In October 2016, Brazil launched one of the most ambitious home visiting programmes in the world, Criança Feliz (“Happy Child”). Criança Feliz works on two fronts: home visits to strengthen families, and intersectoral coordination to strengthen local, state, and national services.
This multimedia case study looks at how Teresa Surita, five-term mayor of Boa Vista, Brazil, built on work to improve early childhood services while assisting refugees fleeing Venezuela.
“We are such a big country and such a diverse one. In the south the reality is completely different from the northeast or the Amazon. And in each place the home visitor must walk alongside families that face so much in terms of poverty, violence, and disease. The biggest support we can give the visitor is to empower the network of social services, so they are integrated and working together.”
Ely Harasawa, Director Criança Feliz
We commissioned this case study with the Harvard Kennedy School as part of a series that explores the transition to scale of early years initiatives.
Learn more about Criança Feliz
Full collection
Early Childhood Programmes: Management Case Studies
This collection of six case studies from the Harvard Kennedy School shares lessons on how to scale early childhood programmes.
