Family Foundations Home Visiting Program Home visiting programs are for pregnant women and families with a child under age 5. Generally, home visitors are nurses, social workers, or other skilled professionals that partner with families to help their children and family thrive. The family and home visitor build a strong relationship and work together to meet the family’s goals related to child and family well-being. Home visiting programs are voluntary, and the goal is to offer help to women as early as possible during pregnancy and throughout their child's first few years. A trained home visitor comes to the home or another place that the families chooses at a time that works well for the family. At the visits, families learn about: Keeping themselves and their children healthy Helping their children grow and develop physically, socially and emotionally Other valuable resources that are available to them in the community Quality Services The Family Foundations Home Visiting (FFHV) program is committed to delivering high quality services to children and families in their communities. FFHV partners with agencies that prioritize building and sustaining a strong workforce that is well equipped to support families with young children. Resources such as the HV Workforce Project Institute at the Home Visiting Workforce Development and the Jackie Walorski Center for Evidence-Based Case Management highlight strategies to strengthen career pathways, promote workforce well-being, and improve retention of home visiting professionals. Prenatal to Five Fiscal Strategies has developed a national home visiting cost model that identifies the true cost of delivering high quality home visiting services. This model reflects the full investment required, including competitive living wages for the workforce, and helps policymakers and agencies better understand the resources necessary to implement a comprehensive home visiting approach in their state or community. Sustained quality in home visiting depends on aligning expectations with the resources required to support both the families and the professionals who serve them. Watch this informational webinar about Family Foundations Home Visiting program to learn how the Wisconsin Department of Children and Families (DCF) has organized and implementing evidence-based home visiting in Wisconsin. Find a Program in Your Area View the FFHV map for information on which counties and tribes have an FFHV program and what evidence-based models they use to provide home visiting services to families. Search on the following links to find an agency that implements evidence-based home visiting in your community. Early Head Start Home Based Healthy Families America Nurse-Family Partnership Parents as Teachers Parent Resources The Prevention Board promotes and supports community-based, family-centered approaches to strengthen families’ protective factors that lead to stronger families. Find a Family Resource Center. Thriving Wisconsin is Wisconsin’s statewide member association for organizations and individuals committed to making every early childhood a great one. They have helpful information for families. Wisconsin’s Family Foundations Home Visiting Program Models Wisconsin Family Foundations Home Visiting Program (FFHV) programs are voluntary for families, and use intensive, nationally proven models and strategies. The FFHV Program is funded through a combination of federal and state dollars. FFHV is led by DCF, in partnership with the Wisconsin Department of Health Services/Division of Public Health. DCF funds a portion of the home visiting programs across the state using national models that have proven results. The following national models are funded in Wisconsin by FFHV: Healthy Families America (HFA) Nurse Family Partnership (NFP) Early Head Start (Home-Based Model) Parents as Teachers (PAT) Family Spirit Home Visiting Professional Development UW-Milwaukee Professional Development Network Home visiting training and technical assistance is coordinated through the UW-Milwaukee’s Helen Bader School of Social Work - Professional Development Network. The Professional Development Network provides a wide array of professional development opportunities, including a specialized focus on supporting home visitors, their supervisors and program managers. Training is available statewide and open to all professionals. Professional development training opportunities can be found on the Home Visiting Training Calendar. Additional resources can be found in the Resource Toolkit for Home Visiting and other Early Childhood Professionals. Performance Standards, Evaluation, and Continuous Quality Improvement Performance Standards The target population for Wisconsin Family Foundations Home Visiting Program (FFHV) is pregnant and post-partum women and their families residing in at-risk communities. Home visiting programs prioritize services to families with: low incomes pregnant women under age 21 history of child abuse or neglect history of substance abuse tobacco use in the home low academic achievement children with developmental delays or disabilities family members that are serving or have served in the armed forces Evaluation The FFHV Program partners with researchers from the UW-Milwaukee to support program evaluation. One study included investigations about the impact of home visiting services on parent and child outcomes. Other studies have focused on family health, well-being, and service experiences. The information is used to examine factors influencing levels of family participation and engagement to better understand the staff-client relationship. Continuous Quality Improvement Home visiting programs participate in a statewide Continuous Quality Improvement team. The team selects improvement projects and sets shared project goals to promote collaborative learning and the spread of ideas that work. Programs test out improvement ideas at their local sites using plan-do-study-act cycles and report back to the full team each month. Early Childhood Partnerships Wisconsin FFHV works closely with a variety of partners from multiple state agencies, including: Department of Health Services Family Health Section and Birth to Three Department of Public Instruction Office of Children’s Mental Health Wisconsin’s Child Abuse and Neglect Prevention Board Local home visiting programs Local United Ways Other non-profit agency partners to embed home visiting in robust early childhood systems on the state and local level. FFHV and home visiting agency staff are involved in a large number of state and local activities related to: Improving maternal and child health Enhancing early childhood education Reducing child abuse and neglect Promoting social emotional development of infants and toddlers Creating opportunities for more meaningful parent engagement in program and policy decision-making. These efforts all focus on improving care systems for pregnant women and families with young children. Family Foundations Home Visiting Program Reports Family Foundations Home Visiting Program Annual Reports highlight the major accomplishments of participating families, funded programs and the state home visiting team within a calendar year. 2023 2022 2021 2020 2019 Home Visiting Needs Assessment The Home Visiting Needs Assessment is completed as part of receiving MIECHV funds. See below for more information. 2024 Home Visiting Needs Assessment (Update): Summary. 2024 Home Visiting Needs Assessment — Final Report. 2024 Home Visiting Needs Assessment — Data Summary. 2024 Home Visiting Needs Assessment — Appendices. 2020 Home Visiting Needs Assessment: Summary. Contact Information For questions about the Home Visiting Program, email: dcfhomevisiting@wisconsin.gov.
