Home visiting programs allow nurses to ‘meet families where they’re at.’ Advocates want Congress to extend its funding.

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In Pennsylvania, MIECHV supported nearly 30,000 home visits in over 2,800 households in fiscal year 2020. About 70% of those households were low income, and 12% had a child with developmental delays or disabilities.

Not all home visitors are nurses. MIECHV allows states to use the funding to support different interventions that promote maternal and child well-being, said Meredith Matone, scientific director of PolicyLab at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. This gives communities flexibility to respond to local needs.

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Danville Childhood Development Center
Montgomery County Home Visiting
Kingsley Center
UPMC Susquehanna in Williamsport Press Conference
Women with Child
Event Discussion
People Having a Discussion
Danville Childhood Development Center

The coalition is working to build successful families in Montour and Columbia Counties,  joining leaders for an event at the Danville Childhood Development Center.

Those in attendance were: Angela Mattis, Montour County District Attorney; Ashley Mensch, director, Columbia County Family Center; Allison Shay, parent educator, Parents as Teachers; a mother benefiting from voluntary home visits and Kari King, president and CEO, Pennsylvania Partnerships for Children.

Montgomery County Home Visiting

Childhood Begins at Home held an event in March to highlight the need for more evidence-based home visiting in Montgomery County.

Those who participated included:

  • Nadine Miller, deputy administrator, Resource Division, Office of Children and Youth, Montgomery County Department of Health and Human Services;
  • Kevin Steele, Montgomery County District Attorney;
  • Rosemarie Halt, senior director of policy, Maternity Care Coalition;
  • A mother benefiting from voluntary home visits; and
  • Kari King, president and CEO, Pennsylvania Partnerships for Children.
Kingsley Center

Family support advocates joined together at the Kingsley Center to discuss the need for evidence-based home visiting in Allegheny County.

The event included:

  • Marc Cherna, director of the Allegheny County Department of Human Services;
  • Dr. Karen Hacker, director of the Allegheny County Health Department;
  • Cara Ciminillo, executive director of Trying Together;
  • Local families benefiting from voluntary home visits; and
  • Kari King, president and CEO of Pennsylvania Partnerships for Children.
UPMC Susquehanna in Williamsport Press Conference

Lycoming County First Assistant District Attorney Martin Wade, joined with the Nurse-Family Partnership and other statewide and regional partners for a press conference at UPMC Susquehanna in Williamsport, to discuss evidence-based home visiting and the Childhood Begins at Home campaign’s efforts to ensure more state funding for the programs in Lycoming County.

Women with Child
Event Discussion
People Having a Discussion