Some of our nation’s costliest social problems—like child abuse and neglect, school failure, poverty, unemployment, and crime—are rooted in early childhood. Voluntary home visiting matches parents with trained professionals to provide information and support during pregnancy and throughout their child’s first three years—a critical developmental period. Quality, voluntary home visiting leads to fewer children in social welfare, mental health, and juvenile corrections systems, with considerable cost savings for states.
Through grants from national philanthropic leaders, Vermont Business Roundtable works with home visiting providers, leaders in state government, and business leaders from across the state, to develop and advocate for better home visiting public policy.
Our goal is to promote policy change to align with national recommendations to ensure the best outcomes for children at risk. To promote meaningful monitoring, accountability and quality of voluntary home visiting programs, as well as sustainable funding to ensure the best outcomes for families and the highest returns on taxpayer investment, model state policy should:
For More Information About Home Visiting, Please Visit:
To View Interview with Libby Doggett, Pew Center on the States, Please Visit:
We also believe investments of taxpayer dollars must follow clear guidelines to ensure accountability.
Taxpayer Investments in Early Childhood:
The Research is Clear:
Below are links to research on home visiting, information on the federal grant for home visiting used by Vermont, and documents shared by home visiting policy leaders in Maine after a long-term revamp of home visiting policy there.
• Maine Standards of Practice for Home Visiting
http://www.mainecgc.org/Maine%20MIECHV%20Expansion%20Grant%202011.pdf
In Vermont, most referrals for home visiting come through the Department for Children and Families’ Children’s Integrated Services area: http://dcf.vermont.gov/cdd/cis
The Vermont Department of Health – Maternal Child Health division receives a federal grant for home visiting, but coordinates closely with Children’s Integrated Services.
http://dcf.vermont.gov/cdd/cis
