Expanding Equity in Home Visiting: The Power of Core Competencies Translations

Home visiting is a powerful tool for supporting families and communities, and the Washington State Home Visiting Core Competencies are an essential tool to support home visitors. The translation of Washington’s Home Visiting Core Competencies into Spanish, Chinese, Somali, and Arabic is a significant step in ensuring that the competencies are accessible to home visitors in the languages they use and prefer.

A Living, Evolving Resource

These core competencies were never meant to be static documents. “They weren’t intended to sit on a shelf and gather dust,” Cassie notes. “They are for use by the people who created them.” Home visitors are encouraged to annotate them, add notes, and continuously reflect on how these competencies apply to their daily work. The process of refining and updating them is intended to be ongoing by design, informed by feedback from the field. Understanding how the competencies are being used will shape future revisions, with the ultimate goal being to ensure that they remain relevant and actionable, supporting home visitors in their mission to strengthen families and communities.

Home Visiting as a Tool for Equity

At its heart, home visiting exists to create trusting relationships between home visitors and parents. One of the clearest ways to achieve this mission is by hiring and supporting trusted professionals from within the communities being served. “What is synonymous with quality in home visiting is DEIB (Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging),” Cassie states. “You can’t really pull those things apart.” The translation of the competencies is a direct reflection of this understanding—ensuring that home visitors from diverse backgrounds have the tools they need in the languages they are most comfortable with.

Bringing Core Competencies to Life

With the core competencies now available in multiple languages, the hope is that home visiting teams will actively engage with them. “I absolutely want home visiting programs to take them up, have discussions about them within their teams, and talk about the ideas represented there,” shares Cassie. “If they feel as if the ideas are important, I want home visitors and their supervisors to talk about how they are turning those ideas into action.”

By making the Washington Home Visiting Core Competencies accessible in Spanish, Chinese, Somali, and Arabic, we are not just translating words—we are reinforcing the values of equity, inclusivity, and community-centered care. These competencies are meant to be dynamic, evolving, and, most importantly, used by the very people who shaped them. The more they are discussed, applied, and adapted, the stronger the home visiting field will be in achieving its ultimate mission: empowering families and communities through trusted, culturally responsive support.