Washington State created a unique way to support home visiting through a partnership between the Department of Children, Youth, and Families (DCYF) and Start Early. Together, DCYF and Start Early manage the Home Visiting Services Account (HVSA). The HVSA combines state, federal, and private funding to support high-quality programs that are proven or show strong results.
The Washington State Legislature created the HVSA in 2010. It started by funding four programs that served 120 children. Now, it funds around 40 programs and can serve more than 2,000 children across the state. To read about the current state of the HVSA, read our 2021 Annual Report.
The HVSA only funds part of all of the early childhood home visiting that happens in Washington state. To better understand early childhood home visiting as a whole, DCYF will occasionally do a “Home Visiting Scan” to inventory programs around the state.
In 2012, the American Indian Health Commission (AIHC) for Washington State and the Department of Early Learning (DEL) partnered to make sure culturally appropriate home visiting and other critical early learning services were included when planning and creating the state’s home visiting system. This effort focused on the significant disparities experienced by AI/AN mothers and babies.
In partnership with AIHC and with funding from the federal Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting (MIECHV) grant, an update to the original 2013 report was completed in 2017.
One of the main ways the home visiting program in Washington state is funded is the federal MIECHV grant. Since 2010, Washington has received several grants to fund and expand existing programs.
Since 2010, Washington state has continued to expand its home visiting services, while focusing on the following federally recognized benchmarks:
- Improvements in maternal and prenatal health, infant health, and child health and development
- Increased school readiness.
- Reduction in the incidence of child maltreatment.
- Improved parenting related to child development outcomes.
- Improved socio-economic status.
- Greater coordination of referrals to community resources and supports.
- Reduced crime and domestic violence.
Through federal grants, Washington receives $10 million annually to support direct home visitation services in local communities, to develop systems to build quality implementation of evidence-based home visiting, to integrate home visiting as a strategy in a comprehensive statewide system for early childhood services, and to collaborate with and partner across agencies and throughout communities.
In addition, the HVSA has benefitted from increasing investments over the past several years. These funding sources include, state Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, Dedicated Marijuana Account and the General Fund State. Each of these funding sources have a slightly different focus, enriching the opportunity to engage families across different parts of the state.
In addition to the Home Visiting Scan, the Washington State Department of Health (DOH) completed a new Home Visiting Needs Assessment. This tool estimates how much home visiting services are needed based on community risk factors.
DOH did a similar assessment in 2011 and 2017. This updated version is not meant to change how current funds are used. Instead, it will help with future planning. It also looks at smaller areas than counties to better plan for local communities.
As part of federal reporting, the Department of Health also completed a 2020 update to the MIECHV Needs Assessment.
- 2020 MIECHV Needs Assessment
- 2020 Needs Assessment Race and Ethnicity Brief
- 2020 MIECHV Needs Assessment Executive Summary
- 2020 MIECHV Needs Assessment Data Summary
- 2020 MIECHV Needs Assessment Appendices
- School Locales Map
A primary funding source of the home visiting program in Washington State is the federal Maternal, Infant Early Childhood Home Visiting Program, MIECHV. Since 2010, Washington has received several formula and competitive grants to both fund existing programs and expand the programs reach across the state.
This study ran from Fall 2013 to Fall 2016 in partnership with Start Early and SRI International.
During Fall 2016 to Fall of 2017, a follow-up evaluation occurred to collect an additional year of outcome data for the rural sub-study.
More Information:
- Rise Home Visiting Evaluation Summary
- Rise Home Visiting Final Evaluation Report
- Rise Home Visiting Administrative Brief
- Selected Findings 2015
- How are home visitors putting their skills to use
- Rural Case Study Brief Report
For questions, email Home.Visiting@dcyf.wa.gov.
