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Eight staff were interviewed. Four were nurses by training; at the time of the
study, one of these worked in a program coordination and front-line service capacity,
two were in program management roles, and one was retired. The other four staff
members had college or university preparation in management, community services,
family studies, or counseling. Most staff and volunteers brought other relevant life
experiences to their in-home work as well. No study participants were social workers.
The length of time that participants had worked or volunteered with their
respective home visiting programs varied considerably, and ranged from 1 year (2
participants) to over 20 years (2 participants). The intensity (hours per month) of study
participants’ involvement also varied widely, and was not static over the duration of
their employment/volunteer work; for example, some volunteer and staff participants
had taken educational or parental leaves of absence. Volunteers’ time commitment
ranged from roughly 2 to 15 hours per month, while the paid staff worked anywhere
from 10 hours per week to more than 40 hours per week.
It is notable that over half of study participants had, in the past or at the time of
the study, also played other roles within these programs. Two study participants had
been involved as program parents, back when their own children were infants. Three
volunteers from two different programs had, in the past or at the time of the study,
volunteered in different roles within their program. Two staff members had been
volunteer visitors before being hired in their present roles, and four staff members
(from all three agencies) had, over the years, held another paid position in the program
or its sponsor agency. This range of roles and responsibilities speaks to both the study
participants’ commitment to the programs and the breadth and depth of their
experience.
In this chapter I have described the three study programs, and highlighted some
of their significant commonalities and differences. The following chapter presents the
findings from the present study.
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