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Teacher & Parenting

Welcome to the home of  National Parental Involvement Day  & Public School Volunteer Week!

Teacher Home Visits

How to Engage Hard-to-Reach Parents: A Successful Teacher's Story

Sharon Johnson, a veteran teacher of at-risk children, knew from experience that family engagement played a crucial role in students' academic success. Ms. Johnson had  heard about National Parental Involvement Day and decided to use the occasion as the start of an effort to promote parental involvement to her student's families.  

As she set out on her mission to engage parents who are traditionally difficult to reach, she was well-prepared with her school's Title I learning compact, the  Parent Engagement Pledge . This pledge had been provided to her during the school's recent professional development sessions, emphasizing the importance of parent engagement and collaboration. Armed with the pledge, she hoped to inspire parents to actively participate in their child's education and create a strong partnership between home and school.

After carefully selecting the families to visit, Ms. Johnson set out to meet them in their homes. She introduced herself and shared her vision of building a partnership betw een parents, students, and educators to create a supportive learning environment. She explained the Parent Engagement Pledge, which asked parents to take personal responsibility for their child's safety and education, as well as the safety and education of the children in the community.

"Would you be willing to take the Parent Engagement Pledge with me?" Ms. Johnson asked each parent.

At first, some parents were hesitant, but as Ms. Johnson explained the pledge's requirements, they began to see the benefits of becoming more involved in their child's education.

At Maria's house, Ms. Johnson sat down with her and her child and showed them some reading strategies and games to help with vocabulary and comprehension. When they were finished, Ms. Johnson handed Maria the pledge form and explained what it meant.

"By signing this pledge, you are committing to taking a more active role in your child's education," Ms. Johnson said. "You'll volunteer at least five hours of your time to the school each semester, and you'll spend a minimum of fifteen minutes each school night reading with your child or working on homework and enrichment activities."

Maria read the pledge and then looked up at Ms. Johnson with a determined expression. "I'll sign it," she said. "I want to do everything I can to help my child succeed."

Over the next few weeks, Ms. Johnson continued her home visits, meeting with other families and sharing the Parent Engagement Pledge. Parents were moved by Ms. Johnson's dedication and the power of the pledge. They saw that their involvement could make a difference in their child's life, and they were eager to take part.

As a result, the children began to thrive in the classroom, and the parents felt more connected to the school community. Ms. Johnson's home visits, combined with the Parent Engagement Pledge, had transformed the lives of at-risk students and their families.

Ms. Johnson knew that there was still much work to be done, but she was heartened by the progress she had made. She had succeeded in building a bridge between home and school, and she knew that it would make all the difference in the world for her students.

Project Appleseed's teacher home visit program yields a significant outcome by generating thousands of hours of volunteer time through the distribution of the Parent Engagement Pledge. This unique aspect sets it apart from other home visit programs, as the volunteer time represents a valuable resource that holds potential economic value. By engaging parents through the pledge, Project Appleseed not only strengthens the bond between families and schools but also taps into the power of volunteerism, which can contribute to the overall success of the program and the broader community.

​What are three essential aspects of​ parent engagement? 

Connect, engage and sustain.

Family Engagement

Professional

Development

One-Day Traveling Workshop and Two-Hour Toolbox Training

After a three year study of 14 schools engaging in teacher home visits for students, researchers at the California State University at Sacramento (CSUS) found evidence that home visits could increase student performance, jumpstart high-impact family engagement​ , reduce

discipline problems and increase overall positive attitudes toward school. If done correctly, a home visit program can give teachers, parents and students a better opportunity for connection, communication and collaboration.

Introducing Project Appleseed's Traveling Workshop on Teacher Home Visits! This dynamic and transformative workshop is designed to empower educators and school administrators with the knowledge, skills, and resources necessary to implement effective teacher home visits and strengthen family engagement for enhanced student success.

Led by Kevin Walker , founder and president of Project Appleseed, this workshop provides a unique opportunity to learn from one of the most influential figures in parent and family engagement. With over 30 years of experience, Mr. Walker has collaborated with schools, educators, and families to develop and implement successful programs that support student achievement.

During the engaging workshop , participants will explore the powerful impact of teacher home visits on student behavior, academic achievement, and parent involvement . Through interactive sessions, group discussions, and practical activities, you will gain insights into the key principles and best practices of successful home visits.  

Home visits have numerous benefits for both parents and teachers. Firstly, parents often feel more comfortable in their own space, which can foster a more open and trusting environment for communication. Meeting in a classroom setting can be intimidating, but when a teacher travels to the student's house, parents may be more inclined to voice their concerns and allow the teacher into their lives.

Secondly, home visits contribute to building closer partnerships and positive communication between parents and teachers. It provides an opportunity for them to meet and collaborate solely for the benefit of the child they both care about. By interacting in a more personal setting, home visits help break the "cycle of blame" that can sometimes arise between parents and teachers of struggling students. This shift in perspective humanizes the relationship, turning finger-pointing into teamwork and understanding.

Furthermore, home visits allow teachers to gain deeper insights into their students' lives and the environment that may impact their learning in the classroom. Understanding a student's home life can help teachers tailor their instruction and support to better meet individual needs.

For students, home visits provide a sense of belonging and support. Knowing that their teacher is willing to make the effort to visit them at home reinforces the idea that they have a network of caring individuals who are invested in their success. This sense of comfort can positively impact their overall well-being and academic performance.

Moreover, home visits have the potential to increase parental involvement in their child's learning, school activities , and volunteering. When parents feel more connected to the school through these personal interactions, they are more likely to actively engage in their child's education. This increased involvement creates a more vibrant and engaged school community as a whole. The program involves the following steps:

Setting Goals: Teachers establish specific goals for home visits and create plans to achieve them.

Building Relationships: Strategies are provided to help teachers build positive relationships and effective communication with families during home visits.

Gathering Data: Teachers learn to collect data during home visits to gain insights into family engagement, student needs, and school-home connections, informing decision-making and identifying areas for improvement.

Reflecting and Improving: Regular reflection on home visits allows teachers to analyze collected data and make necessary adjustments to enhance their approach.

Collaboration: Collaboration among teachers, families, and administrators is encouraged to ensure collective support for student success.

Safety and Boundaries: Guidelines and training are provided to ensure safe and appropriate conduct during home visits.

Scheduling: Strategies are provided to help teachers plan and schedule home visits to accommodate their busy schedules.

Evaluation and Assessment: The program may include evaluation tools to measure the impact and effectiveness of home visits.

By implementing a teacher home visit program using Project Appleseed's approach to high-impact family engagement, schools can empower teachers to build positive relationships with families and gather valuable data to support student success. Project Appleseed offers additional tools, including training and professional development for teachers, a Parental Engagement Report Card , a Parent Engagement Pledge , and the Family Engagement Toolbox , to support teachers and families in the home visit process.

