Washington’s Home Visiting System Gets Accolades from Federal Expert

In the “Thrive by Five Washington” blog, blogger Holly reviews points made by Dr. David WIllis, director of the Division of Home Visiting and Early Childhood Systems for the Maternal and Child Health Bureau of the federal Health Resources and Services Administration, who advocates for the whole-family, whole-community approach to the earliest years as I do. Dr. Willis spent this past week meeting with Washington state’s leaders in building, supporting and funding a system of home visiting that would help people — all the way from birth to adulthood –thrive with regard to mental health, school readiness, physical health and wellness.

Holly tells us in her blog post that Dr. Willis referred to “Washington’s Home Visiting Services Account (HVSA) a ‘game changer’ in early learning because it is built on a public-private partnership with a shared vision.” He went on to praise Thrive because “it helps build a system of multiple partners, strong communicators, measurement and mutually reinforcing action.” In addition, Willis pointed out that pairing the proven benefits of a home visiting program with a community which “believes in hope, holds a positive outlook and rallies around the young children in their community” can really make for change in lives.