Invitation to launch of National Home Visiting Day and Feasibility Study, 13 Oct

The launch of Ireland’s first National Home Visiting Day and the publication of the Feasibility Study on the Replication, Scaling Up and Expansion of Home Visiting across Ireland that was developed through the DCEDIY What Works Sharing Knowledge Fund will take place on 13 October in Dublin.

Date: Friday 13 October 2023 

Time 10am – 12noon  

Venue: National College of Ireland, Dublin 1  

This event will celebrate  4,340 children, parents, families and 200 Home Visitors across 40 local programme sites in Ireland as well as highlighting how early childhood home visiting can be scaled up as part of the implementation of the Government’s First Five Strategy. Similar local events will be held across the country to commemorate how Home Visitors and parents are working together to ensure our most vulnerable children are, not only thriving, but have a better brighter future, despite the tough times we are living in.  

 As you know, early childhood home visiting is a proven service delivery strategy that helps children and families thrive. It connects parents with a Home Visitor who guides them through those precious early stages of raising a family.  An essential local peer-led community lifeline, particularly during Covid-19, home visiting programmes address well being, nutrition, developmental delays, educational disadvantage, parental isolation and poor mental health. A continuum of support is provided with first-time parents, children with additional needs and families who are socially isolated and experiencing challenging circumstances prioritized.  Research, including multiple RCTs and other evaluations, has found significant improvements in child health, well-being, and school readiness and parent self-sufficiency.   

With almost 60,000 children born in Ireland each year and 12,000 born into poverty, our new social reality requires that every community in Ireland has skilled Home Visitors who can deliver high-quality home-visiting experiences that enable both children and parents to thrive.