BOSTON – Prevent Child Abuse America honored Jessica Goldberg, Ph.D., of Tufts University, with the Service Excellence Award for Research and Evaluation Partners for work with Healthy Families Massachusetts, an in-home family support and coaching program of the Children’s Trust.

Dr. Goldberg received the award earlier this month at The National Conference for America’s Children held in Jacksonville, Fla.

James Hmurovich, President and CEO of Prevent Child Abuse America with Jessica Goldberg of Tufts University.

“While there are many giants in the field of home visiting research, few stand taller than Jess,” said Sarita Rogers, Director of Home Visiting for the Children’s Trust.

“Jess has given her all to ensure that Healthy Families Massachusetts has had access to information, evaluation results and ongoing support to improve quality. More importantly she has always invited dialogue, making sure no corner went unexamined. We all know we can count on her to understand implementation and provide analyses that are relevant and applicable,” Rogers said.

Dr. Goldberg has been part of the Massachusetts Healthy Families Evaluation team for 15 years. She is now co-principal investigator for evaluation of the Massachusetts Home Visiting Initiative Evaluation, an implementation study of home visiting programs in 17 high-need communities across the state.

She also supports the work of Healthy Families Massachusetts in her position as a research professor in the Eliot-Pearson Department of Child Study and Human Development at Tufts, where she wrote her dissertation on home visiting service noncompliance.

“We knew Jess was going to be a leader in the field from early in her doctoral studies at Eliot-Pearson, and she has certainly made us look prescient,” said Professor Francine Jacobs, of the Eliot-Pearson Department of Child Study and Human Development, and the Department of Urban and Environmental Policy and Planning at Tufts.

“Dr. Goldberg epitomizes what we hope our graduates will become – broadly knowledgeable about theory and research and evaluation, deeply appreciative of good practice and sound policy, and passionate about meeting the needs and supporting the strengths of children and families,” Jacobs said.

“By focusing her considerable talents on home visiting, she has made, and will continue to make, a real difference for these young families.”

Healthy Families Massachusetts is an evidence-based program in which home visitors meet with first-time young parents and help them create stable, nurturing environments for their children. The Children’s Trust operates the program based on a model created by Prevent Child Abuse America.

Dr. Goldberg lives in Roslindale.