPE)-Strong Start

A companion study to MIHOPE, MIHOPE-Strong Start evaluates the effectiveness of evidence-based home visiting for improving birth outcomes. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services sponsors the evaluation, and it is part of the Centers’ for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ Strong Start for Mothers and Newborns initiative, which evaluates prenatal interventions that could provide better care, improved health, and reduced medical costs by improving birth outcomes.

MIHOPE-Strong Start used a random assignment research design to gather data from 2,908 expectant mothers enrolled in Medicaid, in 67 sites across 17 states, to estimate the effects of home visiting on prenatal health care use, birth outcomes, infant health, maternal health, and infant health care use. Mathematica assisted with the recruitment of states and sites, helped design and conduct a telephone survey with women when they enrolled in the study, and collected vital records and Medicaid records data from states. Mathematica is also analyzing vital records and Medicaid records data and helping to report and disseminate the findings. The contract to conduct the evaluation went to MDRC, with subcontracts going to James Bell Associates, Johns Hopkins University, Mathematica, New York University, and the University of Georgia. 

See the following reports for further details:

• https://www.acf.hhs.gov/opre/resource/effects-home-visiting-prenatal-health-birth-outcomes-health-care-first-year-final-implementation-impact-findings-strong-start
• https://www.acf.hhs.gov/opre/resource/a-summary-of-results-from-the-mihope-and-mihope-strong-start-studies-of-evidence-based-home-visiting