How family support and coaching can help
Additional videos addressing other aspects of the Illinois early childhood system – including Head Start, the child care assistance program, Early Intervention, TANF and WIC, and Special Education – can be viewed here. To view the above video in Spanish click here.This series of videos was prepared by Illinois Action for Children.
What is Home Visiting?
What Is Home Visiting?
Home visiting provides family support and coaching through planned, regular visits with a trained professional based on a family’s needs and schedules. Home visiting is a voluntary program, and home visitors work with parents on practical parenting skills as well as family bonding before birth and as children grow up.
Through partnering with the home visitors, families learn how to improve their family’s health and provide better opportunities for their children. Babies do not come with instruction manuals but home visiting may be the next best thing, particularly during this time in a child’s life. The prenatal period and the first years of life are a critical time for brain development that lays the foundation for future success. To learn more about Home Visiting go to the National Home Visiting Resource Center.
Watch a Home Visit
This photo and audio tour of a home visit between a 24-year-old new mom, her son, and their home visitor, provides an intimate glimpse into these voluntary parent coaching and mentoring programs. The Pew Charitable Trusts prepared this tour so you can experience a home visit for yourself.
The National Home Visiting Resource Center has resources about home visiting that you may find of interest; to learn more, please click here.
Find a program
To find a home visiting program in your community, click here for an interactive map or to see the listing of specific communities that offer coordinated intake for home visiting services. If you have any questions, or if you are a home visiting program and would like your program’s contact information updated or changed, please contact Ebony Hoskin at (312) 814-6312 or click here to send her an email.
Parents Stories in English
Watch these brief English-language videos in which Illinois mothers, who have graduated from home visiting programs, describe their experiences.
Parents Stories in Spanish
Watch these brief Spanish-language videos in which Illinois mothers, who have graduated from home visiting programs, describe their experiences.
Contact
Suite N-100
This website is supported by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) under grant number HRSA-16-172 Maternal, Infant and Early Childhood Home Visiting Program – Formula. This information or content and conclusions are those of the author and should not be construed as the official position or policy of, nor should any endorsements be inferred by HRSA, HHS or the U.S. Government.