Abstract
Home visiting has been in practice for some time but has gained an increased spotlight in recent years. The present study is a qualitative exploration of the best practices surrounding the specific realm of home visiting in reaching children in early childhood and their families. The research focused on ages three to five and was specific to school readiness. The researcher conducted nonscheduled-standardized interviews with professionals from eight home visiting programs in southern Minnesota and the metro. The transcripts were analyzed using a grounded theory approach and seven themes emerged to describe the work done in these early childhood home visiting programs. These themes included challenges in working with diverse communities, unstable funding, modification and lack of curriculum, importance of relationships, the need to focus on the parent, an emphasis on school readiness and a link to social work. The data also provided a broad look at the curriculum, staffing, assessments and partnerships used in home visiting work. The findings imply that home visiting has certain challenges specific to the work but there are significant benefits to this strategy in reaching children and their families as well. The research also pointed to a link to social work practice partly due to the significant work in home visiting to connect isolated families along with the school readiness focus.