EDC to Lead National Initiative to Support Federal Home Visiting

WALTHAM, MA | EDC will receive $13 million over the next five years to help ensure at-risk pregnant mothers and families get the needed support to prepare their children to enter school healthy and ready to learn. EDC was awarded the funding by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to support grantees of the Division of Home Visiting and Early Childhood Systems.

EDC was selected to lead the initiative by the Health Resources and Services Administration, Maternal and Child Health Bureau. EDC’s partners on the project are Georgetown University Center for Child and Human Development, American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), Change Matrix, and Brigham and Women’s Hospital.

“Leading this new initiative is an important milestone in EDC’s long history of building capacity to improve the health, mental health, and school readiness of young children,” said Joanne Brady, senior vice president and director of EDC’s Learning and Teaching Division. “It is an honor to be chosen to work with our federal partner and colleagues to strengthen a program that has such a profound impact on our nation’s most vulnerable children and families.”

EDC and its partners will provide ongoing and specialized training and technical assistance for grantees in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and 5 U.S. territories. Together, they will work with grantees to strengthen Maternal and Infant Early Childhood Home Visiting programs, which have provided more than 2.3 million home visits over the past four years. Support will include integrating home visiting into a comprehensive early childhood system that promotes maternal, infant and early childhood health, safety, and development and fosters strong parent-child relationships.

The program has a far reach, serving approximately 145,500 parents and children in 825 counties in FY 2015. Trained home visitors form close partnerships with families and offer customized support based on family needs. Support focuses on parenting skills, school readiness, health and safety, preventing child injuries and maltreatment, and providing referrals to help address depression, substance abuse, and family violence and to improve family economic self-sufficiency.

To learn more about the program, visit the Health Resources and Services Administration website.

EDC designs, implements, and evaluates programs to improve education, health, and economic opportunity worldwide. Visit www.edc.org.