FSS Onboarding Lesson 1: Introduction to Delaware's Home Visiting Program
An overview of Delaware's Home Visiting program, its history, mission, and how DPH oversees it.
Welcome to Delaware's Home Visiting Program
As a Family Support Specialist (FSS), you are joining a statewide network of home visitors, supervisors, and program staff dedicated to supporting Delaware's most vulnerable families. This lesson gives you the foundation you need to understand where the program came from, why it exists, and how it is organized.
A Brief History
Home visiting as a formal, evidence-based service model expanded significantly in 2010 when Congress passed the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Section 2951 of the ACA created the Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting program -- known as MIECHV -- a federal grant that funds home visiting in every state. Delaware was among the first states to receive MIECHV funding and has built a robust, multi-model program in the years since.
The Program's Mission
The mission of Delaware's Home Visiting Program is to improve health, developmental, and family functioning outcomes for pregnant women, infants, and young children living in communities with concentrations of risk. The program is voluntary -- families choose to participate -- and is grounded in the belief that early support makes a lasting difference.
Who Is DPH and What Do They Do?
The Delaware Division of Public Health (DPH), within the Department of Health and Social Services (DHSS), is the state agency that administers the MIECHV grant and oversees the Home Visiting Program. DPH sets program standards, monitors compliance, collects and reports data to the federal government, manages the statewide training system, and coordinates with Local Implementing Agencies (LIAs).
DPH does not employ FSS workers directly. Instead, DPH sub-grants funding to LIAs -- community-based organizations and health systems -- that hire and supervise FSS workers on the ground.
How the Program Is Structured
- DPH -- state oversight, federal reporting, training and technical assistance, quality monitoring
- LIAs -- employ FSS workers, deliver home visiting services, report data to DPH
- FSS Workers -- conduct home visits, build relationships with families, connect families to community resources
- Families -- voluntary participants who receive home visiting services
Delaware is divided into 9 geographic zones, each served by one or more LIAs implementing one or more of the four evidence-based home visiting models.
Learning Check
After completing this lesson, you should be able to:
- Describe the origin of MIECHV and its role in Delaware's home visiting program
- Explain how DPH, LIAs, and FSS workers relate to one another in the program structure
- Name Delaware's four evidence-based home visiting models