Home Visiting Program

The CalWORKs HVP is a voluntary program designed to pair new parents with a Public Health nurse who makes regular visits in the client’s home to provide guidance, coaching, access to prenatal and postnatal care, and other health and social services. The pairing of the HVP with CalWORKs provides an opportunity to connect parents with necessary resources, improve their parenting skills and household order, and ensure that their children have a safe and nurturing environment that allows them to thrive and grow.

As a voluntary program, county caseworkers play a critical role in promoting the HVP program and supporting clients as they engage in the program.

Target Population

An individual must meet both of the following criteria to be eligible for the CalWORKs HVP:

The individual is pregnant, or the individual is a parent or caretaker relative of a child less than 48 months of age at the time the individual enrolls in the HVP program; and

The individual is:
- A member of a CalWORKs assistance unit; or
- The parent or caretaker relative of a child-only case; or
- An individual who has applied for and is apparently eligible for CalWORKs.

Note: The Public Health Department provides services through multi-tier models. The services they provide may be extended by the provider to the non-custodial parent with the custodial parent's consent. This change will allow both parents to receive the benefit of consultation from a trained home visitor. Privacy of case information between the parents must be ensured.

Voluntary WTW Participation

Clients eligible for the CalWORKs HVP may volunteer for the WTW program. Volunteers are not required to participate in WTW due to qualifying for a WTW exemption but choose to participate. Volunteers in WTW may end their voluntary participation at any time without loss of eligibility for aid, provided their status has not changed in a way that requires participation.

Benefits and Services Available

While working with a pregnant person or a parent/caretaker relative with a child less than 48 months of age, explain to them the benefits and services that are available to them and their child(ren) if they choose to participate in the CalWORKs HVP. Participation in this program is strictly voluntary and will provide parents/caretakers the opportunity to obtain necessary support and resources.

A Public Health Nurse or other trained professional will make home visits to provide;

Access to prenatal and postnatal care and other health and social services
Connection with resources to improve parenting skills
Encouragement for parent(s) to enroll child(ren) in an early learning setting (i.e. child care center)
Work experience and learning more about the physical, cognitive, and social-emotional development of child(ren)
Infant and child nutrition; and developmental screenings and assessments
Other resources to ensure children have a safe and nurturing environment that fosters healthy development and school readiness.

Supportive Services

While participating in the CalWORKs HVP, recipients may be eligible for supportive services, which include:

Child Care,
Transportation,
Ancillary services, and
Diaper assistance for qualifying children in the home.

Referral Process

Referrals to the CalWORKs HVP may be made by both EWs and/or ECs and are initiated through the DEBS Referral Application, the Provider Name is "CalWORKs Home Visitation". Upon completion of the referral, an encrypted email is generated and will originate from the users email account. The HVP referral will be sent to the Home Visiting Public Health Referral Center who will forward it to the appropriate home visitation model service provider based on the information provided.

The client information fields are mandatory and should include the client's spoken language, phone number and email address (unless the client does not have access to phone or email).

The Referral Comments section must include the following information:

Name, age, and date of birth of child(ren),
Whether or not a person in the AU is pregnant and the name of the pregnant parent,
Reason for the referral,
Client's home address and
Client's gender.

Note: The Referral Comments information is critical to ensure that the Referral Center links the family to the appropriate home visitation service provider.

No entries are required in the Feedback section of the DEBS Referral Application and follow-up is not required as all referrals are sent to the Referral Center for distribution.

Home Visiting List page

All CalWORKs HVP referrals and outcomes must be tracked for reporting purposes. The data must be tracked when an individual has been offered HVP, when the client declines the offer or when the individual participates in the HVP.

HVP Fields:

Offer is defined as verbally providing information to the client and offering a referral to HVP, either in person or by phone.
Declined is defined as verbally providing information to the client and the client declines the offer, either in person or by phone.
Participant is defined as first home visit has been completed.

If...	Then...
HVP is offered,	In the Home Visiting List page enter: Yes in the Accepted Offered field. The Date Offered in the Date field. Add the offer and result in the Journal Detail page. Note: When a client is subsequently offered HVP (for example, at RRR/Re-application), the new data must be entered to capture the data for the measure.
The client declines the offer,	In the Home Visiting List page enter: No in the Accepted Offered field.
The client participates,	Entries will be entered by Designated CWES Staff.

For detailed instructions, please refer to : Job Aid: Home Visiting Program.

Forms

CalWORKs Home Visiting Program Acknowledgement (CW 2224)

The “Home Visitation Program Acknowledgement” form (CW 2224) must be completed, indicating the client’s desire to opt-in to the program. A copy is given to the client. The CW 2224 must be included in the Intake and RRR Packets.

CalWORKs Home Visiting Program flyer (SCD 2552)

A “CalWORKs Home Visiting Program” flyer (SCD 2552) is available in the DEBS Forms Library and may be distributed to clients that may be eligible for this program. The SCD 2552 provides a general overview of the program and the benefits available to participants. The SCD 2552 must be included in the Intake and RRR Packets.