Enrolling in Project Appleseed’s Traveling Workshop on Teacher Home Visits is your opportunity to revolutionize family engagement in your school. Act swiftly to reserve your date for this transformative workshop, as scheduling is limited. Join us in creating a school community where every parent, grandparent, and caring adult is actively involved in their child's education. Together, let's pave the way for student success and meaningful family engagement.

For inquiries or assistance, reach out to our dedicated team. Don't miss out on this opportunity to bring positive change to your school community. Enroll in Project Appleseed’s Traveling Workshop on Teacher Home Visits today!

Organizing Engagement

Advancing Knowledge of Education Organizing, Engagement, and Equity

Parent Teacher Home Visit Model

The parent teacher home visit model outlines a process and set of practices that can help educators and families build more trusting and mutually supportive relationships to positively impact a child’s education.

The Parent Teacher Home Visit model was developed by Parent Teacher Home Visits , a nonprofit organization that works with public schools and other partners across the United States to support relationship-building home visits between educators and families. While other home visit models focus on the early childhood years, emphasize academic or behavioral issues, or provide social services, such as advice on childhood health and nutrition, the Parent Teacher Home Visit model can be used during any stage of child and youth development, and the primary goal is to build trusting, mutually supportive relationships between educators and families that will positively impact a child’s education.

“The Parent Teacher Home Visit model developed from an understanding that family engagement is critical to student success, and yet complex barriers often stand in the way of meaningful partnerships between educators and families. In communities where educators and families differ by race, culture, and/or class, educators may have little knowledge of the communities where they teach, including historic racism and poverty. They may also be unaware of their own automatic and unconscious biases that lead to disconnects and missed opportunities in teaching their students…. Decades of research shows that students of color and those from low-income households are often treated differently from White and middle- and upper-class students in ways that have a negative impact on their school experience and learning. Although PTHV did not start as a program explicitly designed to reduce implicit biases in school communities, after close to two decades of practice, leaders of the model believe it does counteract these biases and that bridging divides as a result of race, culture, language, and socioeconomic status is an essential component of the program’s impact.” Mindset Shifts and Parent Teacher Home Visits , RTI International (Study I of a National Evaluation of Parent Teacher Home Visits 2017–2018)

Parent Teacher Home Visits originated in a low-income Sacramento neighborhood in 1998. A group of parents used the principles of community organizing to develop programs intended to build greater trust and accountability between parents and teachers. One of the foundational strategies was a voluntary home visit. In an unprecedented collaboration at the time, the school district, the local teachers union, and Sacramento ACT , a community-organizing group, worked together to pilot the first home visits. Since that time, hundreds of communities and school systems in more than two-dozen states have implemented the model.

The Parent Teacher Home Visit model has been the subject of several research studies and formal evaluations that have connected home visits to a variety of benefits for students, families, and teachers, including:

• Improved educational outcomes for students, such as higher student-attendance rates, increased literacy and reading comprehension, and greater engagement and motivation in the classroom.
• Adoption of more personalized and culturally responsive instructional strategies by educators, and more positive instructional interactions between students and teachers.
• Stronger home-school relationships, including families reporting increased trust in teachers and greater confidence reaching out to educators.
• Positive changes in family perceptions of their child’s school and teachers, and a reduction in negative assumptions or group stereotyping of students and families by educators.
• A more informed understanding of the causes of student behavioral issues, and a reduction in punitive disciplinary practices in the classroom.

The Parent Teacher Home Visit Model

According to Parent Teacher Home Visits, the home-visit model is designed to “connect the expertise of the family on their child with the classroom expertise of the teachers.” The home visits are not unplanned drop-ins, but scheduled appointments that are coordinated between willing colleagues—teachers and families—in a setting outside of the school. While a student’s home provides unique opportunities for learning about the family and a student’s home life, teachers may also meet with families in a public location—such as a library, park, or coffee shop—if it is more convenient or if the families request an outside-of-the-home location.

Schools typically announce a home-visit program to parents and let them know that their child’s teacher will initiate communication to describe the home-visit process, extend an invitation, and determine a family’s receptivity to a visit. If a family accepts the invitation, the home visits are conducted in teams of two—the child’s teacher and a trusted colleague (in most cases, a fellow teacher). The initial visit can take place at any time during the year, but the first is ideally conducted at the outset of a new school year during either the summer or fall.

Regular communication between the teacher and families continues after the first home visit using a communication method that works for both parties, whether it’s through in-person conversations or emails, texts, or phone calls. Over the course of the school year, teachers apply what they learned about their students to the instructional process, and families usually become more involved in school activities and in their children’s learning progress and coursework. A second visit is then conducted in late winter or spring, which focuses on academic issues, but with reference to the initial home visit conversation and to the mutual understanding that’s been developed since then.

The Five Non-Negotiable Core Practices

The Parent Teacher Home Visit model is routinely adapted and customized across the United States to meet the needs of teachers and families in a given community, but all home visit programs using the model follow these five non-negotiable core practices: 

1. Visits are always voluntary for educators and families, and they are arranged in advance.

Home visits are never mandatory: all participants must agree to the visit. Because home visits are a choice, not a contractual or policy requirement, participating teachers and families need to be personally motivated to conduct the visit. In many cases, however, teachers and families who are initially reluctant to participate in a home visit will often change their minds once they hear about the benefits that home visits have had on other teachers and families.

2. Teachers are trained to conduct home visits, and they are compensated for visits that occur outside their normal school day.

Parent Teacher Home Visits provides training for educators before the launch of a local program, which addresses topics such as the research supporting the model; best practices for coordination and logistics; skill-building and practice sessions for engaging families; overcoming common barriers (e.g., funding, time, fears); cultural sensitivity and cross-cultural connection; and applying insights and lessons from home visits to the instructional process. Once a program is more established, train-the-trainer workshops may be provided to local educators. Compensation for participating educators typically comes from one of three sources: district funds (including Title I funding), foundation grants (from either local and national philanthropies), and union funds (including funding from national, state, or local teachers associations). The Parent Teacher Home Visits provides guidance on how home-visit programs are commonly funded.

3. The first visit focuses on relationship-building: teachers and families discuss hopes, dreams, aspirations, and goals.

While other home visit models focus on academics, student performance, or behavioral issues, Parent Teacher Home Visits has found that such interactions can reinforce potentially problematic power dynamics, such as families experiencing anxiety about being visited by an “authority figure” or feeling intimidated by the use of academic language they may not understand. For this reason, the initial home visit is focused entirely on relationship-building between educators and families, and the discussions address positive and affirming topics such as the family’s hopes and aspirations for their child, the child’s talents and learning strengths, or how the teacher and parents can work together to support the child’s development and educational growth.

