Family Foundations (POCAN) - Evaluation

Evaluation Results of Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect (POCAN) Study

The ten state-funded Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect (POCAN) projects participated in a thorough evaluation conducted by the DHFS Office of Strategic Finance. The evaluation report was completed in fall of 2003.

What was learned:

• Substantiated child abuse and neglect cases were 25% of what could be expected given the target population.
• Out-of-home placements were less than 25% of what could be expected.
• Emergency room visits were less than half that of other Medicaid children age 0 to 5.
• The percent of children receiving all scheduled HealthCheck exams was 83%, exceeding the federal standard.
• 87% of the POCAN children were up to date on immunizations. In comparison, 54% of Medicaid eligible 2-year-olds received all scheduled immunizations.

For more on the POCAN home visitation programs, click here.

To read the evaluation report, visit http://dhfs.wisconsin.gov/aboutDHFS/OSF/Evaluation/Pocan4-04.pdf