Voluntary home based-programs, also known as home visits, match parents with trained professionals to provide information and support during pregnancy and throughout their child’s first three years.  By helping parents learn how to care for their children and themselves, home visitors hope to see safer and healthier children who are better prepared to learn and more likely to become successful adults. 

In New Mexico, home visiting services may include:

·         Assisting families in identifying informal support networks

·         Providing referrals to community resources as necessary;

·         Providing information on prenatal health, newborn care and child development;

·         Determining if families have been referred to medical care and Medicaid;

·         Post-partum visits conducted when possible and include assessment of the mother’s well being, physical, emotional, social supports and concrete needs; and

·         Guiding families, caregivers and adoptive parents through the child’s developmental growth.