4. There is no targeting of specific students, families, or groups: teachers either visit all of the school’s families, or a diverse cross-section of families, to avoid potential stigma.

By not targeting specific students, families, or groups, districts and schools can avoid negative perceptions of home visits. For example, if a school decides that home visits will only be conducted with families who live in a certain neighborhood or with the parents of students who are struggling academically, people are more likely to assume that visits are intended to address “problems,” not build stronger relationships, and other families may, therefore, be less motivated to participate in a visit.

5. Educators always conduct visits in pairs, and after the visit they reflect on the experience with their partner.

Pairing teachers helps to create a safer environment for both teachers and families, and it also gives visiting teachers someone who can help them reflect on the interaction and how it might be applied in the classroom.

Acknowledgments

Organizing Engagement thanks Gina Martinez-Keddy for her contributions to improving this introduction, and Parent Teacher Home Visits for permission to republish images from their website and publications.

Creative Commons

This work by Organizing Engagement is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License . When excerpting, adapting, or republishing content from this resource, users should cite the source texts and confirm that all quotations and excerpts are accurately presented.

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Home Visits: Reaching Beyond the Classroom

Get to know your students and strengthen the home-school partnership with these seven tips for reaching out to parents and meeting families.

As a teacher at a small Oakland, California public high school called Life Academy , where each teacher also holds a mixed-grade level advisory class of about 20 students, I began conducting home visits for my advisees as a way to clarify my relationship to them as more than a teacher. After all, we would be together for the next four years. I would be their advocate when they struggled in other classes, the one who would write their letters of recommendation, announce them at graduation, and ask them about their day, every day. Part of this relationship was an initial visit to each student's home.

Seeking Home-School Partnership

To make home visits manageable, I only visited the homes of the four to five ninth graders who were new to my advisory class. The first year I did this, there was a lot of pushback from students who weren't used to having a teacher visit their home, but in the second year, the tenth graders were able to sell the idea for me. They'd say, "Yeah, she came to our house, too. It was cool!"

Once there was buy-in from the class, the home visits were relatively easy to set up. The student would check with their parent and find a good time for me to stop by. Often the parents were relieved to hear that they didn't have to get off work early or find time to come to me. In fact, some of my students' parents began to request home visits, and I happily obliged. I always gave myself a full hour, but rarely needed it. I visited homes after school, in the evening, or on the weekend, whatever was best for the family. While I've heard the advice to conduct home visits with a partner teacher, I personally felt that going alone made it more comfortable for the family.

One time, when I was visiting the home of soccer star Angela, her mom had prepared a full meal for me, and the visit lasted well into the evening when she invited me into the back yard to pick lemons for my own family. After that visit, despite the language gap (I am proficient but not fluent in Spanish), whenever I saw Angela's mom at school events or at on-campus parent conferences, it was more like seeing an old friend. We were comfortable with each other. She felt accepted by me, and I felt respected by her. We were partners in her daughter's education.

Of course, it didn't always go so idyllically. Once I visited the home of Payton, whose mom was volatile and even hostile in meetings. I had met her several times before the home visit because Payton was in trouble at school early and often. At his house, I was formally welcomed but felt out of place as we sat in the living room and his numerous brothers clamored for his mother's attention. His mom told me about how three of Payton’s male role models had been killed in the last few years. I was glad to have had a glimpse at his home life, even though its reality made me feel more powerless than before. I imagined that as out of place as I felt in his mother's home, she must also feel the same way when visiting the school. If nothing else, the visit allowed me to empathize more clearly with Payton and his family.

The Power of a Visit

Whenever I coach new teachers, I encourage them to visit the homes of students as early as possible. It's just about the quickest way to understand a student better. Home visits should also be considered when a student is new to a school due to a transfer. While I made it a personal policy to visit the homes of all my ninth grade advisees, I also recognized that the impact of home visits could have been multiplied had it been a school-wide practice. Can you imagine if every ninth grader got a visit from his or her advisor, and if each family felt personally welcomed to the school? At my school, we've made time for on-campus parent conferences by modifying our schedules, but we haven't yet prioritized home visits. I think meeting parents and guardians where they are most comfortable could make a big difference. It certainly did for Louise Rocha-McCarthy and Annie Huynh .

In my own experience, visiting my student Diego at his house when he had been out of school for several weeks is what got him to come back to school, albeit briefly. I saw the power of home visits again this year when one of our most challenging students had missed several weeks of school. An email chain revealed that no one had been able to reach the family to find out why he had been away. Students were starting to ask where he was and why none of his teachers knew the answer. That very afternoon, three of his after-school mentors went together to his home and by the next day he was back in class. While the visit clearly had a positive impact on the young man, this impact rippled throughout school, too. Students saw without a doubt that the adults at school, not just classroom teachers, cared for even the most troubled student, and that being absent didn’t mean being invisible.

7 Suggestions for Visiting

Here are a few tips to get the most out of your home visit:

• Make home visits a part of your classroom or school culture so that no one feels singled out.
• Systematize who gets home visits to keep the practice manageable for you.
• Set aside strategic times during the year for home visits.
• Be flexible about when you do a home visit. Let the parent or guardian decide the date and time.
• Be prepared to share one concrete example of a way that you've seen the student shine.
• Don't discuss grades or behavior. This is a time for getting to know the family. Ask them open-ended questions. Ask your student to show you where they do their homework.
• Thank the family for allowing you in to their home.

Have you visited your students at home? Please share your experiences in the comments below.

The Essentials of Home Visiting

Robust. Reflective. Relevant. Accredited online courses to support home visiting in any model.

Home visitors, doulas and family support professionals are an essential part of family wellbeing and strong program outcomes. That’s why we launched The Essentials of Home Visiting, a high-quality, online training platform designed to create confident, competent home visitors and supervisors within any home visiting model.

The Essentials of Home Visiting closes the gap in home visitor education with relevant topics and a flexible, accredited training experience. Learners earn early childhood CEUs that support the acquisition and maintenance of professional credentials across multiple fields and state and professional registries.

Our comprehensive catalog of cost-effective, self-paced courses and live webinars is competency-based and rooted in decades of home visiting expertise from Start Early. Individualized implementation support from Start Early experts ensures you meet state and system requirements while strengthening the professionalism of your entire home visiting workforce.

NEW! Adult Learning & Adult Literacy Webinars

Learn about the factors that affect adult learning and literacy and become more effective in collaborating and engaging with diverse families. These webinars are perfect for ALL home visiting and early childhood staff.

Live Webinars Available in Spanish!

Attend two of our most popular Essentials of Home Visiting webinars, presented live in Spanish. Reach out to our team to learn more.

The course helped me better organize my time and prepare myself before going to a home visit. I feel more confident in ... how I utilize my knowledge and take care of myself in order to help others. Participant

What does The Essentials of Home Visiting include?

