What is Family Home Visiting?

Family home visiting provides voluntary stabilizing support for at-risk families where they are most comfortable, at home and in their community. Children who meet healthy physical and cognitive development benchmarks during the first three years are more likely to be prepared for school, have stronger relationships, and ultimately have healthier, more stable and prosperous lives.

Without opportunities to achieve desired outcomes for children and families living in poverty, we can expect to see continued stress which can lead to negative health and educational outcomes for children.

Currently, one in three infants and toddlers live in poverty in Minnesota. Research shows financially stressed families are more likely to have strain and instability that pressures relationships between parent and child.

Families Receiving Home Visiting Have Greater Access to:

Connections to health care services to improve pregnancy and birth outcomes of the child,
Opportunities and support to develop secure attachment with their children,
Support for their child’s physical and mental health development,
Support for maternal health and employment needs, and/or
Connections to community resources.

Who does Home Visiting in Minnesota?

Trained professional and paraprofessionals provide parents with the tools they need to support their family and child, from pre-natal and pediatric health care to establishing connections to social and community services.

Our Mission

The mission of the Minnesota Coalition for Family Home Visiting is to secure stable funding statewide for targeted, intensive home visiting, increase political support for home visiting as a core early childhood service, and collaborate to improve the quality of home visiting practices.

Our Values

1. MCFHV emphasizes the power of collaboration between family home visitors and the broader community to build a strong, supportive network for families. By establishing meaningful connections, we hope to connect every home visitor to resources and nurture a sense of belonging across the workforce.

2. Our leadership is driven by our vision to build trusting relationships that honor and respect the unique strengths of each home visiting program. We are committed to adapting our practices to meet the unique needs and goals of home visitors across the state.

3. MCFHV promotes ongoing learning to foster a community where diversity, compassion, and mutual respect is the foundation of our collaboration.

4. MCFHV takes the initiative to make a difference by supporting programs, practices, and policies that promote systems accountability and include home visiting as an essential service in the community.

5. MCFHV supports family home visitors to provide consistent, in-home support for the entire family to help parents and caregivers build the skills and confidence needed to create a safe, positive, and stable environment where their children can thrive.

Our Goals

Secure commitment from early care and education organizations, funders and children’s advocacy groups to include advocacy for state funding of home visiting in their legislative agendas and activities.
Build a cross-sector coalition to influence policy and budget deliberations.
Identify and develop a stable funding stream that does not rely exclusively on direct public funding of targeted intensive home visiting.
Build bi-partisan support for voluntary home visiting and early childhood development services.
Collaborate to build opportunities for practice improvement through professional development opportunities.

Our History

The Minnesota Coalition for Family Home Visiting formed in 2009 to secure stable sources of public and private funding so that voluntary, targeted home visiting for new and expectant parents could be available statewide. Since that time, Coalition membership has grown to more than 40 organizations, including public and private home visiting providers, counties, children’s advocacy organizations, health plans, and funders. Initial funding was made possible by the Metro Alliance for Healthy Families and the McKnight Foundation and is supported by Greater Twin Cities United Way.

St. David's Center for Child & Family Development has served as the lead agency and fiscal host for the Minnesota Coalition for Family Home Visiting since 2020. Additional support is received by the Greater Twin Cities United Way and the Sheltering Arms Foundation.

MCFHV Governance Guidelines

MCFHV Executive Team

Paula Frisk (she/her)

MCFHV Co-Chair | St. David's Center for Child & Family Development

"I bring almost 25 years of experience working with children and families with a specialty focus on attachment based dyadic parent/child relational work. My areas of interest include trauma-informed maternal, infant and early childhood mental health and early intervention and prevention. I have in-depth of understanding in practice and administration of two evidence-based home visiting models, Healthy Families America and Parents as Teachers, as well as evidence-informed models.

I have served over five years on the Metro Alliance for Healthy Families Quality Assurance team and strongly believe in the importance of best practice and advocacy for continued funding of quality home visiting services. I am also very passionate about the importance of reflective practice and reflective supervision/consultation in home visiting."

Ronel Robinson (she/her)

MCFHV Executive Team Member | Way to Grow

"Ronel Robinson has been Program Director with Way to Grow Inc. since 1991. Way to Grow is a holistic program serving families and children prenatal to age eight providing an evidenced informed literacy and health curriculum building on skills for school and life success. She has a BA in Organizational Management and Communications from Concordia University with additional studies at Minnesota State at Mankato in business administration plus early childhood education and maternal and child health. Ronel manages the Way to Grow Dream Tracks Teen Parent Program serving teens and young moms ages 14- 24. She is a member of the Northside Achievement Zone (Early Childhood Committee), Minneapolis Healthy Start - Community Action Network, Hennepin County Teen Parent Connection, and the Minnesota Coalition of Targeted Home Visiting. She has also worked with the Minnesota Department of Education on the revisions of the Early Childhood Indicators of Progress, the African American Babies Project, and Northside Breastfeeding Initiative and many other community initiatives. Ronel is the current President of the Minnesota Chapter of the National Association of Black Social Workers.

