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Family Spirit is an evidence-based home visiting program developed for and with Indigenous communities. Developed by the Johns Hopkins Center for Indigenous Health in partnership with tribal communities, Family Spirit optimizes local cultural assets and resources.

About

Family Spirit Program

The Family Spirit Program is an evidence-based and culturally tailored home visiting intervention delivered by community-based Health Educators as an Indigenous solution to supporting caregivers during pregnancy and early childhood. Caregivers gain knowledge and skills to achieve optimum development for their children across the domains of physical, cognitive, social-emotional, language learning, and self-help.

The Family Spirit Core Curriculum consists of 63 lessons taught from pregnancy to age 3, with plans for an expanded curriculum through age 5. Additional curriculum modules address emerging needs and specific family circumstances. This in-home parent training and support program has been designed, implemented, and rigorously evaluated by the Johns Hopkins Center for Indigenous Health (CIH) in partnership with the Navajo, White Mountain Apache, and San Carlos Apache tribal communities since 1995. It is now replicated nationally, with training, technical assistance, and curriculum materials managed by Johns Hopkins CIH.

The Family Spirit program aims to:

Increase parenting knowledge and skills;

Address maternal psychosocial risks that could interfere with positive child-rearing

Promote optimal physical, cognitive, social/emotional development for children from 0 to 3

Prepare children for early school success;

Ensure children get recommended well-child visits and health care

Link families to community services to address specific needs

Promote parents’ and children’s life skills and behavioral outcomes across the lifespan

Join the Family Spirit Network

Become a Family Spirit Affiliate

Overview
Pricing
Funding Opportunities

Find a Family Spirit Near You

To date, we have trained over 160 sites across 24 states, with more than 800 Health Educators trained in the Family Spirit Program.

Pricing

The Family Spirit home visiting model is available to interested communities and home visiting programs through a contracting process with Johns Hopkins University Center for Indigenous Health.

Become an Affiliate

Contact Family Spirit by emailing or calling today!

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