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LEGISLATIVE ALERT6/13/2008Important Vote on the Education Begins at Home ActCall Your Rep. on the House Ed & Labor Committee!
Your member of Congress is voting on the Education Begins at Home Act on Wednesday this week. This Act would develop and expand voluntary, early childhood home visitation programs.
This legislation addresses the critical need for services in America's communities to support families with young children. Communities are developing successful approaches for preventing the abuse of children from ever happening. H.R. 2343 would improve the ability of communities to protect children and to prevent child abuse and neglect.
Call your Representative today and tell them to support H.R. 2343 when it comes up for a vote in the House Education and Labor Committee on Wednesday!
ACTION REQUIREDCall the Capitol Switchboard to be connected with your member of Congress!
U.S. Capitol Switchboard 1-800-828-0498MESSAGESupport H.R. 2343, a measure that would expand home visiting programs and prevent child abuse and neglect!
Other Talking Points
The U.S. Advisory Board on Child Abuse and Neglect proposed as its number one recommendation the establishment of universal voluntary home visitor services -- the highlight of its report, Creating Caring Communities: Blueprint for an Effective Federal Policy on Child Abuse and Neglect.
The Task Force on Community Preventive Services at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in 2003 endorsed "early childhood home visitation for prevention of child abuse and neglect in families at risk for maltreatment, including disadvantaged populations and families with low-birth weight infants."
BACKGROUNDHome visitation programs hold great promise. A GAO report, Home
Visiting: A Promising Early Intervention Strategy for At-Risk Families, had this to say about the impact of these services:
"Home visiting is a promising strategy for delivering or improving access to early intervention services that can help at-risk families become healthier and more self-sufficient. Delivering preventive services through home visiting can reduce later serious and costly problems."
This legislation, providing grants to states to establish or expand early childhood home visitation services to pregnant women and parents of young children importantly, recognizes the development in recent years of home visiting programs and the need to coordinate services to families.
The results of existing home visitation programs are encouraging. The pre-natal effects of these home-delivered services show an increased use of prenatal care, increased birth weight, increased use of health and community resources, improved nutrition during pregnancy, and a greater interest on the part of fathers. The outcomes of home visitation programs demonstrate a more nurturing home environment and a more positive parent-child interaction. The long-term effects have yielded fewer subsequent pregnancies, a decrease in the use of welfare assistance, and a decrease in child abuse and neglect incidents.
© Child Welfare League of America. The content of these publications may not be reproduced in any way, including posting on the Internet, without the permission of CWLA. For permission to use material from CWLA's website or publications, contact us using our website assistance form.
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