Kayla Nelson (she/her)

MCFHV Executive Team Member | Horizon Public Health

"Kayla Nelson has been a Public Health Nurse for almost 12 years. She spent the first two years of her career working as a Family Health Nurse in Douglas County. She then had an opportunity to serve her home community of Pope County and accepted a position where she spent the next 6 years as Nurse Home Visitor with Supporting Hands Nurse-Family Partnership. Due to a retirement, Kayla had an opportunity to take a Family Health Position with Horizon Public Health out of the Pope County office as a Family Health Nurse. Shortly after, Horizon was awarded an Evidence Based Home Visiting (EBHV) grant to implement Healthy Families America (HFA). It was at that time that Kayla was promoted to EBHV Supervisor, and now supervises Maternal Early Childhood Sustained Home-Visiting (MECSH) along with all of the Family Health programs at HPH.

Kayla is committed to helping families in the community and giving children the best chance possible. She grew up in Starbuck, MN and continues to live in Pope County with her husband and two young children."

Kristin Deacon (she/her)

MCFHV Executive Team Member | Southwest Health & Human Services

“While many things in this world have changed, one thing has not, children need caring, responsive, and nurturing care giving. I am a public health nursing supervisor for Southwest Health & Human Services (SWHHS) serving six counties in the southwest part of the state. I’ve been in public health and family home visiting for over 17 years. I have a passion for supporting families with young children and continue to be committed to this essential work. I sit on the steering committee for Supporting Hands Nurse Family Partnership which provides NFP to 21 counties in the SW/SC part of Minnesota. At SWHHS, I supervise family health programs including our family home visiting program. We recently were trained in and are providing the MECSH program. In my spare time, I enjoy attending sporting events, time with family and friends, traveling and reading. I look forward to being a part of this coalition and am excited for the future of family home visiting in Minnesota.”

Shashana Skippingday (she/her)

MCFHV Executive Team Member | Division of Indian Works

Shashana Skippingday comes from a small rural community in Northern Minnesota on the White Earth Indian Reservation. She is a mother, healer, a nurse, a Community Outreach Perinatal Educator/Indigenous Doula and an Indigenous Lactation Counselor. She is committed to her community and aspires to teach families about the foundational benefits of breastfeeding. Shashana also provides leadership for local and state Indigenous breastfeeding initiatives. She has built an incredible group of Indigenous women to lead Nitamising

Gimashkikinaan-First Medicine, an Indigenous Perinatal and Lactation Support Circle. She Previously served as Secretary for the Board of the Minnesota Breastfeeding Coalition and is currently an At- Large Director. In her current daytime job as a Director of Programs at the Division of Indian Work, she leads the Maternal Child Health, Home Visiting and Anger Management/DV teams. She is also a co-leader for the Indigenous Breastfeeding Coalition of Minnesota.

“I am interested in joining the MN Coalition for Family Home Visiting to be a voice for our relatives. I have worked with in rural and urban settings for our families, young and elderly. I can bring to the table an Indigenous lens on cultural home visiting versus a societal framework ensuring our families thrive on what is inherently our culture and traditions.”

Jen Jaros (she/her)

MCFHV Executive Team Member | Early Childhood Family Education in Duluth Public Schools

Jen Jaros is the Early Childhood Family Education Coordinator for Duluth Public Schools. She is a Licensed Parent Educator and Early Childhood Teacher and has been working in districts throughout Minnesota for close to 25 years, 10 years in Duluth. She and her husband are soon to be empty nesters with a daughter as a freshman in college and her son is a senior in high school. Jen is passionate about meeting families where they are at and working in a variety of ways as teachers, home visitors and community members to assist families getting the information and resources they need. Jen is a strong advocate for ECFE and parenting education both locally and at the state level.

Jocelyn Pickreign (she/her)

MCFHV Executive Team Member | Simpson Housing Services

Jocelyn Pickreign has spent the last decade working with children and families. Currently, she serves as the manager of Children and Youth Services (CYS) at Simpson Housing Services. Simpson's CYS department offers evidence-based home visiting to families with children under five and a variety of programs for families with school-aged children and teens, including tutoring, mentoring, and education advocacy-- a partnership approach that helps parents build skills and confidence navigating the school system and advocating for their children. The department also runs bi-monthly "My Time" caregiver workshops that combine skill-shares and self-care in a format co-facilitated by caregivers; the Simpson Writers' Circle, a six-week creative writing workshop where participants produce and publish an original piece of creative work; and a bi-weekly Reflective Practice group for Simpson case managers. Jocelyn has a BA from Macalester College and a Master of Public Policy from the Humphrey School of Public Affairs. In her free time, she likes baking, and hiking her way through all 66 Minnesota State Parks.

Olivia Collins (she/her)

MCFHV Executive Team Member | Dakota County Public Health

Olivia Collins brings over a decade of experience in family home visiting at Dakota County Public Health. She has served as a public health nurse and currently holds a leadership role as one of the program coordinators. Olivia is dedicated to fostering interdisciplinary collaboration and establishing partnerships within the community to ensure families receive the necessary services and support. She is looking forward to collaborating with the Coalition to enhance inclusion and accessibility to home visiting services in Minnesota. During her free time, Olivia enjoys relaxing with her dog Milton, attending live music performances, and embarking on road trips across the country.

Pat Dale (he/him)

MCFHV Executive Team Member | At-Large Community Member

Pat Dale was the CEO at Youable Emotional Health Services from 2001-2024 and holds a Bachelor's of Social Work from Eau Claire. Pat Dale is currently the Chair of the Hennepin County Children’s Mental Health Collaborative and the chair of the Social Connectedness work group of Hennepin County CHIP Initiative. Youable Emotional Health Services is currently operating as a contracted provider of Hennepin County and is accredited in Healthy Families America and Family Spirit.