3/10/2014

By Stephanie Schmit, Liz Schott, LaDonna Pavetti, and Hannah Matthews

The Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting Program (MIECHV), a federal and state partnership that supports family- and child-related home visiting programs in every state, will expire at the end of fiscal year 2014 unless Congress takes steps to extend it — threatening a host of programs that have proven effective for strengthening high-risk families and saving money over the long run.

MIECHV targets high-risk families who are most likely to benefit from intensive home visiting services, through which trained professionals (often nurses, social workers, or parent educators) help parents acquire the skills to promote their children’s development. The home visiting programs help families connect to necessary services, such as health care or community resources, and monitor child development and progress on developmental milestones. MIECHV provides the federal funds to support the programs, while states and localities implement them. Congress provided $400 million for MIECHV this year.

Source: CLASP: Policy Solutions that work for low-income people

Available at: http://www.clasp.org/resources-and-publications/publication-1/CLASP-CBPP-Joint-Brief-FINAL.pdf