Written by a parent, not a doctor. Nothing here is medical advice.

Childhood Cancer Lantern
Search Saved

Pennsylvania program

Free home visits after diagnosis (Community to Home)

Free home visits help families connect care and community services for a child with special health needs. The program serves selected rural counties.

What it is

Free home visits help families connect care and community services for a child with special health needs. The program serves selected rural counties.

Community to Home helps families connect care and practical support. Several clinical-entry routes may fit, including a previous diagnosis without earlier services. Your county determines which organization handles the referral.

Eligibility rules
  • Children must be 21 or younger and meet a clinical-entry route in a served rural county: a new diagnosis within the past year, being at risk, a previous diagnosis without earlier services, or newly residing there with a diagnosis. The program checks which route fits.
  • Household income must be at or below 300% of poverty. For four people, the 2026 arithmetic is $8,250 monthly.
  • Health Promotion Council serves Adams, Blair, Franklin, Fulton, Huntingdon, Juniata, Mifflin and Perry counties.
  • The Department of Health lists Alliance for Nonprofit Resources and Health Promotion Council as contractors. Your county determines the appropriate current contact. Special Kids Network can confirm it.
What you get
  • Home visits at no cost to your family.
  • Help connecting medical care and community services.
  • Support from the organization serving your county.
What the help includes
  • A home visit can help connect the separate people supporting your child. It does not replace health insurance or pay the family's bills.
  • The 300% income limit belongs to Community to Home. It is not an income rule for every Title V service.
If you decide to apply
  1. Ask Special Kids Network which Community to Home organization serves your county.
  2. Share the diagnosis date or move date, your county and household income with the referral team.

Pennsylvania Department of Health Community to Home; Special Kids Network at 1-800-986-4550 can help identify the current local contractor. · Official page ↗

After you ask
  • A successful referral leads to a first home visit with the county's contractor.
  • The referral team confirms which clinical-entry route fits, how it treats a recent move, and when an assessment or home visit can begin.
Good to know

The county list matters: this service is not statewide. Special Kids Network remains available even when Community to Home does not cover your county.

Other details
  • Special Kids Network and the Department of Health Community to Home team can confirm the current contractor for your county.
  • The referral team can clarify what counts as newly diagnosed or newly resident for your child's situation.
Official sources
Ask your social worker

“Would home visits help us organize care after the diagnosis or move? Could you check our county and explain what the visits would involve?”

Why I’m asking: I want help connecting the services our child needs at home.

More background and detailed requirements
Additional program information and published rules

Who does what

The three parts, side by side. The agency decides; nobody on this page does.

You

Call the contractor for your county and give the diagnosis date, age and household income.

Your social worker

The social worker can make the referral from the hospital.

The care team

Records and letters when the application asks for them.

Who decides
The county’s current contractor for the Department of Health. Special Kids Network identifies the appropriate contact.
Ask your social worker
“We live in [county]. Can you refer us to Community to Home now, while the diagnosis is new?”

How to apply

First step: Discuss a Community to Home referral with Special Kids Network at 1-800-986-4550 and confirm the current county contractor.

  1. Call the contractor for your county and ask for a Community to Home referral.

Official application / program page ↗

Where it starts: Referral by phone to the contractor for the county.

What to gather

  • Diagnosis date
  • Household income
  • County

How long: No published service-start timeline.

What a yes looks like

A first home visit scheduled.

What a no looks like, and the next move

The program checks the county, income and each clinical-entry route. Time since diagnosis alone does not establish a refusal. Special Kids Network remains statewide.

Watch out

  • County of residence decides: the big counties are not on the list.
  • The 300% limit is Community to Home's, not a rule for all Title V help.

The numbers and the rules

The arcane layer, kept on purpose. Checked September 9, 2026.

What it is worth

Free home visits and care coordination, household at or under 300% of the poverty line ($8,250 a month for four, 2026 arithmetic), 48 counties.

  • $8,250/month (the brochure states 300%; the dollar figure is the 2026 poverty line times three) — Household income ceiling, family of 4 (300% FPL, 2026 arithmetic)

Covers: Family-centered home visits · Care coordination and resource linkage

What it costs the family: None ("at no cost to families").

The eligibility facts, as published

Age
21 years of age and under
Condition
A new diagnosis within the past year, being at risk, a prior diagnosis without earlier services, or newly residing in a served rural county with a diagnosis; the program confirms the entry route.
Income
household at or under 300% of the federal poverty level
Counties health promotion council
Adams; Blair; Franklin; Fulton; Huntingdon; Juniata; Mifflin; Perry
Counties carestar
Armstrong; Bedford; Bradford; Butler; Cambria; Cameron; Carbon; Centre; Clarion; Clearfield; Clinton; Columbia; Crawford; Elk; Fayette; Forest; Greene; Indiana; Jefferson; Lawrence; Lycoming; McKean; Mercer; Monroe; Montour; Northumberland; Pike; Potter; Schuylkill; Snyder; Somerset; Sullivan; Susquehanna; Tioga; Union; Venango; Warren; Washington; Wayne; Wyoming

The trap: The Department of Health lists Alliance for Nonprofit Resources and Health Promotion Council. Special Kids Network confirms the current contractor for the county.

Where I read this

← Back to your options