Statement on Extension for Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting Program

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congress has passed and the President is expected to sign the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015, a measure to permanently replace Medicare’s physician payment formula and repeal the Sustainable Growth Rate (SGR). This measure includes a two-year extension for the Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting (MIECHV) Program. The following statement should be attributed to Yasmina Vinci, executive director of the National Head Start Association.

“We applaud Congress for including a two-year extension of the Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting (MIECHV) Program in yesterday’s Sustainable Growth Rate (SGR) repeal. MIECHV-funded Early Head Start home visiting programs are making a difference for many vulnerable young parents and are particularly powerful because outreach begins at the earliest possible phase of child development, from fetal development to age three. Decades of research show that these family support programs work and have transformative long-term impacts by setting at-risk families on the pathway to success and self-sufficiency. We look forward to working with the home visiting community, Congress, and the Administration on sustainable funding for the program.”