Healthy Families Garrett County home visiting program was honored with a nomination by the Maryland Department of Health’s Maternal, Infant, and Early Child Home Visiting (MIECHV) Division to represent Maryland home visiting programs at a roundtable event in Washington, D.C.
At the event, which took place on February 26, 2026, the Office of the Second Lady of the United States of America as well as members from the Maternal and Child Health Bureau, Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) – United States Health and Human Services (HHS) requested home visitor and family participant dyads to speak about their home visiting journeys and how home visiting programs, including Healthy Families Garrett County, support early learning, language, and literacy.
Torey Moats, RN, Family Support Specialist/Supervisor, and Jennifer and Samual Thomas, family participants, were nominated from the Healthy Families Garrett Home Visiting Program to speak at the event. Moats, who has worked for the program for 6 years, spoke about the impactful work she conducts around maternal, infant, and child health in Garrett County. She detailed the positive impact home visiting programs make within family units through assisting with access to medical homes and early prenatal care: promoting and educating on preventative health compliance, providing opportunities to increase early learning, literacy, and language skills in the early stages of a child’s life, and building resiliency in families.
Moats described the individualized, strength-based home visiting service delivery model implemented in Garrett County and said, “Every family is different, and we meet them where they are.”
Thomas shared her incredible parenting journey with the group as she highlighted personal moments of the support Healthy Families Garrett County home visiting services provided to her, her husband, and their two young children, and the expert knowledge the program shares with her in her home at times she needs it the most. She detailed the positive impact the program has on her family regarding maternal health and her children’s ongoing growth and development. She also shared how the program has provided opportunities and expanded her knowledge base in introducing literacy activities to her children from the very beginning of life and expressed sincere gratitude for the family-centered services and level of support the program and Torey Moats provide to her and her family.
Healthy Families Garrett County, Maryland, was one of four home visiting programs from across the country nominated to attend and speak at the event. Other nominated home visiting programs were Healthy Families Rappahannock Area, Fredericksburg, VA, Healthy Families America, New Hampshire, and Catawba Tribal Nation, South Carolina.
A representative from the Maternal and Child Health Bureau, Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) stated that “federal leaders were able to see home visiting in action—not as a concept or a statistic, but as real relationships, real moments, and real impact.” The representative also said that “HRSA Administrator Tom Engels”, who led the roundtable event in Washington, D.C., “felt such pride for what the MIECHV Program brings to communities, and gratitude for the impactful work to make a difference for communities every day.” The HRSA representative added that the elevation of family voices illustrated how healthy families truly are the cornerstone of a healthy nation and that maternal, infant, and early childhood home visiting professionals and paraprofessionals are an essential workforce that strengthens families and communities.
For more information on Healthy Families Garrett County, please visit https://garretthealth.org/healthy-families-garrett-county/ or call 301-334-7720.
Photo Cutline: Roundtable Event: Home Visiting Program Staff & Family Participants, Members of the Office of the Second Lady, and Members of Health and Human Services.
