VIDEO: Smith Bill to Support Healthy, Independent Families Passes House

Congressman Smith’s opening statement on the House floor on his bill, the Increasing Opportunity and Success for Children and Parents through Evidence-Based Home Visiting Act.


Congressman Smith’s closing comments on his bill.

Today, the U.S. House of Representatives passed Congressman Adrian Smith’s (R-NE) bill, the Increasing Opportunity and Success for Children and Parents through Evidence-Based Home Visiting Act, to reauthorize the Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting (MIECHV) program. Smith serves as chairman of the Ways and Means Human Resources Subcommittee, which has jurisdiction over this legislation.

“By voting to reauthorize this evidence-based program today, the House affirmed the need to encourage greater self-sufficiency in families and also demand proven results from our anti-poverty programs,” Smith said. “Over the past few months, I have had the opportunity to meet with Nebraskans working with home visitors and see MIECHV’s positive outcomes firsthand.

“This program works because funding is contingent on evidence of effectiveness. We should be replicating this model across the federal government to ensure taxpayer dollars are focused on programs producing real results. I am honored to lead this important effort to reduce government dependence and help support healthy families.”

Background:

Proposed by President George W. Bush, the Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting program (MIECHV) was fully authorized by Congress in Fiscal Year 2010.

The program helps support state and local efforts to provide voluntary, evidence-based, outcome-focused home visiting services to parents and children living in communities which put them at risk of poor social and health outcomes. Objectives include increasing economic self-sufficiency of families, improving prenatal health and birth outcomes, promoting school readiness of young children, and preventing child abuse and neglect.

MIECHV is one of the only government programs in which funding is contingent on proven evidence of effectiveness. For a home visiting model to be funded, an evaluation must show the program has demonstrated significant, positive outcomes in areas such as reducing child abuse and neglect, improving maternal and child health, and improving economic self-sufficiency.