Health Care Reform: New Home Visiting Funding, Requirements

The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) at the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced the availability of $88 million in federal fiscal year (FY) 2010 funding under the Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting Program, a new program created under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 (P.L. 111-148). The health care reform law authorized and appropriated $1.5 billion for the program for FYs 2010-2014. In addition, the law requires all states, as a condition of receiving existing Maternal and Child Health Services block grant funds in FY 2011, to conduct a needs assessment to identify at-risk communities, and the capacity of existing early childhood visitation programs, substance abuse treatment, and counseling services.