Idaho Falls Parent Educator Named One of Nation’s Top Home Visiting Professionals
IDAHO FALLS, Idaho — An Eastern Idaho Public Health employee has earned national recognition for her two decades of work supporting families across the region. Wendy Welch, a parent educator with the Parents as Teachers program, was named one of five recipients of the 2026 National Home Visitor of the Year award on April 22, 2026 — during National Home Visiting Week.
Representatives from the Parents as Teachers national organization traveled to Idaho Falls to present the award at a reception held in Welch’s honor. She was joined at the ceremony by her husband, Scott Welch, and Benjamin Hazelton, the national director of government and community engagement for Parents as Teachers.
The award, now in its second year, is open to home visitors across the country. This year, 179 nominees were considered for the recognition. Of the five winners selected nationally, only two spots are reserved for professionals working within the Parents as Teachers program specifically. The remaining three spots are awarded to individuals involved in other home-visiting programs, according to Welch.
Two Decades of Service to East Idaho Families
Welch has worked in home visiting for more than 20 years. She began her career with Bonneville Joint School District 93, later worked at a children’s advocacy center called Health Incorporated, and has been with Eastern Idaho Public Health for the past 10 years.
Through the Parents as Teachers program — a free home-visiting initiative designed to emphasize the parent or caregiver as “the child’s first and best teacher” — Welch visits with families who are pregnant or raising children up to five years old, typically once or twice a month. During those visits, she engages in parent-child interactions, discusses developmentally centered parenting approaches, and addresses broader family well-being.
Welch has also worked to expand program access for Spanish-speaking families, drawing on her bilingual abilities, and leads a parenting class for jail inmates — extending her outreach to some of the community’s most underserved populations.
“It’s really humbling. I love home visiting. I love the opportunity to be in families’ homes to help (parents) in their parenting journey,” Welch said after receiving the award. “It’s really rewarding to see that that work is being rewarded in and of itself.”
Building Partnerships, Not Dependency
Over the course of her career, Welch said she has learned the value of patience and listening — pulling back from the instinct to solve problems immediately in favor of truly understanding where a family is coming from.
“There’s a partner with the parent rather than take over for a parent,” Welch said. “Parents know their children best. So when you listen to a parent, you can help understand where they’re coming from.”
That philosophy, centered on parental authority and family-led growth, aligns with the core mission of the Parents as Teachers program, which treats parents as capable, capable adults who benefit most from a supportive partner rather than a directive authority figure.
Welch said some of her most rewarding moments come when she arrives at a home and families can’t wait to share their children’s milestones. “I love to come into a family’s home and they say, ‘My son or my daughter is doing this now. We’ve been working on that,'” she said. “Being there for those parent-child interactions, there’s nothing better than sitting across from families who are really getting each other and learning together.”
EIPH spokeswoman Brenna Christofferson praised Welch’s deep connection with the families she serves. “The families are definitely so enamored with her, and you can see how much they care about her and the work this program does,” Christofferson said.
Welch also wants to clear up a common misconception about who the program is designed to serve. “I think sometimes there’s this misconception that it’s just for parents who are struggling, but that’s not it. This is for all parents,” she said. “If parents are needing that help or wanting that help, just to have somebody else to partner with them, give us a call.”
What Comes Next
Welch says she plans to continue her work with Eastern Idaho Public Health and the Parents as Teachers program, serving families across the region. Parents interested in enrolling in the free program can contact EIPH at (208) 522-0310. For broader coverage of Idaho community news, visit idahonews.co, and for regional news network updates, visit IdahoNewsNetwork.com.