At KVC, we want every child and adult to be safe & connected to a strong family and a healthy community. We’re proud to be a leader in innovative, effective and compassionate care. See our services and programs overview.
Visiting Infants and their Parents
Overview
KVC Missouri believes creating loving, nurturing relationships at the start of life is a cornerstone of healthy development. Our Visiting Infants and their Parents (VIP) program takes a strength-based, family-centered approach to parent and child education. While we offer a variety of home visiting programs, all of our parent educators focus on the same goals: promoting positive parenting, strengthening healthy parent-child bonds and sibling relationships, supporting family goal setting and more. Together, these efforts help create a strong foundation for family life, positive child development, healthy interactions and school readiness.
KVC Missouri offers home visiting services in Southeast and Northeast Missouri based on a family’s needs. We use two proven, evidence-based models, Healthy Families America® and Motivational Interviewing, to drive our home visiting efforts.
How Visiting Infants and their Parents Supports Families
“Visiting Infants and their Parents” refers to multiple in-home programs from KVC Missouri.
KVC Missouri receives funding from the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education to provide free, voluntary home visiting for expectant and new parents in the Southeast and Northeast regions. Using the Healthy Families America model, KVC’s parent educators work with families with children ages 0 to 36 months to build parenting skills and reduce family stress, as a way to prevent child abuse and neglect.
Evidence-Based Models
Healthy Families America (HFA): HFA is the nationally recognized, evidence-based home visiting program of Prevent Child Abuse America®. HFA supports families in the home and focuses on building nurturing, safe and secure relationships between parent and child. In national studies, HFA has demonstrated positive outcomes for children and families, including:
- Fewer substantiated child abuse/neglect reports and hospitalizations due to child abuse
- Less emotional and physical abuse and hard discipline
- 49% reduction in child protective services reports
- Increased use of positive parenting practices
Motivational Interviewing (MI): MI is a goal-directed, client-centered counseling style that creates behavioral change by helping clients resolve negative motivations. MI has been used for more than 30 years, can be easily learned by a broad range of providers, and is complementary to other treatment methods. MI is based on five principles:
- Express empathy through reflective listening
- Develop discrepancy between clients’ goals/values and current behavior
- Avoid argument and direct confrontation
- Adjust to client resistance rather than opposing it directly
- Support self-efficacy and optimism
For more information about our Visiting Infants and their Parents programs, click on the referral link below or contact KVC Missouri at 1-844-424-3577.
Want to Make a Referral?
Whether you’re a parent seeking support or a professional looking to refer a family, we’re here to help.
Email us at hvreferral@kvc.org to learn more about our free home visiting services or to make a referral. We’ll guide you through the next steps with care and compassion.
Accreditations
Affiliated with Healthy Families America
