Pew's home visiting project promotes cost-effective investments in high-quality, home-based family support and coaching programs for new and expectant families.
Why Home Visiting Matters
Family support and coaching programs, often called “home visiting” because they take place in the homes of vulnerable families, are a proven strategy for strengthening families and saving money. When quality programs, carried out in local communities, are properly implemented, they lead to increased family self-sufficiency, lower health care costs, and reduced need for remedial education. For every dollar spent on these efforts, they save at least $2 in future spending.
How We Conducted Our Work
Policy Advocacy. In the states, we furnished strategic technical assistance to campaigns, anchored by our model policy framework, that advanced policy change and increased state investments in home visiting. We also advocated for data-driven federal policies and investments in these home-based family support and coaching programs. We worked to reauthorize the Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting program, the largest federal investment in home visiting.
Research.
Pew’s home visiting project commissioned a new body of home visiting research that highlighted gains in education, health, and future livelihoods at less cost to taxpayers through family support and coaching programs. These studies explored the importance of program quality and target populations—and the interactions between them—in determining ultimate outcomes for children and families.
Information Sharing. We hosted webinars, events, meetings, and communications to facilitate a national conversation on the significance of home-based family support and coaching programs. In doing so, we served as a resource for state policymakers and administrators making data-driven policy investments.
Across the country, state legislatures are turning to evidence-based policymaking to ensure that taxpayer dollars are spent efficiently and effectively. One example is family support and coaching. In response to research confirming that the early years of childhood affect learning, behavior, and health for a lifetime, many states have invested in these programs, commonly referred to as “home visiting.” Evidence shows that families that participate in home visiting programs, which focus on strengthening vulnerable families with children under age 5, are often more self-sufficient and better able to handle the challenge of parenting and to raise healthier, safer children.
