ABSTRACT
This chapter provides ways to expand linkages between Family Life Educator/Certified Family Life Educator (FLE/CFLE) to Early Head Start (EHS) home-based services. The opportunities and challenges in the home visiting field fuel FLE to gain momentum and inspire CFLEs to have an important role now and in the future of home visiting. FLE focuses on the whole family and shares that focus with EHS home-based services. CFLEs providing home visiting services live out the principles of FLE in their work with families. Parents as Teachers (PAT) emphasizes three areas that should be the focus of every home visit: parent–child interaction, development-centered parenting and family wellbeing. FLE and Early Head Start-Home Based Option may widen the scope of PAT models by emphasizing the whole family. Future research may survey administrators of family science programs with an emphasis on NCFR-approved CFLE programs to determine the extent to which courses prepare students for a career as a home visitor.
