2023 National Home Visiting Summit
This year, the Los Angeles County Perinatal and Early Childhood Home Visiting Consortium had a unique opportunity to participate in the 2023 National Home Visiting Summit, a national conference focused on improving the effectiveness and impact of home visiting programs. The summit provided us with a platform to talk about two important topics embedded in our mission and vision statements as well as our strategic plan:
1. Addressing Implicit Bias and Building Capacity to Include Fathers
2. How Los Angeles County is Improving Equity in Perinatal Outcomes Through Home Visiting
Addressing Implicit Bias and Building Capacity to Include Fathers
Despite evidence that fathers greatly impact the health outcomes of their children and families, home visiting programs have historically focused almost exclusively on the health of the mother and baby, with little to no consideration or inclusion of fathers. The Father Engagement Workgroup of the Los Angeles Perinatal and Early Childhood Home Visitation Consortium formed to advocate for the expansion of home visiting policies and practices to intentionally include fathers in home visiting, with the ultimate goal of improving the health of whole families. Click here to view the resources created by this workgroup.
The video shown below highlights common biases about fathers in home visiting and how with reflective support and supervision, home visitors can identify and work through their own biases and create more inclusive home visits for families.
The Stronger Families Blog, managed by LA Best Babies Network, includes a collection of webinars and other posts on engaging fathers in home visiting:
Resources: Supporting Fathers in the NICU (Nov. 2022)
LABBN presents at the Postpartum Support International Conference, including these slides on Building Capacity to Integrate Fathers Into Early Childhood Services (Aug. 2022)
Webinar: Engaging Fathers in Maternal & Infant Health Programs: Importance, Challenges, and Strategies (Feb. 2022)
Webinar: Engaging Fathers in Home Visiting (Oct. 2022)
Peer to Peer Workshop: Engaging and Supporting Fathers Through Home Visiting (Feb. 2020)
Webinar: Wrestling With Dads: What We Have Learned on the Floor and in Interviews (May 2019)
Webinar: Importance of Fatherhood, Engaging Dads in Home Visiting (Nov. 2017)
Fatherhood Matters: Resources That Encourage Dads to Stay Involved With Their Kids (June 2016)
How Los Angeles County is Improving Equity in Perinatal Outcomes Through Home Visiting
The second video uploaded by our policy team highlight two major projects that came out of the the African American Home Visiting Engagement Workgroup and the Father Engagement Workgroup of the Consortium.
Before joining the Los Angeles County Perinatal and Early Childhood Home Visitation Consortium in October 2020, the African American Home Visiting Engagement Workgroup was hosting conversations about how to support African American staff and families enrolled in home visitation programs in Los Angeles County. The workgroup has a rich history of holding space for African American home visitors and staff who support African American families and taking action based upon their discussions. The workgroup's goals include increasing recruitment of African American families into home visiting programs and increasing retention and hiring of African American home visiting staff.
The Best Practices Hiring Guide for Increasing African American Home Visiting Staff was created to help retain and sustain the African American home-visiting workforce that is reflective of the communities being served. To learn more, click here.
As mentioned above, the Father Engagement Workgroup advocates for the expansion of home visiting policies and practices to intentionally include fathers in home visiting, with the ultimate goal of improving the health of whole families.
This workgroup’s most recent project includes a summary of outcomes report called “What Research Highlight about Father Involvement” which outlines important data that supports the formation of this group and the impact of father-figure engagement on family-child health. To learn more, click here.
A short glimpse into the two workgroups is summarized in the video below.
