Capitol Hill Advocate Visits at the 2026 National Home Visiting Summit 

To stay in-the-know about key home visiting policy issues in the lead up to Hill visits, we encourage you to join Start Early’s Advocacy & Policy Community of Practice (CoP). This CoP serves as a space for state and local home visiting advocates, policymakers, and home visiting providers and leaders to discuss federal actions impacting home visiting programs and related early childhood policy issues. To join the Advocacy & Policy CoP, please sign-up here. Please note, if you have previously signed up for this CoP through the National Home Visiting Summit, you’ll still need to sign-up again using this new form.

The CoP will be offering webinars and other virtual training opportunities to support advocates in preparing for Hill visits. Stay tuned for registration details which will be sent individually to Summit attendees who register for Hill visits.

We recommend that advocates planning to participate in Hill visits arrive in D.C. in the afternoon of Sunday, September 27.

There is currently no hotel room block in D.C. for the night before Hill Visits. Advocates should plan to stay near the Capitol at the hotel location that best fits your budget and logistics needs. Conference organizers are still looking at potentially securing a room block at a hotel, but activities for Hill Visits will center on the Capitol and First Five Years Fund offices at 50 F St NW, Washington, D.C.

For those who register for Hill visits, the conference organizer will provide complimentary transportation services for Hill Visit participants from Washington, D.C. to Baltimore. Participants will depart from First Five Years Fund offices in Washington at 4:00 PM on September 28 and arrive at the Baltimore Marriott Waterfront. Please email Events@StartEarly.org for more information or update your registration to indicate your interest in attending Hill Visits.

Advocates will schedule and complete their own Hill visits between 9:00 a.m. – 3 p.m. ET on Monday September 28, 2026.

The CoP will offer additional guidance on setting up your Hill Visits.

After the Summit, we’ll reconvene to debrief our in-person and virtual meetings with lawmakers. Start Early will discuss next steps for sustaining relationships with lawmakers, and support follow-up to any questions that arose during meetings with legislators. Stay tuned for registration details.

Start Early is pleased to offer limited funds to support parents and caregivers to attend Hill Visits. In addition to the complimentary conference registration and accommodations in Baltimore, Start Early will offer a limited number of complimentary hotel stays on Sunday, September 27 to support Hill Visits on Monday, September 28 for parents and caregivers. Please contact Events@startearly.org for additional logistics information.

Additionally, we highly recommend that organizations that are partnering with parent/caregivers to attend Hill Visits build funds into their budget to provide additional travel support. This includes:

• Flight or ground transportation reimbursement
• Daily Stipend and childcare award, or
• Honorarium to compensate for expertise and cover additional costs

Please email Events@startearly.org with any questions and to indicate your interest in receiving funds to support parent and caregiver participation in Hill Visits.