Call for Proposal

The Summit is designed for state and federal administrative and legislative systems leaders, federal, state, and local policy advocates, researchers, program and practice leaders, direct service providers, parents/caregivers and philanthropic partners interested in information that supports and strengthens their role as decision-makers and change agents in the home visiting field. Accordingly, each session is an important opportunity for speakers to engage leaders on the most pressing and innovative issues concerning the field today.The perspectives and practices of intersectional professionals and families are especially encouraged.

Proposals should demonstrate a clear connection to the conference’s commitment to Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging (DEIB) that advances the home visiting field and connected systems of care through innovations, diverse perspectives, and a focus on impact. The centering of parent/caregiver and provider voice, voices which are often intersectional, as well as the voices, ideas, innovations, and solutions of those who have been historically marginalized and undervalued will be elevated and prioritized during the Summit.

Conference Commitment to Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging (DEIB): Justice demands that we take the necessary steps to reimagine and create systems to ensure that children, families, providers and communities have fair conditions, support, and agency to live free of oppression, with humanity and joy. The home visiting field must continuously grapple with the field’s role in addressing the deep economic, social, and racial disparities that exist in the United States and globally. Systems change happens at every level of home visiting with families and home visitors, supervisors, funders, policy professionals, researchers and community partners all pushing at different leverage points. As drivers of quality and positive change in home visiting across many roles, with varied and often intersectional backgrounds and wisdom, the Summit invites you, through work in policy, practice, research to partner to change the systems on which these inequities were built.

Resources include:

• American Psychological Association (APA) Style – Bias-Free Language
• Black Mamas Matter Toolkit
• CDC – Health Equity Guiding Principle for Inclusive Communication
• Health Equity Style Guide for COVID-19 Response: Principles Preferred Terms for Non-Stigmatizing, Bias-Free Language

Proposals addressing key areas of focus for the 2025 Summit that are submitted by and/or include representation of parent/caregiver and provider voice and that center voices which may include but are not limited to:

• Tribal home visiting programs
• Community-based home visiting approaches
• Immigrant and refugee serving programs, practices and experiences
• Urban and rural community systems builders and frontier experiences
• Honoring Diverse Family Structures (e.g. father involvement, LGBTQ families, families with disabilities)
• The session content and speakers share the systems change and innovation work that the larger field can learn from at community, state and/or federal levels.
• Preference is given to presentations that align with the systems change/field-building vision of the Summit by highlighting important systems issues at all levels of home visiting from local programs to state policy, national research and policy, innovative or field-advancing practice(s), and creative/unique collaborations and partnerships.
• Proposals that highlight cross-sector collaborations and/or systems building efforts and/or which feature speakers from various roles in the home visiting (and/or related) field will receive priority consideration.
• The session content and speakers promote inclusion and diversity within the context of the presentation and broader home visiting field. Proposals should speak directly to issues of DEIB when possible. Please provide specific examples when submitting.

For the first time the National Home Visiting Summit will offer Continuing Education Units (CEUs) for workshops and plenary sessions. CEUs will be issued via standards set up by Start Early as an accredited organization via the International Accreditors for Continuing Education and Training (IACET).

To meet the necessary standard to issue CEUs all proposals must include measurable learning outcomes and specific engagement strategies grounded in adult learning principles and relevance for the Summit audience. Technical assistance is available during the submission process to support authors. Please take a moment to review the following resources:

• Guidance for Writing Learning Objectives
• Example Workshop Proposal

Speaker Registration Rates

Travel and Registration for Home Visiting Parents and Caregivers
Limited funds are available for parents and caregivers engaged in home visiting services participating as speakers at the Summit will receive the following to support participation:

• Complimentary registration
• Complimentary accommodations at the meeting location for two nights (Feb. 12 – Feb. 13)
• Flight or ground transportation reimbursement
• Daily stipend and child care award
• Honorarium

The 2025 National Home Visiting Summit is an in-person event. We will not offer the option to speak virtually. All speakers and presenters must be present at the event in Washington, D.C. to participate.

Creating an Accessible Presentation: We ask that all PowerPoint and print-ready materials be prepared in consideration of those with visual limitations. Consideration of color contrast between text and background, font size, use of alternative text for images shared are all important. Tips on creating more accessible presentations can be found at Section508.gov.

We also encourage teams to review these resources from the Web Accessibility Initiative on preparing slides and materials. Start Early will offer a conference branded PowerPoint template that includes accessible formatting as an optional resource for presenting teams. Start Early staff may offer further recommendations on design in meetings with presenters once a proposal has been accepted.

For best practices that include presenting live you can find support here.