Imagine standing in your living room, setting up a makeshift tennis serve with a green balloon for a ball and a ruler affixed to a paper plate for a racket. You bat the balloon back and forth with your home visitor, counting each return, offering encouragement, and laughing at your mistakes. This simple game is more than just tennis—it’s a way to build social skills, hand-eye coordination, and practice numeracy.
Isabel Valencia, originally from Colombia, discovered the benefits of a free home visiting program that supports families with early learning and development. These programs provide invaluable support, especially for families with limited access to quality early education.
During a visit to the grocery store in 2022, Isabel Valencia learned about the home visiting program. Feeling isolated in Pueblo, Colorado, she found a sense of community and support through the program. The Home Instruction for Parents of Preschool Youngsters program (HIPPY) offers families a trained support person to engage with children in fun, developmentally appropriate activities.
HIPPY stands out for its two-generation approach, where parents and children both benefit from the program’s support. By focusing on early literacy and social-emotional skills, parents receive guidance from staff who share their language and cultural background.
Home visiting models vary, with some programs focusing on maternal and child health and others targeting families with toddlers and preschool-aged children. The federal government’s Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting (MIECHV) program supports two dozen approved home visiting models.
Over 17 million families in the U.S. could benefit from voluntary, evidence-based home visiting services, yet only a fraction have access to these programs due to limited resources. The MIECHV program’s funding is set to double to $800 million annually by 2027, providing additional support to families in need.
Through interviews and observations, the impact of home visiting programs on families and communities is evident. Isabel Valencia, now in her second year of the HIPPY program, feels more confident as a parent and sees the positive impact of the structured curriculum on her daughter’s readiness for preschool.
