What is Home Visiting? Home visiting is a service offered in-
home to support positive parenting, nurturing homes, and child
development. Families voluntarily participate in in-home visits
with a trained home visitor. Most often, home visiting programs
serve pregnant women, fathers, caregivers, and their children
birth through 5 years of age. Most families participate in home
visiting for one to three years. Many scientific studies have
shown positive impacts of home visiting for children and
families. In a 2010 report published by Pew Charitable Trust,
high quality home visiting programs have been proven to: -
Decrease the incidence of low birth weight births by nearly
half, yielding cost savings between $28,000-$40,000 for each
averted low birth weight birth; - Reduce incidence of child
abuse and neglect almost by half; and - Increase children’s
critical pre-literacy skills and later improvements in
achievement test scores. In another report, authors synthesize
home visiting research conducted over years and