Home visiting is a proven prevention strategy for delivering family-strengthening services to children and parents.  Home visiting leads to positive results that last over time, including:

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• Better child and maternal health

• Less child maltreatment

• Increased parenting confidence

• More school readiness

• Increased economic self-sufficiency

• An estimated return of $3 to $5
  for every $1 invested

 

There are more than 20 models of home visiting nationwide,
built on research and experience to work in concert with other community resources to promote the best outcomes for families

and children.

 

Like the vehicles we drive, different models are designed to meet

the specific needs of the people who use them. Each home visiting model offers unique features that help families with different needs reach their destination efficiently. Ideally, families have access to a variety of models that together create a continuum of services for children and families in every community. That’s a goal worth striving for.

 

Families Forward Virginia is taking a fresh approach toward
achieving this goal by coordinating the work of three of
Virginia’s home visiting models: CHIP, Healthy Families, and Parents as Teachers. 

 

All three models:

• Offer intensive parenting education

• Screen children for developmental delays and other concerns

• Use a strengths-based, capacity-building approach

• Are free and voluntary—families decide whether or not to participate

 

Home Visiting is a proven strategy to help parents be their child’s first and best teachers so that they can arrive at school healthy, prepared to learn and can be successful in life. More than 85% of a child’s brain is developed by the time they begin kindergarten and we don’t get a “do-over.”

 

Traditionally, children from low-income families lack access to medical care and may receive fragmented, limited, and sporadic services from clinics or hospital emergency rooms. Studies show that children develop the mental, physical, and psychological competencies in their early years that will determine their future potential. Therefore, it is essential that young children receive consistent preventive and primary care in these formative years.