Home Visiting Programs Aim to Support Early Education

01There are programs in the United States that aim to support families with their children's early learning and development.

02Home visiting programs try to improve early education at a low cost.

03The programs might expand with new federal money.

04The U.S.

05Department of Health and Human Services, or HHS, follows home visiting programs to see how effective they are and provides information about them on its website.

06Isabel Valencia got experience with a home visiting program in 2022.

07During a trip to buy food with her two young children, somebody told Valencia about a program.

08She had moved to Pueblo, Colorado a few months earlier and was feeling lonely.

09She had not met anyone else who spoke Spanish.

10She learned about the Home Instruction for Parents of Preschool Youngsters Program, or HIPPY.

11HIPPY says it provides families with a trained support person who visits their home every week.

12The group shows them how to interact with their children using developmental activities.

13The HIPPY program uses regular home visits and monthly group meetings to help parents learn how to improve early literacy and social and emotional skills.

14The workers went through the program themselves and often share the same language and background as the families they serve.

15The program operates mostly in poor neighborhoods and through school districts and organizations for immigrant and refugee families, said Miriam Westheimer.

16She is chief program officer for HIPPY International, which operates in 15 countries and 20 U.S.

17states.

18HHS has a program to provide money for maternal, infant, and early childhood home visiting, or MIECHV, models.

19The agency has approved about 24 home visiting models.

20Some aim to help preschool children.

21Others send social workers or nurses to support maternal and child health.

22An estimated 17 million families nationwide could receive home visiting services.

23But in 2022, only about 270,000 did.

24That is because the programs do not get enough money, said Dr.

25Michael Warren of the Maternal and Child Health Bureau.

26That office oversees the MIECHV programs.

27If more resources exist, more families can be served, he said.

28Federal spending on the MIECHV program is set to double from $400 million to $800 million yearly by 2027.

29Beginning this year, the federal government will match $3 for every $1 in non-federal money spent on home visiting programs, up to a limit.

30Home visitors supply books and materials to parents for developmental activities.

31They also supply diapers and help them find food pantries, public assistance programs, and mental health professionals.

32They also explain the importance of talking, reading, and singing with young children, asking them questions, and praising them.

33The home visitors also communicate a simple but important message to parents.

34Everything they need to help their children succeed is probably already at home.

35A math lesson can be found among a bag of beans or a pocket of coins.

36Kids can practice reading skills by searching for objects around the house that start with a certain letter.

37The most valuable thing families and home visitors say is the connection between parents and child.

38Parents also become better advocates for themselves and their children.

39Research suggests that children who went through home visiting programs are better prepared for school.

40Home visiting is not meant to be a replacement for other early learning experiences.

41But supporters say it can help create a strong foundation, especially for the many families which find early education programs too costly.

42Maria Chavez Contreras is a home visiting program manager at the community-based organization that hosts Hippie in Pueblo.

43She said kindergarten teachers say students who receive home visiting services have longer attention spans, follow instructions better, and have more developed motor skills.

44Fatima Zamani is a home visitor based in Denver, Colorado, who emigrated from Afghanistan in 2016.

45The parents she works with are all recent immigrant arrivals from Afghanistan.

46She said the kindergarten teachers are impressed with the children.

47Her own four-year-old daughter is in the hippie program.

48She can say the alphabet, count, and identify shapes and colors.

49She is ready for preschool, Salmani says.

50I'm Dan Novak.