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Goal 1: Babies are Born Healthy
Home visitation provides families with research-based health promotion strategies including access to prenatal care, substance use cessation, breastfeeding initiation, vaccination of newborns and children, increasing pediatric well-child visits, and preventing and treating maternal depression. Referrals to supportive services are made when further need is identified in these areas.
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Goal 2: Children are Nurtured by their Parents and Caregivers
To promote positive parenting and healthy parent/child relationship building, Beginning Years Home Visitors are trained in strategies to support positive interactions between caregivers and their infants through play, by fostering regular feeding routines, and by educating caregivers about how to read their infants’ cues and respond appropriately.
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Goal 3: Children are Physically and Mentally Healthy
Home Visitors monitor child’s growth and make appropriate referrals for development/behavioral concerns. Topics such as nutrition, the importance of well-child checkups, developmental milestones and social-emotional development are also covered during home visits.
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Goal 4: Children are Ready for School
Families are empowered to support social emotional development through the promotion of reading, talking, and singing- crucial for school readiness.
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Goal 5: Children and Families are Safe
Neglect, abuse and domestic violence adversely affect the development of children’s brains and put them at risk for poor school performance. Home Visitors connect families to community resources and provide information about child development and positive discipline. Through the use of screening tools to assess risk, such as safety plans-used for families who may be at risk for family violence. Home Visitors also provide information on safe sleep practices and unintentional injury issues such as water safety and potential poisoning.
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Goal 6: Families are connected to formal and informal supports in their communities
Connecting families to community services is part of the goal-setting and planning process with all enrolled families. Home Visitors make referrals to various agencies including primary care providers, early intervention programs, domestic violence shelter and services, and child protective services.