The Association of Participant Characteristics and Service Delivery with Program Completion Rates for SafeCare in Georgia

Child maltreatment affects millions of children annually, and evidence-based home visiting programs, such as SafeCare®, help increase parenting skills and, ultimately, the well-being of children. Although effective at reducing maltreatment when participants complete services, high attrition rates in home visiting services may reduce this effectiveness. Using a sample of all clients receiving SafeCare services in Georgia (n=93) from October 2013 to February 2015, we evaluated individual characteristics, information seeking behaviors, and programmatic factors in order to understand the relationships, if any, with participant program completion. During this evaluation cycle, SafeCare reports a completion rate of 43%. The race of the primary guardian significantly relates to program completion (p=0.02). This evaluation can assist those implementing SafeCare to anticipate the needs of their target population