Ky.gov
Effective: 2/17/2025

C3.5 Home Visiting Services

Legal Authority

Introduction

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Home visiting services are a holistic, two-generation approach to providing support and improving outcomes for expectant and new parents. Home visiting programs have demonstrated short- and long-term impacts on the health, safety, and school-readiness of children, maternal health, and family stability and financial security. Home visitors can meet with families in their homes and provide culturally competent, individualized needs assessments and services. This results in measured improvements in the health of babies, safe homes and nurturing relationships, optimal early learning and long-term academic achievement, and supported families. 1 

The Health Access Nurturing Development Services (HANDS) program is Kentucky’s home visiting program offered statewide. It is a voluntary home visitation program for any new or expectant parents. HANDS supports families as they build healthy, safe environments for the optimal growth and development of children. Any parent expecting a new baby and residing in Kentucky is eligible, as well as the child’s guardian (relative/fictive kin). Families must be enrolled during pregnancy or before a child is ninety (90) days old.


Practice Guidance

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  • HANDS is open to any expectant or new parent and is not income-based as it has been in the past. The program must be framed as a positive and voluntary support for new or expectant parents. There should be no stigma around the use of the HANDS program, and it should be offered to all new and expectant parents regardless of whether they have a case plan with the Department for Community Based Services (DCBS). It is an important primary prevention program. 
  • Many communities have additional home visiting services such as Parents as Teachers, Home Instruction for Parents of Preschool Youngsters (HIPPY), or Family Check Up. Often these are offered by community-based providers as part of comprehensive early childhood and family support services available to the community.
  • While referral to HANDS must occur before the child is 90 days old, many other community-based home-visiting programs serve older children and their families. 
  • HANDS provides grief visits for parents who lose custody of their children.  HANDS can continue to provide services even if a child enters out-of-home care (OOHC), including the provision of services during visitation times.  ​

Procedure

​​​The SSW: 

  1. Determines if an expectant or new parent is utilizing a home-visiting program during an investigation, assessment, or provision of in-home services;  
  2. Provides information on the HANDS program to any expectant or new parent to utilize as support voluntarily even if there are no safety threats or identified risks; 
  3. May include use of the HANDS program in an aftercare plan or case plan and work with the family to include HANDS in family team meetings (FTM);
  4. Ensures that referral to HANDS is part of any POSC in accordance with SOP C3.9;
  5. Works in partnership with HANDS to continue the provision of services even if a child enters care; 
  6. Ensures that pregnant and parenting youth in care are referred to the HANDS program.  



​Footnotes

1. For more information on the benefits and evidence base for home-visiting programs, please visit the National Home Visiting Resource Center (nhvrc.org).​


Documents

Revisions