The Essentials of Home Visiting offers research-based learning experiences that can be mixed and matched to create custom training solutions for family professionals.

Self-Paced Online Courses

The course catalog includes 10 courses, which cover everything from foundational training to advanced topics like infant mental health and trauma-informed practice. Two courses are specifically designed for supervisors of family professionals.

Online courses are self-paced and typically completed in 2-3 hours, with unlimited starting and stopping permitted. Learners have perpetual access to their courses, so they can refer back to the content at a later date.

Course Catalog

• Basics of Home Visiting
• The Impact of Trauma in Home Visiting
• Ages and Stages Questionnaire-3 (ASQ-3™) Overview & Best Practices
• Foundations of Infant Mental Health Practice in Home Visiting

Live Webinars

Webinars are live and facilitated by home visiting experts at Start Early. Each webinar is offered multiple times throughout the year.

There are 17 webinars within the course catalog, including 2 that are offered in both English and Spanish, and 4 specifically developed for supervisors. Each webinar includes a presentation, case studies and a Q & A session. Participants also have access to the recorded sessions.

• Understanding Substance Abuse Through the Family’s Lens
• Home Visiting Boundaries
• Promoting Effective Parenting With Motivational Interviewing
• Trauma in Families & Communities

Implementation Support

Start Early experts provide technical assistance to assist state and system leaders in providing the optimal professional learning experiences to meet the unique needs of professionals.

Technical assistance includes:

• Regular calls to discuss implementation progress
• User data analysis and reporting
• Custom training portal with partner branding
• Communication tools and materials to drive usage

All Essentials of Home Visiting participants receive a Certificate of Completion stating the number of hours of professional development and a description of the learning event completed. The Essentials of Home Visiting trainings can be used towards several credentials and align with many state professional development registry systems. See full list below:

Credentials

• Alliance for the Advancement of Infant Mental Health (AAIMH) : The Essentials of Home Visiting self-paced online courses and live webinars are approved by the AAIMH. Upon completion of these learning experiences, participants earn in-service training credits towards Endorsement® from their local Infant Mental Health Association, if their association is a member of the Alliance for the Advancement of Infant Mental Health. See crosswalk which details The Essentials of Home Visiting trainings that support each Endorsement Knowledge & Skill Area, as well as credit hours a professional may earn upon completion.
• Child Development Associate (CDA) for Home Visitors: The Essentials of Home Visiting trainings can be used as Professional Education Clock Hours to obtain or renew your CDA for Home Visitors. Upon course completion, participants are provided official certifications documenting all required information. See crosswalk which details the alignment of the Essentials of Home Visiting to the CDA-Home Visitor competency goals and the number of credit hours that can be earned.
• Continuing Education Units (CEUs):   Start Early is approved by IACET (International Accreditors for Continuing Education and Training) to offer CEUs in support of the workforce to earn, obtain, or renew a range of recognized credentials. Start Early is a provider of CEUs for Social Work, Education and Nursing in the state of Illinois. We can supply you with the necessary documentation so you can receive CEUs within your state.
• Nursing and Social Work: Start Early is an approved provider of CEUs in Nursing, Social Work, and early childhood workforce certifications. Many states licensing boards for Nursing and Social Work have reciprocal agreement to accept CEUs as approved by these boards in Illinois. Certificates of Completion can be downloaded to verify attendance and submitted per your license requirements.
• Certified Family Life Educator (CFLE) :The Essentials of Home Visiting online courses can be used for Contact Hours / CEUs to obtain or renew your CFLE credential. Upon course completion, participants are provided official certifications documenting all required information.

Competencies

• Institute for the Advancement of Family Support Professionals (IAFSP): The Essentials of Home Visiting courses align to the IAFSP Competency Framework. See crosswalk for additional detail.
• Head Start / Early Head Start Relationship-Based Competencies to Support Family Engagement: The Essentials of Home Visiting self-paced online courses and live webinars align with the Relationship-Based Competencies which support strengthening relationships with families, family engagement, and professional development. See crosswalk which details The Essentials of Home Visiting courses and webinars, and which Relationship-Based Competencies are supported by each.
• National Workforce Registry Alliance (NWRA) Training Organization Recognition (TOR) : Start Early is a proud member of the National Workforce Registry Alliance, which promotes high quality, coordinated, documented, and accessible career development systems that support a well-trained, well-educated, early childhood workforce. As an NWRA Recognized Training Organization, Start Early has demonstrated a commitment to best practices and continuous quality improvement. State registries may be able to expedite approval processes for training organizations already recognized by the NWRA.  See the states that accept Recognized Training Organizations.
• Illinois Gateways
• Oregon Registry

Individual Home Visitors

Visit our online training portal to browse learning experiences or register as an individual for a course or webinar from The Essentials of Home Visiting.

Visit Portal

State & Program Partners

Find your state or program’s customized online training portal below. Can’t find your state or program?

Let’s Talk

• Alaska Early Intervention Infant Learning Program
• Louisiana Department of Health

Massachusetts

• The Children’s Trust
• Michigan Home Visiting Initiative
• For access to the Essentials of Home Visiting learning experiences provided by the Minnesota Department of Health, please contact [email protected].
• Healthy Families Oregon
• Oregon Health Authority
• Save the Children
• Tennessee Department of Health
• Texas Prevention and Early Intervention

West Virginia

• West Virginia Home Visitation Program

(The Essentials of Home Visiting) allows rural home visitors to attend trainings and not use excessive time and money traveling. This is so important in the current financial climate. The interactive components … also allow (participants) to form relationships and feel part of … a learning community. State Leader, Illinois

What the Field Is Saying

• 94% of participants report satisfaction and 91% would recommend The Essentials of Home Visiting to a colleague
• 76% of participants report applying what they learned within one week of engaging with a The Essentials of Home Visiting experience

Resources & News

Explore resources from our home visiting experts and learn how The Essentials of Home Visiting can help your team.

Look Closer

Explore the research behind our innovative approach to early childhood education.

Have specific questions about Start Early’s professional development offerings? Reach out directly to our team.

Stay Connected

Stay up to date on our latest professional learning opportunities, events and resources to strengthen your practice.

National Home Visiting Resource Center

Helping children and families thrive.

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Home Visiting's Reach

Early childhood home visiting helps families meet children’s needs during the critical first 5 years of development. The newly released 2022 Home Visiting Yearbook explores home visiting at the national and state levels.

~17.3 million

pregnant women and families could benefit from home visiting nationally

Building on Strengths: Reaching Unhoused Families With Home Visiting Parent Support Programs

Home visiting is uniquely positioned to reach unhoused families and help them meet basic needs while supporting strong parenting skills and healthy child development. In this video, we learn how Lydia Places offers Parents as Teachers home visiting as part of a comprehensive approach to serving unhoused families.

