With all the recent nationwide budget cuts, it is remarkable that funding for home visitor programs is actually increasing. The effectiveness of any home visitor program is based on establishing constructive relationships between families and home visitors. The CDA Home Visitor credential is the nationally recognized tool that demonstrates the competence of home visitor professionals.
For over 35 years, the Council for Professional Recognition has awarded the CDA credential to recognize the effectiveness of professionals who perform this important and rewarding role. Successful home visiting programs are best served by professionals who understand the family and its community, and who develop strong relationships with families. At-risk families may face obstacles such as language barriers, geographic and social isolation, and poverty. Home visitors must create a comfortable and predictable environment; recognize unique family circumstances and tailor services to meet their individual needs; and connect families to the kinds of help that can make a real difference in a child’s health, development, and ability to learn.
The home visitor credential centers around Competency Standards that target outcomes such as strong relationships between parents and their children, safer and stimulating home environments for children, family self-sufficiency, and child well-being. The CDA Home Visitor Candidate is assessed on his/her ability to achieve these goals through parenting education.
The credentialing process incorporates community feedback, peer-to-peer professional feedback, and parental feedback. Services delivered through home visiting must be linguistically and culturally appropriate for the children and families served, and the CDA credential is designed to reflect the varieties of communities and their needs. It allows the professionals to choose the training program that is most easily available to them and to be assessed in the language used to work with families. Along with the benefit of earning a nationally recognized credential, the Home Visitor CDA recipient demonstrates to the community that he or she is competent and can deliver quality services.
In the past, home visiting programs have been advanced primarily by communities and states. But the strategy is now gaining recognition by the federal government as an effective strategy for serving at-risk families. Professionals committed to serving the children and their communities find a rewarding combination of the two when serving in the home visitor role. With the CDA credential, they gain confidence they can be effective and useful to the families who most need their support.
Learn more about the Home Visitor credential at the Council website: http://www.cdacouncil.org/the-cda-credential/how-to-earn-a-cda/home-visitor/step-1-explore
References:
Boller, K. Strong, D. A., & Daro, D. July 2010. “Home Visiting: Looking Back and Moving Forward,” in Zero to Three, Vol. 30, no. 6, p. 4.
Dilauro, E. July 2010. “Supporting Parents and Children Where They Live. Improving Federal and State Policy for Home Visiting,” in Zero to Three, Vol. 30, no. 6, p. 10.
Affordable Care Act: Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting Program, at http://www.hrsa.gov/grants/manage/homevisiting/.
The Child Development Associate Assessment System and Competency Standards for Home Visitors. May 2007. Washington, DC: Council for Professional Recognition.