Young Children - March 2008 - (Page 82) Providing the Best for Families Developmentally Appropriate Home Visitation Services Edith Anne Bouhebent As Maria grabs a bag from the back of her car, two boys peer from the window of the Lopez house. “The teacher’s here! The teacher’s here!” the boys call excitedly to their mother. Maria waves, and Sylvia Lopez opens the door. “Hola!” Maria says. “I’m so happy to see you!” Four-and-a-halfyear-old Juan and his brother Mateo, age 3, grin eagerly. They know that when Maria comes to visit, she brings fun things to do and interesting books to read. Maria is a home visitor with a Family Connections Home Visitation Program in Fresno, California. She has been coming to the Lopez home since Sylvia was six months pregnant with her third child, Yolanda, now 7 months old. She has become an important presence in the Lopez home. Maria first learned about the Lopez family when she was providing home visitation services to a neighboring family. The mother had mentioned that a new family, including a pregnant mom and two little boys, had just moved in next door. Maria visited the Lopez family that afternoon to welcome them to the community and let them know about the services offered by the Family Connections program. She also told Sylvia that she and her husband, Gustavo, could attend parent workshops while their children participate in on-site, developmentally appropriate child care. She added that Juan could attend a summer kindergarten transition camp. When Maria asked Sylvia about her pregnancy, Sylvia shared that she had not yet been to the doctor. She said her family did not have health insurance and she did not know where to go for prenatal care. She confided that she was concerned about this pregnancy because it felt different from her first two pregnancies. Sylvia was very interested in attending the parent workshops. She knew they would give her and Gustavo a chance to meet other parents and that the child care experience would help her two sons make new friends. She also was open to the program’s case management services, which could help her apply for and receive health insurance, a critical link to prenatal care from a doctor. After talking to her husband, Sylvia called Maria and signed up for the program. © Marilyn Nolt who might otherwise be very isolated (socially, economically, and/or geographically), home visitation can be a highly beneficial family support service. First 5 Fresno County (a program funded under Proposition 10, passed by California voters in 1998) explored ways of offering high-quality, family-centered home visitation services that would be cost-effective and tailored to local needs. An extensive literature review and interviews with home visitation programs conducted through First 5 Fresno County revealed 12 best practices for effective home visitation service delivery. These practices became the backbone for Family Connections, a developmentally appropriate, familycentered home visitation initiative. Family Connections was funded by First 5 Fresno County in June 2005. Families Edith Anne Bouhebent, MA, is the executive director of the Early Learning Coalition of Florida’s Heartland Inc. in Port Charlotte. She developed and implemented Family Connections, a developmentally appropriate home visitation program, for First 5 Fresno County in California. abouhebent@elcfh.org 82 Young Children • March 2008
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