Stay up to date on the latest home visiting information.

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Home Visitor

CDA credential for caseworkers conducting home visits with families of children ages birth to 5 years.

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The CDA Three-Step Process

To earn a Home Visitor Child Development Associate® credential, you must complete a three-step process.

ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS

All requirements must be met before starting the application process.

Any time prior to applying:

• Earn a high school diploma, GED (equivalent).
• Complete 120 hours of formal early childhood education and principles of adult learning, covering the growth and development of children ages birth to 5 years, with no fewer than 10 training hours in each of the eight Home Visitor CDA subject areas.

CDA® Subject Areas

• Promoting health and safety in the home environment
• Enhancing parents’ skills to advance children’s physical and intellectual development
• Promoting parents’ use of positive ways to support children’s social and emotional development
• Understanding family systems and development
• Managing an effective home visitor program operation
• Maintaining a commitment to professionalism
• Working across the child welfare continuum
• Understanding the principles of child development and learning

CDA® Training

Training can be obtained through a wide variety of organizations — from a single training agency or several training organizations. The organization must have expertise in early childhood education and teacher preparation and must provide official documentation of training completed.

The Council does not accept training provided by individual consultants or from a conference. A trainer is considered an individual consultant if they are providing training independently. A training agency must have two or more instructors in order to not be considered an individual consultant.

Acceptable forms of training documentation:

• College transcript from an accredited college or university
• Certificate of Training
• Letter of training on official letterhead of the agency(ies)

Documentation of training must include:

• Training agency name and address
• Training agency logo
• Course name(s)

Note: If course name does not include age reference, certificate must include the ages the training covered

• CDA subject area of training
• Candidate’s name
• Number of hours/credits awarded
• Dates of training
• Official signature of instructor

Within 3 years of submitting your application:

Obtain 480 hours in a Home Visitor program serving families with children ages birth to 5 years.

DOCUMENTATION

Within 6 months of submitting your application:

• Prepare your CDA professional portfolio. This is a collection of reference materials related to your work. You’ll find detailed preparation instructions in the purple Home Visitor edition of the CDA® Competency Standards book.
• Select a CDA Professional Development (PD) Specialist™ to conduct your CDA Verification Visit®, which is part of your final assessment. Your PD Specialist will review your professional portfolio, observe you working with the children, complete a reflective dialogue with you, and submit score recommendations to the Council.
• All active CDA PD Specialists can be found and selected in YourCouncil. To access the Find-a-PD Specialist Tool, login to YourCouncil and click the Find a PDS button located on the left side menu. If you do not have a YourCouncil account, visit yourcouncil.org and click the option to create an account under the Login button.

COMPLETE YOUR APPLICATION

After all requirements are met:

• Apply online using YourCouncil and pay the online assessment fee of $425, or submit a paper application provided in the purple Home Visitor edition of the CDA® Competency Standards book with the $500 assessment fee.
• The non-refundable, non-transferable application fee must be submitted with your application. Make sure to secure the funds before you submit your application.

Learn more about applying for a CDA in Other Languages .

Ready to Schedule

Once your CDA application is approved, you will receive your Ready to Schedule notice, and you can schedule your CDA Verification Visit®. Details are provided in the purple Home Visitor edition of the CDA® Competency Standards book.

Demonstrate

EARNING YOUR CDA®

• Once you have completed your CDA Verification Visit®, your results are electronically submitted to the Council by the CDA PD Specialist™.
• The Council reviews the results of your assessment and renders a credentialing decision. If your credential is awarded, the official Child Development Associate® credential will be mailed to you. In the unfortunate event your credential is denied, the Council will make recommendations on areas of improvement and let you know the next steps to take to earn the CDA credential.

Being a PD Specialist allows me to share my expertise and genuine love of early childhood education. Being a PD Specialist is my Occupassion! - Sherilynn Kimble, PD Specialist

I had been working with children for about three years when I was given the opportunity to obtain my CDA. During the process I was able to gain so much knowledge about all aspects of caring for chil... - Tanesha Sanders, Texas

I started working at the University of Dubuque Childcare Center in October of 2009. I was hired as a floater to work with three age groups, Infants, Toddlers, and Twos. In August of 2010, I was assign... - Rhonda Baule, Iowa

The great thing about having a CDA is that it is a national certification. I started in Florida and then moved to Louisiana where it was recognized and did help me in finding a job at the local Child ... - Kendra Barnes, Louisiana

Starting a new job in the childcare arena was exciting! I knew that I enjoyed working with children, and it was a great opportunity to stay at home with my daughter. One year turned into two, and befo... - Traci McNeil, Ohio

I am an Assistant VPK Teacher with a local childcare group. I had a director who encouraged me to get my CDA. My short journey had begun. I, too, was a little hesitant and fearful of failing when I sa... - Gloria Williams, Florida

It is well worth it. When I received my Certificate for my Nationals in the mail, I cried I was so happy. I would also like to Thank my Director and my Assistant Director for really supporting me. - Donna Hayes, Florida

The journey I take with my Preschoolers each day assures me that I have chosen the right profession. Their destination will be greatly influenced by their dreams and their education. I hope that I can... - Sherry King, Florida

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Chief Operations Officer (COO)

Andrew Davis serves as Chief Operating Officer at the Council. In this role, Andrew oversees the Programs Division, which includes the following operational functions: credentialing, growth and business development, marketing and communications, public policy and advocacy, research, innovation, and customer relations.

Andrew has over 20 years of experience in the early care and education field. Most recently, Andrew served as Senior Vice President of Partnership and Engagement with Acelero Learning and Shine Early Learning, where he led the expansion of state and community-based partnerships to produce more equitable systems of service delivery, improved programmatic quality, and greater outcomes for communities, children and families. Prior to that, he served as Director of Early Learning at Follett School Solutions.

Andrew earned his MBA from the University of Baltimore and Towson University and his bachelor’s degree from the University of Maryland – University College.

Janice Bigelow

Chief Financial Officer (CFO)

Jan Bigelow serves as Chief Financial Officer at the Council and has been with the organization since February of 2022.

Jan has more than 30 years in accounting and finance experience, including public accounting, for-profit and not-for-profit organizations. She has held management-level positions with BDO Seidman, Kiplinger Washington Editors, Pew Center for Global Climate Change, Communities In Schools, B’nai B’rith Youth Organization and American Humane. Since 2003, Jan has worked exclusively in the non-profit sector where she has been a passionate advocate in improving business operations in order to further the mission of her employers.

Jan holds a CPA from the State of Virginia and a Bachelor of Arts degree from Lycoming College. She resides in Alexandria VA with her husband and dog.

