Home visitor competence, burnout, support, and client engagement

Home visitor characteristics, on-the-job training and support, job satisfaction, burnout, and turnover were examined over a fiveyear period. Home visitors were adequately trained, and scored high on measures of knowledge, competence, psychological functioning (indicated by measures of burnout and depression), and job satisfaction at program entry. Over time, home visitation was associated with higher emotional exhaustion and lower job satisfaction. Staff turnover was high during periods of program reorganization but had a positive impact on client engagement in that families served by more than one home visitor stayed in the programlonger. Implications for program implementation are discussed.