The Mississippi State Department of Health will get nearly $4 million from the federal government to implement a home-visitation program for families in 16 counties with children up to five years of age.

Families that choose to participate in the Maternal, Infant and Early Childhood Home Visitation, or MIECHV, program can take advantage of free support from trained professionals including social workers and educators in areas such as breastfeeding, safe sleep for infants, and practices for language development. 

The program uses a decades-old, evidence-based model called Parents as Teachers that focuses on educating parents in early childhood development, learning and health.

Professionals will also connect families to community resources such as affordable childcare and will conduct screenings for postpartum health – both physical and mental. 

“MSDH is thrilled to receive this funding from HRSA that will focus on our children, zero to five, and families in their home settings,” AnnaLyn Whitt, director of health services at the state department of health, told Mississippi Today. “ … The counties were selected based on a needs assessment process that looked at access, social determinants of health and child health outcomes.”

Across the country, states have gotten $440 million to implement similar home visitation programs. The initiative is part of a larger effort by the Biden administration, which has spent more than $558 million addressing America’s maternal health crisis – in which women are dying at a higher rate than any other developed nation. 

Mississippi continues to rank last in women’s health and reproductive care outcomes, and mental health is one of the leading causes of preventable maternal deaths, according to the latest Mississippi maternal mortality report. 

Experts hope that making trained professionals available for home visits free of charge to parents will help mitigate these statistics in a holistic approach that also contributes to child success in school and beyond. 

“Bringing home a baby can be stressful. Many new parents face additional challenges such as housing, or income insecurity, which can make the whole situation even more daunting,” Xavier Becerra, Health and Human Services secretary, said in a press release. “But we know from decades of research that home visits work – from helping with school readiness and achievement for children to improving health for women.”

While registration is not yet open, interested parents can reach out to state health department officials here to learn more. 

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