Janie Payne

Vice President of People and Culture

Janie Payne is the Vice President of People and Culture for the Council for Professional Recognition. Janie is responsible for envisioning, developing, and executing initiatives that strategically manage talent and culture to align people strategies with the overarching business vision of the Council. Janie is responsible for driving organizational excellence through strategic talent practices, orchestrating workforce planning, talent acquisition, performance management as well as a myriad of other Human Resources Programs.  She is accountable for driving effectiveness by shaping organizational structure for optimal efficiency. Janie oversees strategies that foster a healthy culture to include embedding diversity, equity, and inclusion into all aspects of the organization.

In Janie’s prior role, she was the Vice President of Administration at Equal Justice Works, where she was responsible for leading human resources, financial operations, facilities management, and information technology. She was also accountable for developing and implementing Equal Justice Works Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion strategy focused on attracting diverse, mission-oriented talent and creating an inclusive and equitable workplace environment. With more than fifteen years of private, federal, and not-for-profit experience, Janie is known for her intuitive skill in administration management, human resources management, designing and leading complex system change, diversity and inclusion, and social justice reform efforts.

Before joining Equal Justice Works, Janie was the Vice President of Human Resources and Chief Diversity Officer for Global Communities, where she was responsible for the design, implementation, and management of integrated HR and diversity strategies. Her work impacted employees in over twenty-two countries. She was responsible for the effective management of different cultural, legal, regulatory, and economic systems for both domestic and international employees. Prior to Global Communities, Janie enjoyed a ten-year career with the federal government. As a member of the Senior Executive Service, she held key strategic human resources positions with multiple cabinet-level agencies and served as an advisor and senior coach to leaders across the federal sector. In these roles, she received recognition from management, industry publications, peers, and staff for driving the creation and execution of programs that created an engaged and productive workforce.

Janie began her career with Verizon Communications (formerly Bell Atlantic), where she held numerous roles of increasing responsibility, where she directed a diversity program that resulted in significant improvement in diversity profile measures. Janie was also a faculty member for the company’s Black Managers Workshop, a training program designed to provide managers of color with the skills needed to overcome barriers to their success that were encountered because of race. She initiated a company-wide effort to establish team-based systems and structures to impact corporate bottom line results which was recognized by the Department of Labor. Janie was one of the first African American women to be featured on the cover of Human Resources Executive magazine.

Janie received her M.A. in Organization Development from American University. She holds numerous professional development certificates in Human Capital Management and Change Management, including a Diversity and Inclusion in Human Resources certificate from Cornell University. She completed the year-long Maryland Equity and Inclusion Leadership Program sponsored by The Schaefer Center for Public Policy and The Maryland Commission on Civil Rights. She is a trained mediator and Certified Professional Coach. She is a graduate of Leadership America, former board chair of the NTL Institute and currently co-steward of the organization’s social justice community of practice, and a member of The Society for Human Resource Management. Additionally, Janie is the Board Chairperson for the Special Education Citizens Advisory Council for Prince Georges County where she is active in developing partnerships that facilitate discussion between parents, families, educators, community leaders, and the PG County school administration to enhance services for students with disabilities which is her passion. She and her husband Randolph reside in Fort Washington Maryland.

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Home Visitor Safety

You can work with other program administrators and community resources to implement policies, procedures, and strategies that can contribute to home visitors’ and families’ safety in unsafe situations. As you put safety plans and measures in place, keep the following concepts in mind [ 5 ]:

Sometimes situations, such as crises, arise that pose some degree of risk to the safety of family members and home visitors.  The potential for physical harm exists in any emotionally charged crisis. Staff should never overlook or discount that potential.

Home visitors’ skills in handling a potentially dangerous situation shape intervention decisions. Sometimes home visitors find themselves faced with, or caught up in, a family situation that is too complex or too dangerous for them to address directly. At such times, it is critical to recognize that the situation is beyond their intervention abilities and to discuss alternatives with their supervisor.

The best predictor of impending danger is behavior. Safety measures are called for if a family member's current or past behavior includes violent/abusive acts, threats of harm, criminal activities, the use of addictive substances, signs of a serious emotional disorder, or threats of suicide. These measures are needed at several points in the intervention process: before face-to-face visits with the family, during face-to-face visits, and as part of referral and follow-up services.

Home visitors must always be aware of behaviors and situations that signal danger. Some violent incidents may be predicted, but many helping professionals fail to recognize signs of potential violence. Signs of loss of control and impending danger include expressions of anger and hostility. Staff may also sense that a situation is dangerous; know the family has access to guns or other weapons; be aware of violent acts or threats by family friends or relatives; and recognize mounting tension, irritability, agitation, brooding, and/or limit testing in family members.

Home visitors must be and feel safe if they are to support families. Home visitor safety can and must be addressed at many levels. The threat of violence does not occur only in the homes of families or in high-crime neighborhoods, but also in seemingly secure workplaces. Work conditions favorable to violence prevention require action at management, supervisory, and personal levels.

Some general strategies that you may consider include the following:

• Have home visitors work in pairs, particularly when they go to more dangerous neighborhoods. Accompany home visitors, if needed.
• Forge a relationship with the local police department. When police are aware of home visitors’ presence in the community, they may be able to provide protection such as self-defense training and alerts as to potentially hazardous events in the community.
• Provide cell phones, beepers, or other communication devices. Work with finance and other program staff to ensure the budget covers this equipment.
• Involve families in home visitor safety. They often know of potential safety hazards in the neighborhood (e.g., high-crime areas, gang activity) and can inform home visitors of the safest way to travel through the area.
• Work with program administrators and community resources to develop crisis protocols and make sure home visitors are aware of them. Provide opportunities for home visitors to review and practice implementing protocols. Topics may include child abuse/child neglect, substance misuse, violence in the neighborhood, and the presence of a contagious disease.
• Make sure that you or another administrator is “on call” whenever a home visitor is in the field, including after hours and weekends, so that home visitors can get an immediate response when needed.
• Make sure you know home visitors’ schedules. This should include family names and contact information, date and time of visit, and when to expect the home visitor to return. 

