The range and reach of home visiting – and its potential for impacting more families in need – is highlighted in the 2018 Home Visiting Yearbook, released today by the National Home Visiting Resource Center (NHVC). The report provides a snapshot of home visiting programs around the country, families benefiting from services, and unmet needs. Among the findings:
- Evidence-based home visiting programs are available in all 50 states, as well as DC, five territories, 25 tribal communities and currently reach 53% of all counties;
- In 2017, more than 300,000 families received more than 3.5 million home visits through these programs, including 81,000 families served by programs funded by the federal Maternal, Infant and Early Childhood Home Visiting (MIECHV) initiative.
- About 18 million additional pregnant women and families could benefit from voluntary home visiting services nationwide.
The yearbook features state profiles, including demographic data on participants, as well as information about the models used to deliver services. According to the report, models currently implemented in Florida include Child First, Early Head Start Home-Based Option, Family Check-Up, Healthy Families America, Home Instruction for Parents of Preschool Youngsters, Minding the Baby, Nurse-Family Partnership, and Parents as Teachers. Statewide, 108 local agencies operated at least one of these models. These programs provided 310,000 home visits to more than 16,000 families in 2017.
FL MIECHV supported home visiting programs in 25 designated high-need counties and four contiguous areas. These sites implement one of three evidence-based models: Nurse-Family Partnership, Healthy Families Florida or Parents As Teachers. In 2017, nearly 2,000 families received more than 22,000 home visits through MIECHV-funded programs.
Based on needs identified in the yearbook, an estimated 985,000 additional families in Florida could benefit from home visiting, including more than 640,000 infants and toddlers.
To provide context for the yearbook, NHVC also released a Home Visiting Primer summarizing the history of home visiting, its evidence base, demonstrated impact on critical needs, and sources of funding.
The 2018 Home Visiting Yearbook was produced by James Bell Associates and the Urban Institute.