Rep. Charles Boustany (R-LA) announced March 17 that he has cosponsored legislation along with Rep. Dave Reichert (R-WA) that would extend authorization for the Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting program (MIECHV) through September 30. The extension, if adopted, would give Congress more time to approve a longer term reauthorization.
The bill (H.R. 1372) was introduced as a back up. An extension has also been included in related legislation that would address payments to physicians under the Medicare program, but the fate of that bill is uncertain. MIECHV is currently slated to expire on March 31.
“The MIECHV program uses evidence-based models to achieve real results,” said Boustany in a statement. “This is an approach we should take with more social programs across the federal government to determine whether they actually work.”
“The MIECHV program was designed based on evidence, and it is currently being evaluated to see whether it’s working as intended. We need to make sure more of our federal programs operate this way, and we look forward to working with our Democrat and Republican colleagues to do just that.”
Related
- Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, Effective, Evidence-Based Home Visiting Programs in Every State at Risk if Congress Does Not Extend Funding (February 9, 2015)
- Center for American Progress and Center for Law and Social Policy, An Investment in Our Future: How Federal Home Visiting Funding Provides Critical Support for Parents and Children (February 2015)
- Coalition for Evidence-Based Policy, Statement on MIECHV Reauthorization (April 2, 2014)