Family Home Visiting
Research in brain development indicates
prenatal experiences and those in the first
few years of a child’s life have far-reaching
consequences. Family home visiting is
designed to help reduce the frequency and
impact of adverse early experiences. A public
health nursing assessment is carried out
during the initial home visit, and ongoing
visits are conducted by nurses and/or trained
home visitors.
Background
What happened?
Through passage of the Health and Human
Services bill, Governor Dayton and the
Legislature provided $575,000 in fiscal year
2016, and $2 million annually thereafter, to
provide family home visiting services to atrisk families to improve birth outcomes and
child development. MDH also received
$75,000 in one-time funding to work with
stakeholders on design of a training program
for all home visiting programs in the state.
Why is this helpful
for Minnesotans?
Improved outcomes from evidence-based
family home visiting include:

Reducing child emergency room visits by
30 percent,

Reducing child abuse and neglect by 20
to 50 percent, and

Reducing arrests of children under 15 by
50 percent.
Participating parents see a 30 percent
reduction in months on TANF, and a
reduction in subsequent births (by 10 percent
to 20 percent) in their teens and early 20s.
Family Home Visiting is a proven strategy for
addressing health equity issues. Intervening
early in life has the highest impact and
greatest return on investment.
MDH provides oversight, guidance and
statewide evaluation of Family Home Visiting
programs administered at the local level.
Grants are distributed to local public health
departments and tribal governments on a
formula basis. Grant-funded FHV programs
serve families at or below 200 percent of
federal poverty guidelines and who are
families with: adolescent parents; a history of
alcohol or drug abuse; a history of child abuse
and neglect, domestic abuse or other types of
violence; reduced cognitive functioning; a
lack of knowledge of child growth and
development stages; low resiliency to
adversity and environmental stressors;
insufficient financial resources to meet family
needs; a history of homelessness, and a risk
of long-term welfare dependence or family
instability due to employment barriers..
Minnesota Department of Health
PO BOX 64975
ST PAUL, MN 55164-0975
651-201-5000
DATE: 5/27/2015