In addition, you might encourage home visitors to do the following [ 4 ]:

• Trust their instincts. If they feel something is not right or see something in the home that makes them uncomfortable (e.g., physical or verbal violence, alcohol/drug use, evidence of firearms, or the presence of an acutely intoxicated individual), follow established protocols and leave, if necessary. Encourage home visitors to say to the parent, “Maybe this isn’t a good time for a visit. Let’s reschedule.” Before going on future visits, encourage home visitors to talk with you about how to ensure their safety in the home. Work with home visitors to talk with the parent about the issues that made them feel uncomfortable and to make referrals if needed.
• Wear comfortable shoes.
• Get clear directions to the neighborhood and the home or apartment building, especially for new visits. Take a practice drive to make sure the directions work. Confirm how to enter the home if it is a duplex or apartment.
• Ask families where it is best to park, and park as close to the home as possible. Always park in well-lit areas. If it is not possible for the home visitor to park in a safe place, discuss other options, such as meeting the family in another setting or being driven and picked up by a co-worker.
• Put any important or valuable items in the trunk of the car before arriving for the visit. Avoid carrying and wearing expensive items.
• Contact parents before a visit so they can be on the lookout for the home visitor.
• If no one answers the door, sit in the car or drive around the block rather than wait at the door. Make sure to specify the amount of time home visitors should wait if a family is not home as part of your home visit protocol.
• Make sure home visitors’ cars are in good working order and that there is plenty of gas in the tank.
• Organize belongings so they do not have to take time to search for them. For example, when they leave a home visit, they should have their keys in hand.

4 Rebecca Parlakian and Nancy Seibel, Help Me Grow Home Visitor Curriculum (Cuyahoga County, OH: Help Me Grow of Cuyahoga County, 2005).

5 Head Start Bureau, “Assessing Family Crisis.” Excerpts from Training Guides for the Head Start Learning Community: Supporting Families in Crisis (Washington, DC: Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, Administration for Children, Youth and Families, 2000), https://eclkc.ohs.acf.hhs.gov/mental-health/article/assessing-family-crisis.

Resource Type: Article

National Centers: Early Childhood Development, Teaching and Learning

Program Option: Home-Based Option

Last Updated: May 22, 2023

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Tennessee legislators pass bill that would let teachers carry guns in schools

Lawmakers in Tennessee passed a measure Tuesday that would allow school staff to carry concealed handguns on school grounds, sending the bill to the governor a year after a shooter opened fire and killed six people at a Nashville school.

The Tennessee House cleared the legislation in a 68-28 vote . Four Republicans joined Democrats in opposing the measure.   The state Senate, which is also controlled by the GOP, passed the measure earlier this month.

Republican state Rep. Ryan Williams on Tuesday said the bill would bolster school safety.

"I believe that this is a method by which we can do that, because what you're doing is you're creating a deterrent," he said on the House floor.

Under the legislation, faculty and staff members who wish to carry a concealed handgun on school grounds would need to complete a minimum of 40 hours of approved training specific to school policing each year.

Protesters could be heard in the gallery on Tuesday chanting, “Blood on your hands,” during the floor proceedings.

Democratic state Rep. Bo Mitchell pushed back on the measure, referring to last year's Covenant School shooting in Nashville when three children and three adults were killed.

"This is what we’re going to do. This is our reaction to teachers and children being murdered in a school. Our reaction is to throw more guns at it. What’s wrong with us?" Mitchell said on the House floor.

State Sen. Paul Bailey, a Republican who sponsored the bill in the upper chamber, did not immediately respond to a request for comment Tuesday.

A spokesperson for Republican Gov. Bill Lee did not immediately respond to a request for comment on whether he planned to sign the measure. He can either sign the bill or allow it to become law without his signature. Lee has not vetoed any legislation as governor.

Tennessee isn’t the only state to approve legislation allowing teachers to carry guns. According to the Giffords Law Center , a gun violence prevention group, at least 26 states have laws permitting teachers or other school employees to possess guns on school grounds, with some exceptions.

Zoë Richards is the evening politics reporter for NBC News.

Worth the wait: Nick Gargiulo picked in seventh round by the Denver Broncos

Nick Gargiulo is officially in the league.

The former Somers lineman was chosen by the Denver Broncos in the seventh and final round of the NFL Draft on Saturday, 256th overall. It was a lengthy wait for Gargiulo, who played at Yale before using his final season of college eligibility at South Carolina.

"I sat there staring at the TV for five hours," Gargiulo said with a laugh from Columbia, S.C. where he watched alongside his parents and brothers. "I’m just excited. I’m really excited, especially going that late in the draft. I was just hoping for an opportunity, so I was really excited when I got the call."

When the phone finally rang around 6 p.m. Broncos head coach Sean Payton and general manager George Paton were on the other end.

NFL Draft: Nick Gargiulo could become the first Somers HS football player chosen in the NFL Draft

Gargiulo is the first player from the Somers program to be drafted.

"We stayed at the house, very low key, just watching the draft," said Gargiulo who grew up cheering on the Washington Commanders like his dad, Jack. "The whole family is Broncos fans now."

Rookie minicamp begins in two weeks at Denver's training complex in Englewood, Colorado.

Gargiulo was the only member of the Gamecocks' offensive line to play in all 12 games in the fall, starting at guard and center. He projects as a backup guard in the NFL, but his versatility was high on the list of individual strengths heading into the draft.

The end game is making the squad's 53-main roster coming out of training camp in September.

"I think I’m going to start by trying to answer all these texts and then I'll try to make it seem like reality," said Gargiulio, who's never been to Denver. "I don’t think it’s sunk in yet. ... I'm going to continue training. I’m sure I’ll hear from the player personnel team so I'll have a plan for the next couple of weeks."

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What the New Overtime Rule Means for Workers

One of the basic principles of the American workplace is that a hard day’s work deserves a fair day’s pay. Simply put, every worker’s time has value. A cornerstone of that promise is the  Fair Labor Standards Act ’s (FLSA) requirement that when most workers work more than 40 hours in a week, they get paid more. The  Department of Labor ’s new overtime regulation is restoring and extending this promise for millions more lower-paid salaried workers in the U.S.

Overtime protections have been a critical part of the FLSA since 1938 and were established to protect workers from exploitation and to benefit workers, their families and our communities. Strong overtime protections help build America’s middle class and ensure that workers are not overworked and underpaid.

Some workers are specifically exempt from the FLSA’s minimum wage and overtime protections, including bona fide executive, administrative or professional employees. This exemption, typically referred to as the “EAP” exemption, applies when: 

1. An employee is paid a salary,  

2. The salary is not less than a minimum salary threshold amount, and 

3. The employee primarily performs executive, administrative or professional duties.

While the department increased the minimum salary required for the EAP exemption from overtime pay every 5 to 9 years between 1938 and 1975, long periods between increases to the salary requirement after 1975 have caused an erosion of the real value of the salary threshold, lessening its effectiveness in helping to identify exempt EAP employees.

The department’s new overtime rule was developed based on almost 30 listening sessions across the country and the final rule was issued after reviewing over 33,000 written comments. We heard from a wide variety of members of the public who shared valuable insights to help us develop this Administration’s overtime rule, including from workers who told us: “I would love the opportunity to...be compensated for time worked beyond 40 hours, or alternately be given a raise,” and “I make around $40,000 a year and most week[s] work well over 40 hours (likely in the 45-50 range). This rule change would benefit me greatly and ensure that my time is paid for!” and “Please, I would love to be paid for the extra hours I work!”

