Competency Alignment and Certification for Preservice Home Visitors

• Published date: 01 April 2020
• Author: Bridget A. Walsh,Jennifer A. Mortensen,Carla A. Peterson,Dawn Cassidy,
• Date: 01 April 2020
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/fare.12414

B A. W  J A. M University of Nevada Reno

C A. P Iowa State University

D C National Council on Family Relations Saint Paul MN

Collaborative for Understanding the Pedagogy of Infant/Toddler Development (CUPID)

Competency Alignment and Certication for

Preservice Home Visitors

Objective: To explore home visitor expanded

competencies aligned with family life education

(FLE) competencies to inform the knowledge,

skills, and attitudes addressed in preservice

home visitor training.

Background: Home visitor preparation in

higher education should be informed by widely

accepted competencies.

Method: Wealigned FLE competencies with the

Collaborative for Understanding the Pedagogy

of Infant/ToddlerDevelopment (CUPID) compe-

tencies into a framework of knowledge, skills,

and attitudes to promote practices in the eld

while preparing to earn the Certied Family

Life Educator (CFLE) credential. This frame-

work was developed through an iterativeprocess

with stakeholders.

Results: The full alignment includes 10

competencies.

Implications: This comprehensive alignment

may inform the scholarship of teaching and

learning in home visiting coursework and FLE

content area coursework. This alignment may

also promote developing new courses on home

visiting, enhancing existing courses to address

William J. Raggio Building, Suite 3030, College of Educa-

tion, University of Nevada, Reno, Reno, NV 89557 (brid-

getw@unr.edu).

Key Words: Certied Family Life Educator, competencies,

family life education, home visitors, workforce development.

home visiting competencies, or modifying exist-

ing pedagogy. In the future, National Council

on Family Relations CFLE-approved programs

may want to incorporate the content of this

alignment into their courses to promote the

ability of preservice home visitors to apply for

the CFLE credential.

The purpose of home visiting programs is to

provide family-centered support for pregnant

women, infants, and toddlers in the family’s

home, particularly for families facing chal-

lenges (Peterson, Dooley, & Fan, 2018; Weiss,

1993). Home visiting programs promote secure

parent–child relationships and help parents pro-

vide high-quality learning experiences across

developmental domains (Peterson, Dooley, Fan,

& Hughes-Belding, 2019; U.S. Department of

Health and Human Services, 2016). In 2017,

at least 3.5 million home visits were provided

to families with pregnant women or young

children (National Home Visiting Resource

Center, 2018), and in February 2018, federal

early childhood programs were reauthorized for

5 more years of funding. A variety of outcomes

are targeted by home visiting models, includ-

ing child development and school readiness,

linkages and referrals, parenting practices, and

maternal health (Sama-Miller et al., 2018).

As support and enthusiasm for home visiting

have grown, so too have the expectations for

408 Family Relations 69 (April 2020): 408–419

DOI:10.1111/fare.12414