Mission and History

The Home Visiting Applied Research Collaborative (HARC) is a national research and a development platform for innovation to broaden and strengthen home visiting’s benefits for all families and communities.

In its first five years, HARC:

• created a national practice-based research network of researchers and other home visiting partners;
• developed and disseminated a national research agenda;
• advanced the use of innovative methods and translation of findings into policy and practice; and
• leveraged external funding to carry out research projects utilizing the practice-based research network.

In 2017, HARC received a second five-year award from HRSA’s MCHB to expand on its work and build a home visiting research and development platform to promote innovative research to advance precision home visiting.

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In its second five years, HARC:

• built awareness of the hallmarks of precision home visiting through national meetings, publications and social media;
• provided opportunities for precision home visiting research through the practice-based research network and pilot projects; and
• developed the Precision Paradigm, a framework that focuses on granular aspects of home visiting interventions and takes moderators and mediators into consideration from the start.

In 2022, HARC received a third five-year award from HRSA’s MCHB. In this newest phase, HARC has six objectives upon which its work will focus. 

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The six objectives for the next five years are to:

• maintain and expand the practice-based research network of home visiting and early childhood researchers, local programs, models, MIECHV recipients, and other relevant audiences;
• advance the use of innovative research methods in home visiting;
• promote the use of data sharing and interoperability through data collaboratives and other partnerships to better answer questions of broad interest to the field;
• identify and respond to emerging priorities in the field by conducting timely and relevant research, and translate these research findings into practice;
• mentor the next generation of early childhood researchers with a focus on diversity; and
• expand the field of precision home visiting through intellectual leadership, dissemination, and technical assistance.

Throughout this work, HARC relies on the support and counsel of its National Advisory Council (NAC) and Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) Resource Group. These two advisory bodies are made up of representatives of all audience groups which have an interest in home visiting research and development. 

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This project is supported by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) under cooperative agreement UD5MC30792, Maternal, Infant and Early Childhood Home Visiting Research and Development Platform. This information or content and conclusions are those of the author and should not be construed as the official position or policy of, nor should any endorsements be inferred by HRSA, HHS or the U.S. Government.