# Preparing for a Culturally Responsive Home Visit: 10 Things to Do

October 22, 2024

As a home visitor, how can you be more culturally responsive when working with families whose cultural and linguistic backgrounds differ from your own? Today’s post provides some tips for a culturally responsive first home visit with a family. Adapted from Christa Haring & Angela Rau’s new book [**Coaching in Home Visiting,**](https://products.brookespublishing.com/Coaching-in-Home-Visiting-P1570.aspx) from a chapter by Lori A. Bass and Rihana S. Mason, these tips will help you prepare well and set a tone for a productive and respectful relationship with the family.

## Tips for a Culturally Responsive Home Visit

1. **Assign team members who are familiar with the client’s culture.**  
   In a perfect world, at least one team member will have lived or will be familiar with the client’s experiences. Assigning home visiting teams like this whenever possible will allow for more culturally responsive interactions between clients and home visiting teams.

2. **Prepare for differences.**  
   It’s not always possible to assign a team member who is familiar with the client’s culture and experiences, so your team may need to do additional research. Be prepared to listen to group and community members. Engage in perspective-taking. Discuss commonly encountered situations that affect diverse communities and think about empathetic responses.

3. **Role-play different scenarios.**  
   This is a helpful way to assess how culturally responsive your team’s intake practices are. What is it like to go through the intake process? Are you able to answer questions fully? Are your questions answered?

4. **Plan your attire thoughtfully.**  
   Wear comfortable, washable clothing that is weather-appropriate and that allows you to sit and stand from the floor or a chair without difficulty. Be aware of any logos or images on clothing and consider whether they give away differences in your positionality.

5. **Watch your language.**  
   Any written materials should be at a 6th- to 7th-grade reading level to ensure accessibility. Be sure to use clear, direct written language.

6. **Don’t get lost in jargon.**  
   Ensure that clients understand all specialized vocabulary, terminology, and acronyms used in meetings. Provide definitions when necessary.

7. **Factor in time for interpretation.**  
   If interpreters are needed during meetings, acknowledge that extra time may be required if the interpreter and the client speak different dialects.

8. **Set clear guidelines around protective services.**  
   Everyone must be clear about when social services like child or adult protective services or the police should be contacted. A cluttered living space is not a reason to contact social services.

9. **Develop lists of community resources.**  
   Such as food pantries, respite services, and community agencies that may provide help with housing and/or utility payments.

10. **Make it RAIN.**  
   To keep cultural responsivity at the forefront, consider how well your supports “make it RAIN.” This acronym stands for:
    - _Reach_—How can we help our clients reach _their_ goals?
    - _Awareness_—How aware are clients of the need for supports?
    - _Inclusiveness_—How inclusive are our practices?
    - _Necessity_—Are the supports necessary? Are they purposeful?

Keep in mind that current referral and support systems were designed using mainstream cultural perspectives. To be an effective partner for culturally and linguistically diverse families, consider these dynamics and proactively plan ways to be more culturally responsive in your interactions with diverse families.

### Coaching in Home Visiting  
**Supporting Better Outcomes for Professionals and Families**  
By Christa Haring, Ph.D., & Angela Rau, MAT, with invited contributors  
The first coaching guide specially designed for home visitors and their supervisors, this groundbreaking book answers the call for more and better training in early childhood home visiting programs.