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Education Begins at Home Letter
March 15, 2006
The Honorable Danny K. Davis
1526 Longworth Building
U.S. House of Representatives
Washington, D.C. 20515
Dear Rep. Davis,
As members of the National Child Abuse Coalition, we write to express our support for H.R. 3628, the Education Begins At Home Act, legislation you introduced to develop and expand voluntary, early childhood home visitation programs.
Your legislation addresses the critical need for services in America's communities to support families with young children. Child protective service workers all over the country struggle heroically to protect children who have already been maltreated. At the same time, communities are developing successful approaches for preventing the abuse of children from ever happening. S.503 would improve the ability of communities to protect children and to prevent child abuse and neglect.
Home 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."
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-birthweight infants."
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.
Your 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, such as the bill's attention to strengthening Early Head Start home visitation.
Thank you for your leadership in introducing this important legislation to support parents and ensure that children grow in a safe and nurturing environment. We look forward to working with you to see this legislation to enactment.
Sincerely,
Alliance for Children and Families
American Humane Association
American Professional Society on the Abuse of Children
Association of University Centers on Disabilities
Child Welfare League of America
Children's Defense Fund
First Star
General Federation of Women's Clubs
National Alliance of Children's Trust and Prevention Funds
National Association of Counsel for Children
National Association of Social Workers
National Exchange Club Foundation
Prevent Child Abuse America
Voices for America's Children
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