The Problem

Every state in the US has several Home Visiting programs - these are trained professionals that visit new mothers and moms-to-be in their homes. They offer support, training, and programs to keep mom and baby (and sure, yeah, dads too) safe, healthy, and flourishing.

The problem here is that these programs are run by an alphabet soup of state agencies and programs, which means that there's a ton of duplicated effort in training staff in the basic skills needed to be a good home visitor. Every state in the country is training their staff in the same basics: how to support moms that breastfeed? What does good nutrition look like for a 2-year-old? How do you spot warning signs of domestic violence?

So...

So! Several states - and our client partners at the Center for Public Policy and Research - formed The Institute for the Advancement of Family Support Professionals - a co-op of states that all contribute their training material to a shared pool. The Institute becomes a library of shared material that any home visitor can use. In fact, anybody at all can access this training material. Thanks, federal tax dollars!

Even better, if home visitors sign up for an optional account, they can track their progress, share their work with others, and get quizzes and certificates to show their work.

Basic Training

The training modules are all organized around the Career Compass - a fancy name for a set of skills and knowledge that every home visitor should have. The skills are a nationally-agreed on framework, and all new trainings submitted by the co-op get mapped onto those skills. Home visitors can view a skill tree, and find trainings that cover that content. Then they can take a quiz to assess that skill, and the new competency is marked in their account.

The Institute soft-launched in 2018 is still adding features - but already there are over 3,000 home visitors with accounts taking these trainings.