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DC Home Visiting Council
DC Action advocates for home visiting programs in the District of Columbia to strengthen families with expectant parents and young children to meet their full potential.
Who We Are
DC Action leads the DC Home Visiting Council and collaboratively facilitates its city-wide strategic efforts. We convene public and private partners so that home visiting programs are:
- sustainably funded
- accessible to families who need their services most
- effectively designed; and
- well coordinated in the District of Columbia.
Together, members work to build stronger systems for expectant parents and families with young children by improving coordination between home visiting programs, government agencies, and providers of family services that are critical to meeting families’ needs, and by working to inform the systems that families rely on.
Why Home Visiting Matters
Home visiting - an evidence-based family support strategy - involves trained home visitors meeting with families in their homes or in another comfortable setting. Home visiting helps parents deepen attachment with their child, learn about their child’s growth, identify behavioral or health concerns, adopt developmentally appropriate responses to their child’s behavior, and navigate resources to meet their child’s needs. They also attend to caretakers’ well-being by identifying and supporting parents with postpartum depression, and coaching parents with strategies and resources for managing their physical, emotional, and economic health.
Get Involved
Email Mary Katherine West at mkwest@dckids.org to learn more.
Featured Resources
Committee on Facilities and Family Services: Budget Oversight Hearing Testimony, April 2023
Committee on Health: Budget Oversight Hearing Testimony, April 2023
Home Visiting Policy Brief, February 2023
While home visiting is a proven strategy that provides families with one-on-one guidance and a variety of tools to help them thrive, the home visiting field is struggling to keep pace with improvements made in other vital caregiving professions. In a new policy brief, the Home Visiting Council has identified multiple opportunities for policymakers to improve workforce conditions for home visitors, keeping them in the profession and building the capacity to spend more time dedicated to the families they serve. The recommendations are to: standardize and increase home visitor wages, increase home visiting grant funding, and facilitate the streamlining of data reporting requirements.
DC Home Visiting Council 2021 Annual Report, March 2022
"2021 demonstrated how home visiting services have been a real stabilizing force for many families with young children. For two long years, the District’s home visiting programs have quietly shown up for families in immeasurable ways during the COVID-19 pandemic. While home visitors continue to use their training to center the growth of the family and their children’s development, they have been able to walk them through relief resources and coping strategies to stay afloat during a uniquely challenging time. As families continue to navigate this uncharted territory, participating families know they have a trusted family support worker or home visitor in their corner to support them in their parenting journey."
DC Home Visiting Council 2020 Annual Report, April 2021
In fiscal year 2020--as in 2019--13 organizations implemented 16 home visiting programs. In total, these programs had the capacity to serve about 1,362 children. For the first time, this year’s annual report shares how many families home visiting programs served. In 2020, 1,277 families benefited from the support of a home visiting program.
Voices From the Field: The Experiences of the District’s Home Visitors, February 2021
This report highlights the strengths, challenges, and needs of the home visiting workforce in the District of Columbia. Available in English and Spanish.