Departmental Affiliations
Allison West, PhD, MSW, focuses on applied and interdisciplinary research across multiple sectors within early childhood systems – health, education, and social services.
Contact Info
Research Interests
Maternal, child, and family health; Maternal; infant and early childhood home visiting; Early childhood services research; Service coordination; Early childhood systems; Workforce development
Experiences & Accomplishments
Dr. West leads applied, interdisciplinary research to strengthen services and systems for expectant families and families with young children facing multiple, complex adversities. She uses community-engaged, mixed methods approaches to examine and improve service access, quality, and outcomes. Dr. West directs the Home Visiting Applied Research Collaborative (HARC), a US national research and development platform that promotes innovative research to improve outcomes of home visiting for all families. HARC supports an active practice-based research network, identifies and addresses emerging issues in early home visiting, promotes data sharing and interoperability, encourages precision approaches in research and practice, and mentors early career scholars. Dr. West's other current projects focus on 1) identifying and testing strategies to improve case management and service coordination in early home visiting, 2) developing and validating a measure of reflective supervision to support early childhood workforce research and practice, and 3) developing and testing digital screening and referral and helpline interventions to address popstpartum substance use. Dr. West has also led or partnered on projects to improve on infant nutrition (e.g., WIC) and child welfare services and serves on several national advisory boards to strengthen home visiting research and practice.
Current project foci:
Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting
Early childhood systems and service coordination
Reflective supervision
Workforce wellbeing
Home visitor-family communication
Home visiting for parents with intellectual disabilities and other learning differences
Development of digital interventions to address postpartum risky drinking and other substance use
Honors & Awards
- BSPH SOURCE Faculty Excellence in Service-Learning Award
- Excellence in Teaching Award (2020-2024)
- Home Visiting Research Network Early Career Scholar Award
Select Publications
Recent Publications
West, A., Williams, K., Daniels, J., & *Correll, L. (2024). Feasibility, acceptability, and usefulness of a screening tool for caregiver learning differences in early childhood home visiting: Staff and caregiver perspectives. Prevention Science, 25(3), 448-458.
West, A., Spinosa, C., DeVoe, M., Madariaga, P., & Barnet, B. (2024). Implementation of training and coaching to improve goal planning and family engagement in early childhood home visiting. Children and Youth Services Review.
West, A., Duggan, A., Gruss, K., & Minkovitz, C. (2021). Service coordination to address maternal mental health, partner violence, and substance use: findings from a national survey of home visiting programs. Prevention Science, 1-12.
West, A., Duggan, A. K., Gruss, K., & Minkovitz, C. S. (2018). Creating a measurement framework for service coordination in maternal and early childhood home visiting: An evidence-informed, expert process. Children and Youth Services Review, 89, 289-297.
West, A., Madariaga, P., & Sparr, M. (2022). Reflective supervision: What we know and what we need to know to support and strengthen the home visiting workforce (OPRE Report No. 2022-101). Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation; Administration for Children and Families; U.S. Department of Health and Human Services