What is Home Visiting?
Thank you to our VA Home Visiting families for sharing their families with us!
Thank you to our VA Home Visiting families for sharing their families with us!
Home Visiting is proven to strengthen families & help children grow up healthy & ready to learn. Learn how it’s making an impact in our community.
Early Impact Virginia is dedicated to ensuring ALL pregnant and parenting families have access to high-quality, early childhood home visiting, HOW and WHEN they choose.
We bring together the Commonwealth’s home visiting and early childhood leaders to develop the policies and conditions for growth and success.
#HomeVisitingWorks
Meet our Virginia Families
Research shows that home visiting programs like CHIP of Southwest Virginia help strengthen communities, nurture parent-child relationships and ensure that children enter school fully prepared to succeed. Ashley’s family is seeing this firsthand.
“Everybody says it takes a village with children, and sometimes it does, and sometimes it just takes one person,” Ashley said.
Home Visiting Works, Just Ask this SW Virginia Couple
Ashley, Michael & Familiy
Home visiting connects expectant parents and families with young children to a trained, family support professional who provides customized coaching and guidance during pregnancy, postpartum and the early stages of a child’s development. Home visitors help parents understand their role as their child’s first, and most important, teacher. Home visitors help families realize their strengths, and unlock their child’s potential.
What is Home Visiting?
Home Visiting in Virginia
Last year, Virginia’s 572 dedicated professionals served more than 6,700 families. To meet the diverse needs of families and communities throughout the Commonwealth, Virginia is home to eight models of home visiting:
Meet a Virginia Home Visitor
An Unstoppable Force in Home Visiting: Meet Lisa Allen
Lisa is a family support professional with Lynchburg’s Department of Social Services, where she helps reconnect local families with safety net resources and support programs. Her experiences in home visiting – both as a parent receiving services and a family support professional – continue to inform and inspire her work today.
Lisa Allen
Find Home Visiting in Your Area
We ensure that all pregnant and parenting families have access to high-quality, early childhood home visiting through programs that best match their needs. See which home visiting programs are available in your community.
Meet a Virginia Program
Celebrating the Strength of Families
At the Families First home visiting program’s annual holiday party, there was noticeable excitement in the air. Plates were piled high with lunch— the mozzarella sticks were the clear favorite—as the emcees called out ticket numbers and invited children up to choose a gift to take home. Among the toy cupcake sets, cars and houses, the kids had some hard decisions.
The Families First team
Virginia’s Home Visiting Professionals are Incredible!
“I love it when a parent reaches out to share an exciting accomplishment for their child or themselves. A teen mom recently texted me at 9:00 PM saying “School is done! Just waiting for the diploma!” Given the trauma and challenges this young mom has had, it was very meaningful to know she wanted to share this proud moment of accomplishing this goal with me.”
“My home visitor is awesome. She has taken the time to really KNOW me and my family. She knows my needs before her visits. If I have questions if she doesn’t know the answer she takes the time to find out. She has been a huge support in my life.”
“Just the other day, one of my former participants reached out to me. She said that she is so thankful for the support she received. She said she knew she wanted to be a good mom and is so thankful she allowed Healthy Families in her door.”
Home Visiting Works!
Home visiting remains Virginia’s most effective strategy for strengthening communities by supporting healthy birth outcomes, building strong and nurturing relationships, increasing family self-sufficiency and ensuring children enter school fully prepared to succeed.
It’s making a difference in the Commonwealth.
