Home Visiting Services Account (HVSA)

What is Home Visiting?

Home visiting programs address issues such as maternal and child health, positive parenting practices, early literacy skills , safe home environment,  prevention of child abuse and neglect and increased access to additional services in communities.  

There are many evidence-based, research-based and promising home visiting programs serving families in Washington and nationally and the interest is growing! Policymakers have placed increased emphasis on the use of evidence based, research based and promising home visiting programs as a prevention strategy for social challenges.    

 

What is the Home Visiting Services Account (HVSA)?

The HVSA primary focus is voluntary home based programs that match parents with trained professionals to provide support to pregnant mothers and to families with infants and young children throughout the child’s first two to five years of life. 

A budget proviso from the 2009-2010 Washington state legislative session created the Home Visiting Services Account (HVSA) in the custody of the state treasurer.  Revenues to the HVSA consist of appropriations by the legislature as well as other public and private sources deposited in the account. 

Expenditures from the HVSA must support activities to implement evidence-based, research-based, and promising home visiting  programs to enhance child development and well being for young children and their families with the goal of reducing  the incidence of child abuse and neglect and  promoting  school readiness.  The HVSA must also expend funds to develop, administer and maintain infrastructure for training, evaluation and ongoing quality improvement  necessary  for successful  implementation of  quality home visiting programs. 

The Washington State Department of Early Learning (DEL) contracts with the nongovernmental private-public partnership (Thrive by Five Washington) to administer programs funded through the HVSA. 

 

Learn more about what's going on with the Home Visiting Services Account and home visiting in Washington state and across the country.