Bill Pascrell: “This amendment would strike the provision in the bill that would add increasing employment and earnings to the Maternal…”

“This amendment would strike the provision in the bill that would add increasing employment and earnings to the Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting Program, or MIECHV, as it is generally referred to. I, obviously, share the goal of increasing employment and earnings across the country. However, home visiting is not an employment program. It is a program to strengthen families to make kids healthier, safer, and more ready to learn when they start school. Those are the outcomes home visiting models strive for, and those are the outcomes they achieve. I mentioned the other day in the Ways and Means Committee that I know the good that these programs do firsthand. In Passaic County--because most of these programs are run through counties throughout America--our home visiting program worked with a pregnant mom expecting a child with a heart defect. The baby required open heart surgery shortly after being born last July. After the surgery, the newborn continued to have health complications. At times, his mom felt depressed and hopeless and feared that her child was not going to survive. The home visiting program's family support worker was able to assist the mom by connecting her to services, providing her with emotional support, and acting as a liaison with the hospital where her son was. We know the negative impact that postpartum depression can have on new moms and their babies.…”