Description:
In 2010, as part of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, Congress established the new Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting Program, a major national commitment--$1.5 billion over five years--to expand and improve state-administered home visitation. This initiative mandates that federal funds be spent only on approved models that meet designated, rigorous evidentiary standards and are effectively coordinated and monitored. The federal effort is driven by the recognition that quality home visiting can dramatically improve children's health and wellbeing, increase family self-sufficiency and save taxpayers money in both the short and long term. If this potential is to be realized, however, states must ensure that the almost $1.4 billion they make available annually for home visiting also is supporting proven, evidence-based models, and that public expenditures are yielding expected returns. A first-of-its-kind survey, conducted by the Pew Center on the States, investigated the extent to which states are meeting these investment objectives. Pew researchers surveyed agency leaders in all 50 states and the District of Columbia about their state-administered home visiting funding and policies for fiscal year 2010 and looked at each state's programs--documenting their quality, funding, administration and oversight--to provide a comprehensive picture of the national landscape of state-administered home visiting. The survey found that although nearly all of the states and the District are making critical investments in home visiting programs, evidence of effectiveness too rarely determines how these dollars are spent, oversight is insufficient and funding is inadequate. (author abstract)
Resource Type:
Reports & Papers
Publisher(s):
Country:
United States
State(s)/Territories/Tribal Nation(s):
Alabama;
Alaska;
Arizona;
Arkansas;
California;
Colorado;
Connecticut;
Delaware;
District of Columbia;
Florida;
Georgia;
Hawaii;
Idaho;
Illinois;
Indiana;
Iowa;
Kansas;
Kentucky;
Louisiana;
Maine;
Maryland;
Massachusetts;
Michigan;
Minnesota;
Mississippi;
Missouri;
Montana;
Nebraska;
Nevada;
New Hampshire;
New Jersey;
New Mexico;
New York;
North Carolina;
North Dakota;
Ohio;
Oklahoma;
Oregon;
Pennsylvania;
Rhode Island;
South Carolina;
South Dakota;
Tennessee;
Texas;
Utah;
Vermont;
Virginia;
Washington;
West Virginia;
Wisconsin;
Wyoming