The Illinois Department of Human Services-Division of Early Childhood Home Visiting (IDHS-DEC HV) supports pregnant people and parents with young children ages 0-5 who live in communities that face greater risks and barriers to achieving positive maternal and child health outcomes. Families choose to participate in home visiting programs, and partner with health, social service, and child development professionals to set and achieve goals that improve their health and well-being.
The goals of the IDHS-DEC HV program are to:
Home visitors and families develop strong relationships and trust through meeting regularly and addressing families’ needs. Home visitors:
The IDHS-DEC HV has the following priority populations identified by the federal Maternal Infant and Early Childhood Home Visiting (MIECHV) program. Enrollment is not limited to the MIECHV priority populations, but programs are expected to PRIORITIZE these populations for enrollment.
The Illinois Early Learning Council priority populations are also prioritized for enrollment.
A doula is a trained professional who helps a pregnant person achieve their healthiest pregnancy, labor and delivery possible by providing continuous educational, emotional and physical support at all stages of pregnancy—before, during and shortly after childbirth. In the model implemented by the Illinois Department of Human Services (IDHS) Home Visiting and Start Early’s Home Visiting and Doula Network, doula services are embedded in long-term, evidence-based home visiting programs. Designed as a portal into long-term home visiting programs, doula services begin prenatally and continue for up to two months postpartum. Participants who enroll prenatally receive concurrent visits from their doula and a long-term home visitor—in addition, doulas provide prenatal education and facilitate support groups with expectant parents.
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On January 2025, IDHS and Afton Partners hosted a Listening Session to present proposed ideas for SFY26 and to invite feedback from stakeholders.
On September 11, 2025, IDHS and Afton Partners hosted a listening session to discuss the FY26 NOFO award process and to share reflections that were gathered through a survey of applicants.
*Note: The format of some of the slides was adjusted after the listening session, to improve accessibility, but the content has not changed.
All IDHS Funding Opportunities are posted on the following webpages:
Communities served by IDHS-DEC HV utilizing State and Federal funding, are as follows:
A complete list of agencies and services funded by DEC-HV is available for download. DEC-BHV-SFY24-providers
IDHS-DEC HV home visiting models in Illinois are as follows:
The Center for Prevention Research and Development (CPRD), School of Social Work, at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) serves as the data lead for IDHS-DEC HV.
The CPRD is responsible for leading the benchmark data collection, data quality, and evaluation efforts. As part of this work, CPRD works with IDHS-DEC HV Programs on data collection, data quality, and generates an Annual Benchmark and Outcome Reports. The reports will be made available on the CPRD web page.
