Jessica Mathews / news@whmi.com


A local program that provides in-home support for new and expectant parents has earned national accreditation.

Prevent Child Abuse America (PCAA) and Healthy Families America (HFA) announced that LACASA Center’s Healthy Families Livingston program was awarded the accreditation after successfully completing a rigorous qualification process.

The goal of the local program is to provide high-quality home visiting services for families who want to improve their child’s health, nutrition and developmental outcomes.

LACASA’s HFL home visitors start working with parents who are expecting a baby or who have just welcomed a newborn. Home visitors provide pre- and postnatal support, information about children’s developmental stages, tools for coping with parenting challenges, and connections to local resources.

Regular visits take place within the familiarity and convenience of the family’s own home. HFL is an accessible, voluntary and long-term service, with many families participating in the program until their child enters preschool or kindergarten.

LACASA’s Director of Family Prevention and Education Holly Naylor said the program helps parents bring out the best in themselves by tapping into the skills they already possess, while helping them gain new skills and confidence. She said the home visitors build strong, long-lasting relationships with parents and support families in achieving their own goals.

The accreditation process involves national reviewers examining over 200 separate program requirements within a stringent set of 12 critical elements.

A multi-day site visit includes an in-depth examination of HFL’s operation and the quality of the visits made by HFL home visitors, including interviews with staff, participating families, and community partners.

Healthy Families Livingston is said to have served hundreds of families and children since the program was initiated at the Women’s Resource Center in 1996. It became a program of LACASA’s when the two agencies merged in 2011.