New Mexico Pediatric Society

Home Visiting

 

Research shows that what a child experiences in their first few years of life makes a big difference in how their brain will develop and how they will interact with the world throughout their life. Parenting requires support and children do not come with an instruction manual.

 

Home visiting programs in New Mexico:

• offer parents support;

• are totally voluntary;

• teach new parents the skills they need to be better parents;

• increase the number of parents who are reading to their child

• have been proven to have a positive effect on parenting outcomes;

• connect vulnerable families with existing community resources;

• increase self-sufficiency, including education and job training through goal setting; and

• can reduce future costs and save taxpayers' money.

 

How do we know that home visiting programs in NM are effective?

Thanks to Governor Susana Martinez and the NM Legislature, NM statutorily requires accountability for all home visiting programs. Home visiting programs are required to submit a report to the Governor and Legislature every year. Performance outcomes areas are codified in NM state law. Here is the NM Home Visiting Annual Outcomes Report FY 15 (January 2016; pdf)

 

Resources

• NMPS Home Visiting Legislative Fact Sheet (2017; 1 page; pdf)

• Fact Sheet on how Home Visiting Prevents ACEs (2017; 1 page; pdf)

• Talking Points on Home Visiting (2017; 3 pages; pdf)

• First Born 2015 Annual Report (pdf)

• HRSA Home Visiting NM Fact Sheet (for FY 2015; pdf)

• PEW Charitable Trust Home Visiting Research Archive

• State-funded NM Home Visiting information on the CYFD website

• CYFD directory of Home Visiting contracted agencies by region (pdf)

• CHI St Joseph's Children Home Visiting Program (Bernalillo, Sandoval & Valencia Counties)

• United Way First Born Program (Santa Fe County)

• First Born Program of Los Alamos (Los Alamos County)

• Sample Letter to the Editor on Home Visiting (Word doc) (Note: Newspapers have different word count limits, so you need to adjust accordingly. Links to some NM newspapers submission requirements are here.)

 

Behavioral Health

 

Resources

• Infographic (2015; pdf)

• Sample Letter to Legislator that you can adapt and send (Word doc) (Note: Newspapers have different word count limits, so you need to adjust accordingly. Links to some NM newspapers submission requirements are here.)