Announcing $90 million in Affordable Care Act Funding for Maternal, Infant and Childhood Home Visiting Program Grants

Recognizing the importance of promoting healthy development and improving maternal and child health outcomes, the Affordable Care Act provides funding for the Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting Program. The Program will rely on evidence-based home visiting strategies that help families create a nurturing environment for young children and connect to a range of services – including health, early education, early intervention and more – they might need. The program will be administered by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), in collaboration with the Administration for Children and Families (ACF). 

• Approximately $90 million will be awarded this summer, to fund a new grant program for eligible States and territories that provides for evidence-based home visiting programs for children and families in at risk communities.
• These grants will be made based on a pre-determined formula.
• Additional funding will also be available to Indian Tribes, consortia of Indian Tribes, Tribal Organizations and Urban Indian Organizations and will be announced at a later time. 
• The programs these grants will fund will build on partnerships at the Federal, State and community levels. The idea is to coordinate and deliver critical health, development, early learning, child abuse and neglect prevention and support services for families who live in at-risk communities.
• The goal of the programs is an early childhood service system in every State that supports high-quality, evidence-based practice. 
• The Home Visiting Program will  provide coordinated services to improve maternal and child health and promote healthy child development in our communities most in need.

To apply for home visiting program grant funds, States/territories must submit a plan addressing the needs identified in the assessment. Grant application information is available at www.grants.gov.

The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), part of the U. S. Department of Health and Human Services, is the primary Federal agency for improving access to health care services for people who are uninsured, isolated, or medically vulnerable. For more information about HRSA and its programs, visit www.hrsa.gov.

Note: All HHS press releases, fact sheets and other press materials are available at www.hhs.gov/news.