Feds Send $9.1 Million To Arkansas For Early Childhood Grants

The U.S. Health and Human Services Department announced $9,170,693 in grant funding to Arkansas to support the Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting Program (Home Visiting Program).

The funds will allow Arkansas to continue to expand voluntary, evidence-based home visiting services to women during pregnancy and to parents with young children, a release from HHS said.

Nationally, $386 million was awarded to states, territories, and nonprofit organizations to support the Home Visiting Program.

“Home visits by a nurse, social worker, or early childhood educator during pregnancy and in the first years of life can make a tremendous difference in the lives of many children and their families,” said HHS Secretary Sylvia Burwell. “Today’s awards give Arkansas the flexibility to tailor its home visiting programs to address the specific needs of the communities it serves.”

The Home Visiting Program currently serves approximately one-third of the counties in the country with high rates of the following indicators: low birth weight, teen birth rate, living in poverty and infant mortality rates.

In 2014, the Home Visiting Program served 115,000 parents and children across the nation, according to HHS. Nearly 80% of families participating in the program had household incomes at or below the 100 percent of the Federal Poverty Level.