Last week HHS released new research on the impact of the Home Visiting Coalition or Maternal Infant and Early Childhood Home Visiting (MIECHV) Program. The Senate has been considering a bill that would extend the program for only two years instead of the five years that advocates including CWLA have been seeking. This research can be found here:
The key findings of some of the first MIECHV research include:
• Evidence-based home visiting has improved outcomes for parents and children across a wide range of child ages, outcome areas, and national models.
• Evidence-based home visiting appears to be cost-effective in the long term.
• The largest benefits from evidence-based home visiting come through reduced spending on government programs and increased individual earnings.
The information in this brief will inform the design of a study to assess the long-term effects of MIECHV-funded home visiting. It suggests where this long-term follow-up study can seek to replicate prior results, where it can try to fill gaps in current knowledge, and which outcomes are important to measure in order to assess the benefits and costs of home visiting.
In the meantime, the Senate Finance Committee is considering legislation to extend several health-related programs that expired in September. This “extenders” bill include home visiting but it would only extend the program for two years. The Senate version of the Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting (MIECHV) Program, (the S. 344, the Strong Families Act of 2017)—a bill CWLA supports, would extend the program for five years.
CWLA is urging its members and advocates to reach out to their senators in support of a five year extension while including it in an extenders package. Members can go to the CWLA Action Center to send an e-mail or call there Senators and members of Congress. ACT NOW It Takes Minutes of your time to speak up!
