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Kansas officials and home visitors highlight in‑home supports for families; program staff, family describe transition success
Summary
State Department of Education and home visiting staff described how more than 10,000 Kansas families receive home visits annually, demonstrating early‑learning strategies, screening children, and linking families to local services; a parent described a successful warm handoff into preschool.
Lisa Williams, with the State Department of Education, said, “In Kansas, more than 10,000 families invite a home visitor into their home each year,” adding that those visits total nearly 116,000 annually. The webinar panel framed home visiting as a family‑centered service that supports brain development, early screening and parent‑led learning.
The panelists said home visiting typically pairs a trained parent educator with families to observe development, model everyday learning strategies and set family goals. Michelle McCallister, coordinator for the Mays Parents as Teachers program, described visits as coaching moments: “When I started receiving home visits, I knew that that's what I wanted to do with the rest of my life,” and she outlined how educators suggest simple strategies—labeling objects, narrating routines and celebrating small milestones—that families can use between visits.
The discussion included a family perspective. Annalise, a parent enrolled in Parents as Teachers, said she was nervous at first but that her home visitor, Sonia, “helped me a lot” with Liam’s transition from Part C home services into a preschool setting. Panelists described a warm handoff in which family, home visitor and the receiving preschool coordinated supports; in this case a family member worked at the preschool and served as a paraeducator, aiding continuity.
Panelists emphasized the role of home visiting in early identification and referral. They listed common program models operating in Kansas—Early Head Start, Healthy Families America, Nurse‑Family Partnership and Parents as Teachers—and noted services range from short universal visits to longer‑term programs lasting one to five years depending on family needs.
The webinar also highlighted community resources home visitors use to support families, including the 1‑800‑Children hotline, the Dolly Parton Imagination Library and KSU extension offices. Presenters encouraged attendees to contact local home visiting alliances or the state home visiting leadership team to find programs in their counties and to sign up for the Children’s Cabinet newsletter and YouTube channel for recordings and resources.
The panel invited questions and provided contact information for follow up; hosts reminded participants of the next systems‑building webinar on April 8 and other upcoming meetings.