5.4% of babies with moms participating in Nurse Family Partnership home visiting were born pre-term, compared to the Virginia pre-term birth rate of 9.9%. (Nurse Family Partnership)
Mothers enrolled in CHIP of Virginia delivered significantly lower rates of low-birth weight babies according to study published in Clinical Pediatrics, March 2023
98.2% of primary caregivers reporting substance use were monitored and connected to substance use disorder services, and 100% continued in home visiting programs. (Healthy Families Virginia)
100% of primary caregivers experiencing depression were connected to mental health services. (Loving Steps/Healthy Start)
90% of children referred for potential health and/or development delays qualified for follow-up services. (Parents as Teachers)
50% of participating mothers reported that they themselves had been abused as children, yet over 99% of participating children had no founded cases of child abuse or neglect. (Healthy Families Virginia)
98.2% of parents experiencing domestic violence were monitored and connected with services, and 100% continued receiving home visiting services. (Healthy Families Virginia)
13% of families increased employment with one or both parents working (CHIP of Virginia)
47.1% of families decreased unmet food needs after one year (CHIP of Virginia)
40% reduction in preterm birth rates among Virginia women who received home visiting vs a comparison group, saving an average of $30,000 per birth*. (Healthy Families Virginia and CHIP of Virginia)
*Virginia Department of Health report: “Feasibility Study on the Development of a Home Visiting Pay for Success Pilot Program”, 2018.
In the News
Home Visiting in the News
IN THE NEWS
RADIO IQ/WVTF (April 10, 2024) - ‘They have been a godsend' -- Home Visiting Program Brings Parenting Skills Home Samantha Howell and her family live in a small yellow house in Floyd. Children’s bikes and toys are in the back yard. There’s a gorgeous view of the mountains, and a small creek. Howell’s two-year-old daughter, Evelyn, has just fallen asleep for her afternoon nap. Dolls and blocks are stacked neatly in the living room, and on the daybed is a soft, well-loved quilt. It’s in this space where Howell and her daughter have met with a parent educator and a nurse, once a month, the past two years. READ MORE or LISTEN TO CLIP
RICHMOND-TIMES DISPATCH (Feb. 10, 2024) - Meet a Home Visitor: Maria Crostic explains what she does as a Families First home visitor. WATCH CLIP
RICHMOND-TIMES DISPATCH (Feb. 10, 2024) - Making a Difference: Chesterfield Program Supports and Guides New Parents At 18 months old, Reesa Collins is singing such songs as “Itsy Bitsy Spider” and “Wheels on the Bus” and is already hitting some of her age 3 milestones. Reesa remains on track to reach her childhood markers with the help of her parents, as well as with the help of Families First, a voluntary home visiting program for expectant and first-time parents in Chesterfield County and Colonial Heights. READ MORE
THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT (Feb. 1, 2024) - Early Childhood Home Visiting Programs Help Children Thrive Alisha’s family is just one example of thousands of families in Virginia that have benefitted from the state’s Early Childhood Home Visiting program. In Tidewater alone, hundreds of families and children are supported each year. READ MORE
NEWS 5 WCYB (Jan. 10, 2024) - Home Visiting Program Offering Parenting Education and Support for Local Families A survey conducted by Early Impact Virginia, an alliance for early childhood home visiting, found that 76% of home visitors cited their top challenge as "limited community resources" available to families, with almost 84% of respondents of the survey saying there were not enough resources. For mom Ashley Walker, she said raising a family can take a village, but sometimes it takes just one person. READ MORE
DAILY NEWS-RECORD (Jan. 4, 2024) - Home Visiting Programs: The Story Of A Young Mother Alisia Garcia became pregnant as a teenager. Although her child is and was a joy in her life, as a pregnant teenager, she was unsure of how to take care of herself and her baby, she said. She wanted resources and support, so she attended the Hand-in-Hand Virginia Resource Mothers Program, according to Garcia. Early Impact Virginia is a statewide collaboration of early childhood home visiting programs, and the Hand-in-Hand Virginia Resource Mothers Program at Sentara RMH is one of them. The program connects new parents in the Harrisonburg area with support from staff to increase family self-sufficiency and help with accessing resources… READ THE THIRD OF A 3-PART SERIES HERE.
