DeWine unveils plan to triple maternal home-visiting program

During a news conference on Tuesday at Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus, Gov. Mike DeWine announced the creation of an advisory panel to look into how to expand home-visitation programs to help combat Ohio’s high infant mortality rate (Source: “Gov. Mike DeWine looks to help new mothers by boosting funding for home-visitation program,” Cleveland Plain Dealer, Jan. 15, 2019)

Right now, about 4,000 Ohio families participate in home-visiting programs, which are paid for annually by $19.6 million in state funds and $8.6 million in federal dollars, according to Sandy Oxley of the Ohio Department of Health. DeWine said he’s looking to at least triple the number of families served by the program, noting that about 100,000 Ohio families are eligible. 

The newly formed Governor’s Advisory Committee on Home Visitation will be "tasked with making formal recommendations about how to best increase the state’s investment in effective homes visitation programs," according to a release from the Governor's Office. "They will meet weekly over the next five to six weeks to inform the Executive State Budget, to be presented to the Ohio General Assembly in early 2019."

“This is the best money we can spend,” DeWine said. “It’s the most important thing we can do in regard to children.”