Service Coordination in Home Visiting: A Toolkit for Practice and Research
The goal of this toolkit is to advance the building of early childhood systems of care for vulnerable families by strengthening the role of home visiting in coordinating health and human services. The toolkit was developed as part of a national, multi-sector project to establish a coordination framework and set of indicators; describe state and local-level variation in home visiting coordination capacity and practice; and promote use of project findings in policy and practice.
The online toolkit includes a framework and set of indicators for coordination; results of state and local program surveys; and four case studies. The toolkit also features a self-assessment tool for local home visiting programs and other early childhood system of care programs to use in evaluating their systems to support coordination. The self-assessment tool provides an opportunity for reflection and serves as a basis for quality improvement.
The toolkit aligns with the Home Visiting Applied Research Collaborative’s efforts to promote coordination as a core element of home visiting and an essential component of early childhood systems. The framework strives to be family-centered, equitable, adaptable, interdisciplinary and cross-sector, and focused on population health.
Guiding Principles for the Service Coordination in Home Visiting Toolkit
- Family Centered: Families’ strengths, needs, and preferences drive service planning and decision making.
- Equitable: Home visiting programs, along with other providers, reduce barriers and facilitate access to services for all families in need so that they can reach their full potential.
- Adaptable: Providers, organizations, and systems are prepared to meet the changing needs of families, communities, and society.
- Interdisciplinary and Cross-Sector: Providers, organizations, and systems acknowledge, learn from, and leverage the strengths of varied service sectors.
- Focused on Population Health: The early childhood system emphasizes promotion, prevention, early identification, and timely response to identified family and community needs.
Service Coordination in Home Visiting: A Toolkit for Practice and Research
Home Visiting Applied Research Collaborative • hvharc.org
