What We Do

The Association of State and Tribal Home Visiting Initiatives is member-driven association dedicated to the effective implementation and improvement of home visiting programs at the state, territory and Tribal level. The evidence-based approaches of these programs, focused on pregnant women and families with children birth-through-five, help support families in their most important job of raising children to lead healthy and productive lives.

ASTHVI and its members pursue opportunities to inform and educate federal officials, policymakers, model colleagues, stakeholders, and the media about their work in states and communities. As a 501(c)(3), we do not advocate or lobby.

Through peer-to-peer support, cooperation and open communication, it looks to leverage best practices that maximize the benefit of home visiting initiatives to children, families, and society as a whole.

ASTHVI provides administrators of home visiting initiatives with a forum to share challenges, strategies and successes in implementing home visiting initiatives including, but not limited to, the Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting program.

Some of the amazing things that the ASTHVI team has done over the past couple years to share information about the impact of home visiting programs in our states and local communities with policymakers, the press and the public, as well as to facilitate national exchange of innovative practices. 

Here is a sample of some of the work we’ve accomplished:

  • Research for Results: The Power of Home Visiting (12/5/2018)- The Association of State and Tribal Home Visiting Initiatives (ASTHVI ) is pleased to announce the release of its white paper, Research for Results, The Power of Home Visiting, which explores what the research shows about how voluntary home visiting programs and practices are evolving and improving outcomes for vulnerable children and families.

  • Letter to the Editor: Thank you Sen. Grassley (3/4/2018) – Thanks to the leadership of Sen. Chuck Grassley, thousands of families in Iowa and across the country will receive vital support services through the Maternal, Infant, Early Childhood Home Visiting (MIECHV) program.

  • Chronicle of Social Change: Home Visiting Not Included in Spending Bill (2/1/2018) – The program expired at the end of September, at the same as the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), which is included in the CR. As The Chronicle reported last month, state and local home visiting programs are already starting to contemplate cuts if MIECHV funds expire. Advocates for a MIECHV reauthorization had hoped the program would at least get temporary relief in the CR.
  • Jennifer Garner: A Lifeline for Poor Families (2/1/2018) – Jennifer Garner is an actor and Save the Children Trustee. She recently shared her support of MIECHV in an op-ed on CNN.com.
    Governing magazine: ASTHVI Executive Director Quoted about MIECHV (1/14/2018) – “When we talk to folks on Capitol Hill, there’s policy agreement. There’s consensus that it’s needed, valuable and cost-effective. All of the normal barriers to passing legislation have been addressed. And yet it’s still not moving forward,” says Cat Macdonald, executive director of the Association of State and Tribal Home Visiting Initiatives.
  • USA TODAY: The First, and Most Important, Classroom is the Kitchen Table (1/2/2018) – Currently, Congress is considering the reauthorization of a critical funding source for home visiting, the Maternal Infant Early Child Home Visiting (MIECHV) program. Originally approved in 2010, it supports some of our most vulnerable families with home visiting in every state.
  • HuffPost: Want to Improve the U.S. Citizen-Ready Index? Home Visiting Can Help. (1/2/2018) – America’s strength depends on workforce-ready, law abiding men and women who are able to defend our nation. Unfortunately, a new report shows the majority of America’s young adults fail to meet at least one of these indicators.
  • Brookings Institution: Postponing home visiting reauthorization could do lasting damage (12/25/2017) – Richard V. Reeves, Senior Fellow – Economic Studies Co-Director – Center on Children and Families at Brookings, weighs in with their perspective on MIECHV and the need to reauthorize it.