Family Support Home Visiting
Family Support Home Visiting (FSHV) programs aim to build and support family strengths, aid families in reaching their potential, and create pathways for greater family and community resilience. FSHV engages families from the prenatal period through toddlerhood providing benefits such as improving school readiness, parenting skills, maternal and children’s health, and more.
Parents and guardians experience unique transitions when they become caregivers of newborns and children. While children grow and change rapidly, caregivers may not have the information, experience, or tools to move into each stage confidently. FSHV is a means to strengthen families in the early years when change and growth are constants. These programs recognize each family’s distinctive values, characteristics, dreams, and the right of each family to self determine the course for their future.
FSHV Offers
Promotion of early childhood and wellbeing
Securing nurturing child/parent/guardian relationships
Reduced psychosocial risks
Educational development opportunities
Linkage to services
Increased school readiness
Improvement in life skills and behavioral outcomes across the lifespan
Positive parenting
Prevention of child maltreatment
Who to Refer
Pregnant or expecting parents or parents with kids under 3
Parent/caregiver or child with high ACEs scores or low Strong Start Index scores
Parent/caregivers with risk factors such as:
- housing instability
- teen parents
- low education attainment
- single-parent households
- special needs household
- lack of support
- impacted by racism or generational trauma
Parents who don't have specific needs but for whom you see a need for more support
Healthy Families Mendocino County
We meet families where they are to help them grow.
The program’s primary objectives are to promote family well-being and prevent child abuse and neglect through family-focused and empathic support.
Contact Information
(707) 472-2735
Website
- Enroll in pregnancy until baby is 2 years old
- Begins during pregnancy and extends through 3 years or more
- Visits intended weekly, though vary by participants and as time passes
- Services available county-wide
- English and Spanish language options
- Capacity varies based on case-weight
Healthy Families Mendocino enrollment capacity is weighted depending upon the enrolled family’s locations and complexity of family circumstances, among other factors. Their capacity ranges from 15-20 families per home visiting staff member, currently with four trained staff members.
NCO Home Base Services
Home Base offers child development support services in-person, virtually through video conferencing, text message, and by phone. Home Base provides weekly visits of up to 90 minutes from 28 weeks of pregnancy up to 3 years and nine months.
Contact Information
(707) 462-2582
Website
- Enroll any time from pregnancy through 3 years
- Begins in pregnancy and extends through 3 years 9 months
- Supports families with their children’s transition to a center-based program
- Weekly visits for life of program
- Services available in inland Mendocino County
- English and Spanish language options
- Capacity for 22 families
The program uses a priority rating scale for enrollment. Priorities include:
- The unhoused
- Resource (foster) families
- Single-parent households
- Families receiving or eligible for income assistance
- Living below the poverty line
- Teen parents
- Families with special circumstances
- Grandparent or relative custodians.
Consolidated Tribal Health Project - Family Spirit
Coming soon.
Family Spirit is an early childhood home visiting program designed to serve indigenous communities. The program will be staffed by Community Health Workers of indigenous descent.
Contact Information
(707) 467-5654
Website
- Designed for Native American families with Native American staff
- Enroll any time from pregnancy through 2 years
- Begins in pregnancy and extends through 3 years
- Weekly visits that space out over time
- Services planned for the entire county
- English and Spanish language options
- Anticipated capacity of up to 20 families
Program Strengths
Head Start Home Base
Healthy Families
Family Spirit
Child Development
School Readiness
Family Economic Self Sufficiency
Linkages and Referrals
Child Health
Maternal Health
Positive Parenting Practices
Reduction in violence, juvenile delinquency, crime
California's Focus on Early Childhood Family Strengthening
The State of California set the goal to reduce child maltreatment, Adverse Childhood Events (ACEs), and toxic stress by half in a single generation. This goal requires significant investments in family strengthening services, including FSHV. Early childhood is a delicate developmental period when early support can confer benefits that impact the life trajectory of children and their parents, who may otherwise feel isolated and need support while lacking information on services
How FSHVs Are Part of the Solution
Destigmatizing Family Support Services
FSHV staff provide regular visits, connection, education, and identify the need for referral for higher levels of intervention while destigmatizing family support services by engaging in education around physical, mental, and emotional care.
Improvements to Parent/Child Attachment
Through increased resilience and improvements to parent/child attachment, FSHV can reduce the intergenerational transmission of ACEs, the impacts of dysregulation of body systems, and related chronic health conditions.
Positively Influences Families
FSHV positively influences families through engagement, attachment promotion, and parental support emphasizing the growth and development of both parents and their children.
Strengthen Families in the Early Years
FSHV is a means to strengthen families in the early years when change and growth are constants. These programs recognize each family’s distinctive values, characteristics, dreams, and the right of each family to self-determine the course
for their future.
