James Bell Associates Awarded Key Role in Developing Evaluation Designs for the New National Early Childhood Home Visiting Program

Arlington, VA – James Bell Associates, Inc. (JBA) is a nationally recognized evaluation and research services firm based in the Washington D.C. area. The company will assume a key role in developing evaluation designs and providing evaluation technical assistance for the new, federal Maternal, Infant and Early Childhood Home Visiting Program (HV Program), a provision of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010. The HV Program responds directly to the diverse needs of children and families in communities at risk, and is critical to the national effort to build quality, comprehensive statewide early childhood service systems.

The national HV Program provides an unprecedented opportunity for collaboration and partnership at the federal, state and community levels to improve health and development outcomes for at-risk children through the use of evidence-based home visiting models. Federal funding is intended to assure effective coordination and delivery of services to participating children and families to address critical health, development, early learning, child abuse and neglect prevention and family support needs.

Working for the Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation of the Administration for Children and Families, a component of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and partnering with MDRC and Johns Hopkins University, JBA will contribute to the development of evaluation designs to determine the effectiveness of the HV Program, and how it improves overall health care practices and system quality, eliminates health disparities and improves efficiencies, and reduces health care costs nationwide. JBA will lead the provision of evaluation technical assistance to those states, territories and tribes that implement evidence-based or promising home visiting programs on topics such as developing evaluation plans, data collection systems, and establishing continuous quality improvement systems.

JBA offers a highly qualified team with a proven record for delivering state-of-the-art independent program evaluation, applied research, and technical assistance for both the public and private sectors. Over the last three decades JBA has established a much-respected reputation for excellence and innovation across a broad spectrum of health and human services programs and policy areas.

JBA looks forward to working with its partners and the Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation in facilitating the goals for the HV Program. Additional information is available at www.jbassoc.com.