THE PHIL (Jan. 2, 2024) - Parenting in Community: How Home Visiting Programs Strengthen Virginia Families (Part 2) Regardless of background or socioeconomic status, first-time parents all experience similar challenges and encounter similar questions: How do I bond with my child? Am I doing enough to support their development? Are they prepared for early childhood education? Luckily, parents don’t have to navigate this alone. READ MORE
2023
WFIR NEWS TALK RADIO (Dec. 26, 2023) - New Survey Find Commonwealth Families Facing Limited Resources A non-profit focusing on family support uncovers the ongoing challenges Virginia’s growing families are up against. WFIR’s Emma Thomas has more: LISTEN HERE
THE PHIL (Dec. 21, 2023) - Parenting in Community: How Home Visiting Programs Strengthen Virginia Families (Part 1) Even reading What to Expect When You’re Expecting, or a host of parenting ‘how-to’ books, never fully prepares you to take your baby home for the first time and navigate what comes next. The good news is that no-cost, voluntary home visiting programs connect families to a qualified family support professional who provides custom, family-centered coaching and guidance through pregnancy and the early stages of childhood (0-5). READ MORE
DAILY NEWS-RECORD (Dec. 8, 2023) - State Family Programs At Risk Due To Funding Shortage State programs and services are at risk of being cut. The problem that is impacting Virginia state programs, is a state issue. It's not a federal issue, Laurel Aparicio, director of Early Impact Virginia said. There has not been any change at the federal level. Virginia has not supplemented funding, said Aparicio. READ THE SECOND OF A 3-PART SERIES HERE.
FREDERICKSBURG ADVANCE (Dec. 6, 2023) - New Parents 'Have a Friend' in Healthy Families The early days at home with a new child are stressful for even well-supported families. For those without strong support networks, HFRA will walk alongside. For free. READ MORE
DAILY NEWS-RECORD (Nov. 29, 2023) - Poverty Among Children Increases While Funding Is Decreasing. Poverty rates among children have increased, yet needed funding and resources may be cut. READ THE FIRST OF A 3-PART SERIES HERE.
IOWA CAPITAL DISPATCH (Nov. 16, 2023) - Early-childhood home visits work: Iowa’s multi-state collaboration makes it even more effective. Family support specialists are currently working in Iowa and other states. READ THE FULL COMMENTARY FROM OUR DIRECTOR, LAUREL APARICIO, HERE.
CARDINAL NEWS (Nov. 15, 2023) - To support Virginia families, start at home. For 30 years, local home visiting programs have been connecting pregnant and parenting families to a trained, family support professional who provides family-centered coaching and guidance from pregnancy through the early stages of a child’s development, from birth to age 5. READ THE FULL COMMENTARY FROM OUR DIRECTOR, LAUREL APARICIO, HERE.
VIRGINIA MERCURY (Nov. 15, 2023) - Early childhood home visiting works. A multi-state collaboration is making it even more effective. Over 500 family support specialists – trained professionals who go into homes every day to support pregnant and parenting families – are currently working in Virginia. READ THE FULL COMMENTARY FROM OUR DIRECTOR, LAUREL APARICIO, HERE.
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PRESS RELEASES
Home Visiting Support Available for Virginia Families
RICHMOND, VA (Oct. 16, 2023) – As new U.S Census Bureau data reveals child poverty rates have more than doubled across the country, early childhood development experts in Virginia are reminding families about an important support resource: Voluntary home visiting. READ THE FULL PRESS RELEASE HERE
Nonprofit Home Visiting Professionals Worry About Limited Resources for Virginia Families
RICHMOND, VA (Nov. 28, 2023) – New survey highlights impact of home visiting on Virginia parents, but providers indicate ongoing challenges with housing, mental health and substance use. A dual survey of nonprofit family support professionals and the families they serve finds ongoing challenges with meeting the needs of Virginia parents while emphasizing the positive outcomes connected to home visiting, programs that connect expectant parents as well as families with young children to local support specialists trained in early childhood development. READ THE FULL PRESS RELEASE HERE