Universal Home Visiting: A Recommendation from the U.S. Advisory Board on Child Abuse and Neglect

In 1991, the U.S. Advisory Board on Child Abuse and Neglect recommended that the federal government immediately begin phasing in a national universal home visiting program for children during the neonatal period. The Board believes that such home visiting can be an effective strategy in preventing child abuse and neglect. In this article, Dr. Richard Krugman, chairman of the U.S. Advisory Board at the time, describes the development of this recommendation. As his article illustrates, initiatives for home visiting programs are often the result of a mix of political and social considerations and judgments, as well as knowledge gained from the experience and evaluation of such programs.