Snapshot of the Home Visiting System in the Greater Philadelphia Area

An extensive body of research shows that home visiting can be effective at improving critical child and family outcomes. Across the United States, early childhood home visiting is a critical part of the early childhood comprehensive system, which acts as a hub where community partners may refer families to home visiting and home visitors refer families to necessary services. Home visiting seeks to reduce service barriers and provide parent coaching, information, and referrals to needed services. Strong leadership and organizations with competent home visitors that are connected with each other and with the larger early childhood system are necessary to ensure that home visiting programs can provide high-quality services and referrals.

The United Way of Greater Philadelphia and Southern New Jersey (UWGPSNJ), with funding from the William Penn Foundation, engaged Child Trends to describe what is currently happening in the Greater Philadelphia home visiting arena (i.e., Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Montgomery, and Philadelphia counties). Child Trends developed an inventory of home visiting programs in the Greater Philadelphia area to understand the overall home visiting landscape, and facilitated three convenings to learn from home visiting leaders about what facilitates or hinders successful home visiting programs.

The report offers findings from each activity, highlights the strengths of the home visiting sector in Greater Philadelphia, and provides recommendations for improving the quality of services offered.