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Children’s Advocates Seek Increased Funding for Child Abuse Prevention and Early Learning Home Visiting Programs Home Visiting Programs Save Lives and Money Albany, NY—March 12, 2008—Parents, service providers and advocates from the far reaches of New York State will be gathering for Home Visiting Advocacy Day at the Legislative Office Building in Albany on March 19, 2008, to persuade the Legislature to increase funding for home visiting programs. Advocates are pleased that the executive budget includes an increase in child welfare spending at the rate of $150 million for programs for children who have been abused or neglected. But it is still imperative that New York State invest in programs that prevent abuse and neglect from occurring, like infancy and early childhood home visiting. Senator Martin Golden of Brooklyn has added $7 million for home visiting programs to the $25.2 million in the executive budget. Advocates are urging the Assembly to match that sum. “Currently, New York State funding for home visiting is less than one percent of what we spend for victim treatment, incarceration, foster care, juvenile delinquency and other consequences of child abuse and neglect,” said Christine Days, executive director of Prevent Child Abuse New York. “We do so much for education, and now for universal pre-k, but learning and nurturing do not begin at age three or four. Families at risk must be reached right from the start, and infancy must not be ignored.” Home visiting programs focus on families with new babies, working with them in their homes by providing direct services, evaluating needs, connecting them with appropriate community services, and monitoring well-being. Early literacy home visiting programs also focus on school readiness and success. Investments in home visiting programs have been shown to reduce costs associated with foster care placements, unintended pregnancies, hospitalizations and emergency room visits, low birth-weight babies, and other costly interventions. Children involved in home visiting programs are also less likely to drop out of school. They are also proven to be one of the most effective and evidence-based methods of preventing child abuse and neglect. In New York State more than $2.5 billion is spent annually to treat victims of child abuse and prosecute abusers, including $450 million for foster care, $110 million for special education services for abused children, $85 million for juvenile delinquency programs, and $23 million for hospitalization for child injuries. So why has New York State only invested $25.2 million in these great programs? That’s a question advocates will be asking Wednesday, March 19 at Home Visiting Advocacy Day. Details are as follows: Where: Third Floor Terrace, Legislative Office Building Parents and professionals representing home visiting programs from around the state will be available for interviews. For more information contact Jennifer Matrazzo at 518-445-1273. Healthy Families New York (HFNY) is a prenatal and infancy home visiting program for expectant families and new parents, beginning prenatally or shortly after the birth of the child. Participants are screened to identify risk factors and stressors that the family may face. Families who participate in the program are offered long-term in-home services until the child is in school or Head Start. HFNY is a comprehensive prevention program that focuses on the safety of children while at the same time supporting families. The services are easily accessible to isolated, at-risk families and respectful of cultural and community diversity. Nurse-Family Partnership (NFP) is an evidence-based, nurse home visitation program that improves the health, well-being and self-sufficiency of low-income, first-time parents and their children. NFP nurse home visitors work with their clients to achieve three important goals: Improving pregnancy outcomes by helping women engage in good preventive health practices, improving child health and development by helping parents provide responsible and competent care and improving the economic self-sufficiency of the family by helping parents develop a vision for their future, plan future pregnancies, continue their education and find work. Parent-Child Home Program (PCHP) is a research-based and research-validated early childhood literacy and school readiness program. PCHP successfully strengthens families and prepares children for academic success through intensive home visiting. Since 1965, this innovative program has emphasized the importance of quality parent-child verbal interaction to promote the cognitive and social-emotional development that children need in order to enter school with the tools they need to become successful students. Parents as Teachers (PAT) is the overarching program philosophy of providing parents with child development knowledge and parenting support. PAT incorporates a home visiting component, utilizes a research-based curriculum that promotes optimal child development and positive parent-child relationships and delivers developmental, hearing and vision screenings that can result in early identification of delays or health issues. Early Head Start (EHS) is a federally funded community-based program for low-income families with infants and toddlers and pregnant women. Its mission is simple: to promote healthy prenatal outcomes for pregnant women, enhance the development of very young children and promote healthy family functioning. EHS framework includes home visits, early education services, parenting education, comprehensive health and mental health services and high quality child care services. Home Instruction for Parents of Preschool Youngsters (HIPPY) is a parent-involvement, school readiness program that helps parents prepare their three, four and five year old children for success in school and beyond. HIPPY helps parents empower themselves as their children’s first teacher by giving them the tools, skills and confidence they need to work with their children in the home. There are many other fine home visiting programs throughout the State, including programs such as the Community Health Worker Program, Early Intervention, Teenage Services Act, or TASA, Programs, the Comprehensive Prenatal-Perinatal Services Network and Community Action for Prenatal Care. |
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