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Since 2007, New Jersey has more than doubled its support for evidence-based home visiting programs. We now have an expanded statewide capacity to reach over 5,000 families of infants and young children with three core home visiting models - Healthy Families, Nurse-Family Partnership, and Parents as Teachers. These three models are now available to families in all 21 counties. We also fund the Home Instruction to Parents of Preschool Youngsters (HIPPY) program in Bergen County.

Program Goals
The overall mission of the Home Visitation Initiative is to improve the physical and emotional well-being of infants, children, and their families in New Jersey by providing community based education and in-home support to parents.

HV Programs also focus on early learning, language development and early literacy:

  • Evidenced Based Home Visitation programs incorporate formal parenting education curricula that explain early brain development and emphasize the role that parents play as their child's first and most important teacher.
  • Home visitors teach and model observation skills for parents, and give them simple activities and strategies to stimulate early learning at home.
  • Home visits include on-going routine assessments of infant/child growth and development, and social-emotional health (Ages & Stages Questionnaire), as well as assessment of the home environment in promoting early learning.
  • Infants with secure and nurturing parent-child relationships are more resilient and better positioned to interact with the world- to play, explore, and learn.

New Jersey’s Home Visitation Initiative is measured by Maternal, Infant and Early Childhood Home Visiting (MIECHV) target areas:

  • Improving Maternal and Newborn Health 
  • Reducing Child Injuries, Child Abuse, Neglect and Maltreatment 
  • Improving School Readiness & Achievement 
  • Reducing Domestic Violence (DV)
  • Strengthening Family Economic Self-Sufficiency 
  • Improving Coordination & Referral Linkages for Community Resources

Our Shared Vision
In an innovative and successful public-private partnership New Jersey’s Home Visiting Initiative has built a state and local system to improve early service linkages to pregnant woman, parents and families. Home Visiting in New Jersey is founded on building relationships and a shared vision to… 

Serve Families 

  • Community-based Engagement & Outreach 

Ensure High Quality 

  • Ongoing Training & Technical Assistance   
  • Continuous Quality Improvement (CQI)  
  • Fidelity/ Data Analysis 
  • Standards and Performance Indicators  
  • Impact and Outcome Measures 

Coordinate Care & Integrate Systems 

  • Central Intake  
  • Community Health Workers  
  • Early Childhood Comprehensive Systems (ECCS)/Help Me Grow (HMG) 

Empower Communities 

  • NJ County Councils - 51% parent driven 
  • Workgroups and Advisory Boards  

Collaborate with Partners  

  • State – DCF (lead implementing agency), DHS (TANF funding), DOH (administrative lead for MIECHV funding) 
  • Nonprofit sector – service providers/grantees 
  • John Hopkins University (Evaluation) 
  • Prevent Child Abuse  New Jersey   
  • National Service Office 

Population Focus
HV focuses on supporting families of infants and young children (0-5 years).

Program Services
During pregnancy and at birth, home visitors encourage positive behaviors and healthy nutrition to prevent poor pregnancy outcomes (e.g. preterm births, low birth weight).

They also have a unique opportunity to identify and address health or social concerns earlier to help promote a strong foundation for child resilience and health. Important outcomes for HV programs include parent-child attachment, child health (physical, social-emotional and cognitive), and infant/ child safety, security and well-being.

Services focus on the following:

  • Parent education on healthy child development
  • Parent-Child activities
  • Ongoing child developmental screening and monitoring
  • Parent education health and nutrition
  • Promotion of the protective factors
  • Family goal planning
  • Support for self-sufficiency
  • Linkages to social and family support services (for example, perinatal depression, substance abuse, domestic violence services, housing support, etc.)

Contact
To access Home Visiting services in your county call the following links will help you to learn more about available services: 

Click HERE for a listing of all state funded HV programs in New Jersey. 

For answers to frequently asked questions, click HERE.   

For more information contact: 
Administrator
Office of Early Childhood Services
Department of Children and Families
Phone: 609-888-7400