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ages” of all U.S. states (Bulkeley, 2005, p. 1). Each of the two universities “attracts many
young couples at the peak of their child-bearing years” (Davidson, 2010, p. 1). All of
these factors combine to create a unique situation of many young parents with young
children living throughout the County.
This reality is contrasted with a very limited availability of public health and
other services for families with young children; most publicly funded services are
reserved for the minority of parents and children who have specific risks and
vulnerabilities. Around 1990, the Utah County Health Department began working
toward extending their targeted home visiting service to all families in the county. In an
attempt to obtain resources to offer home visiting to all first-time parents, Utah County
representatives lobbied, made funding applications, and worked in collaboration with
agencies across the state. Initially the goal was to staff these services with paid home
visitors, but funding from the state government was not forthcoming. Once United Way
of Utah County became involved, the idea of volunteer visitors was raised, and in 1999,
United Way agreed to sponsor a county-wide volunteer-based home visiting program.
This was a crucial development: lobbying efforts in other parts of Utah were not fruitful,
and to this day, no other county has been able to extend their home visiting services to
the general population of “lower-risk” parents of infants.
Developing a curriculum was a key step in establishing this program. In the late
1990’s, the Utah State Parent-Teacher Association provided funding for an editor and,
for the better part of a year, the Director of the Bureau of Child Health Services, Utah
County Health Department, spent some part of every work day writing a curriculum and
sending draft segments to the editor. By 1999, with the new curriculum completed and
United Way’s support in place, the dual-track Welcome Baby program was launched.
6.2.3 Welcome Baby’s Program Structure: Two Agencies, Four Types of Visitor
As noted above, two completely separate organizations share the day-to-day
delivery of the Welcome Baby Utah County home visiting program. This operational
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