Home Visiting Council’s 2018 Annual Report

As 2019 takes off at full speed, we are pleased to announce the release of a new resource for DC early childhood policymakers, providers, and stakeholders: the 2018 Annual Report of the District of Columbia Home Visiting Council. This report combines the most up-to-date information about home visiting programs and funding in DC with the HV Council’s analysis of opportunities to strengthen home visiting.

As the DC Home Visiting Council (HV Council) convenes a wide variety of partners, including home visiting providers and government entities, among others, to develop strategies to strengthen home visiting, members recognize the need to share accurate, up-to-date, and synthesized information about these programs. A project of the HV Council’s advocacy subcommittee, the Annual Report catalogs the home visiting programs available in the District, including detailed information about programs’ goals, capacity, and funding sources. The report also profiles the District’s primary public funders and documents changes to the District’s funding landscape.

In 2018, the report finds, 10 organizations provided 15 home visiting programs that served about 850 families and children across the District. These programs were funded through federal, local, and private sources that have undergone some notable changes in recent years. Excitingly, the report also describes some major potential changes to DC’s home visiting funding landscape, including the impact of Birth-to-Three for All DC, a new law that transforms the District’s early childhood system.

The report highlights 3 key recommendations for stakeholders interested in home visiting and DC’s early childhood system:

1. Develop a coordinated, District-wide approach to supporting families through home visiting
2. Identify opportunities to strengthen and support the home visiting workforce
3. Center the needs and preferences of families

Finally- if you’re interested in what the HV Council has been up to in its first year carrying out its 2018-2020 Strategic Plan, this report is the place to look. It summarizes the HV Council’s progress in 2018 as it worked to strengthen home visiting. In particular, the HV Council made strides in three main areas:

1. Building out District-wide supports for home visiting programs
2. Crafting and implementing a coordinated advocacy strategy
3. Developing processes for data collection and coordination

The HV Council’s 2018 Annual Report makes clear that stakeholders across the District are thoughtfully collaborating to support strong home visiting programs as a strategy in the early childhood and health systems. Stay tuned for updates as the Home Visiting Council continues to convene partners working together to further the work to strengthen this strategy.