The department’s final rule, which will go into effect on July 1, 2024, will increase the standard salary level that helps define and delimit which salaried workers are entitled to overtime pay protections under the FLSA. 

Starting July 1, most salaried workers who earn less than $844 per week will become eligible for overtime pay under the final rule. And on Jan. 1, 2025, most salaried workers who make less than $1,128 per week will become eligible for overtime pay. As these changes occur, job duties will continue to determine overtime exemption status for most salaried employees.

The rule will also increase the total annual compensation requirement for highly compensated employees (who are not entitled to overtime pay under the FLSA if certain requirements are met) from $107,432 per year to $132,964 per year on July 1, 2024, and then set it equal to $151,164 per year on Jan. 1, 2025.

Starting July 1, 2027, these earnings thresholds will be updated every three years so they keep pace with changes in worker salaries, ensuring that employers can adapt more easily because they’ll know when salary updates will happen and how they’ll be calculated.

The final rule will restore and extend the right to overtime pay to many salaried workers, including workers who historically were entitled to overtime pay under the FLSA because of their lower pay or the type of work they performed. 

We urge workers and employers to visit  our website to learn more about the final rule.

Jessica Looman is the administrator for the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division. Follow the Wage and Hour Division on Twitter at  @WHD_DOL  and  LinkedIn .  Editor's note: This blog was edited to correct a typo (changing "administrator" to "administrative.")

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Kevin Bacon visits 'Footloose' school before it's torn down — and in time for prom

Ciara Hulet

The Utah high school where Footloose was filmed invited Kevin Bacon to visit for their prom on the 40th anniversary of the film's release.

JUANA SUMMERS, HOST:

This year is the 40th anniversary of the hit film "Footloose." You may remember Kevin Bacon as a high school student who gets a conservative town to loosen up and ditch its ban on dancing. The school in Utah where it was filmed is about to be torn down, and students there have been working hard to get Bacon to come and visit. And this weekend, he did, just in time for their prom. Ciara Hulet with member station KUER in Salt Lake City was there.

CIARA HULET, BYLINE: Scenes from the hit '80s film took place right here. Principal Jesse Sorenson says his son actually discovered Ren McCormack's locker during a summer cleaning job.

JESSE SORENSON: And there was a little sticker in there that was all faded that said, congratulations, you have Kevin Bacon's locker from the film "Footloose," 1984.

HULET: What? (Laughter).

SORENSON: Yeah. And this is the locker.

HULET: What?

(SOUNDBITE OF KEYS JANGLING)

HULET: It's filled with movie pictures and quotes and a pair of cowboy boots.

SORENSON: And then there's a Bible here with the scripture about the time to weep, the time to laugh, the time to mourn and the time to dance.

(SOUNDBITE OF LOCKER CLOSING)

HULET: Payson High students and faculty have been working for a couple of years to bring Bacon back for one last dance. Student Body President Rubie Raff.

RUBIE RAFF: This whole school year, all of our events have been aimed towards "Footloose." We did a "Footloose" - a school musical, a "Footloose" movie stadium night, Mr. Bacon contest.

HULET: The school finally convinced him to come.

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: Kevin Bacon.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

HULET: Kevin Bacon does a little jig as he walks on to the Payson High School football field. He says, at first, he thought the idea of coming back was crazy.

KEVIN BACON: But you were all just tireless, unrelenting (laughter).

HULET: He says Payson has shown some of the ideas behind "Footloose," like standing up to authority, freedom of expression and having compassion for other people.

BACON: I also think that it's amazing the power that this movie has had to just kind of bring people together.

HULET: Bacon agreed to come after the school promised to help out his charitable foundation, Sixdegrees.org. It gives away resource kits for people in need. And on the day of his visit, students and people in Payson lined up across the school's football field, putting together 5,000 kits.

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #2: Mr. Bacon, are you counting?

BACON: I'm counting.

HULET: They're bagging things like hygiene items, food, a journal and vouchers for free therapy through BetterHelp. Utah nonprofit Encircle is one that will be giving out the kits. CEO Jordan Sgro says a lot of the LGBTQ youth they serve experience homelessness and food insecurity.

JORDAN SGRO: Encircle's getting over a thousand kits to distribute, which is just incredibly powerful.

HULET: She also says the attention from someone like Kevin Bacon is a reminder to these youth that they're loved and important.

SGRO: That just does a lot internally for an LGBTQ youth that's really struggling with their identity or with their journey.

HULET: Student Council Adviser Jenny Staheli says the project to bring back Bacon has also done a lot for Payson. It brought them together, especially in a time when unity feels hard to find.

Do you think this is something that was particularly needed this year?

JENNY STAHELI: I really do. And I think it's really because this is such a feel-good idea that we can all get behind and we can all agree that good things need to happen in the world, and unexpected kindnesses are worth it.

HULET: Mayor Bill Wright hopes that even after Kevin Bacon's visit, the community will continue to work together.

BILL WRIGHT: You have a dream, make that dream come to fruition. And you only do that by working together.

HULET: But Bacon didn't leave without busting one last move.

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: Here we go.

(SOUNDBITE OF KENNY LOGGINS SONG, "FOOTLOOSE")

HULET: For NPR News in Payson, Utah, I'm Ciara Hulet.

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Statement from President Joe   Biden on 25 Years Since the Columbine High School   Shooting

Twenty-five years ago today, two students walked into Columbine High School with assault weapons and other firearms they obtained without background checks. They killed twelve of their fellow students and one teacher, injuring nearly two dozen others, and transforming classrooms into crime scenes. Jill and I continue to pray for the survivors and families impacted by this traumatic event, as well as a community that was forever changed. We know that pain never goes away.  Since Columbine, over 400 school shootings have exposed over 370,000 students to the horrors of gun violence. From Newtown to Parkland to Uvalde, we have seen communities across the nation be torn apart by senseless violence. Students across the country now learn how to duck and cover before they learn how to read and write. This violence must end.  I’ve met with countless families who’ve lost loved ones because of gun violence. Their message is always the same: do something. My Administration has answered their call. We created the first-ever White House Office of Gun Violence Prevention, overseen by Vice President Kamala Harris. I signed into law the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, the most significant gun safety legislation in decades. Last week, my Administration implemented the largest expansion of the gun background check requirement since 1993, addressing the loophole that allowed the Columbine shooters to obtain guns. This action means fewer guns will end up in the hands of domestic abusers, felons, minors prohibited from purchasing firearms, and other dangerous individuals. My Administration will continue taking action, but Congress must do their part. We need universal background checks, a national red flag law, and we must ban assault weapons and high-capacity magazines. We need Congress to do something—do something—so that communities won’t continue to suffer due to the epidemic of gun violence.

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