WASHINGTON Representative Charles Boustany (R-LA) and Representative Dave Reichert (R-WA) released the following statement after the Senate passed the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015, which included an extension of the Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting (MIECHV) programs through September 30, 2017. The MIECHV programs fall under the jurisdiction of the Ways and Means Human Resources Subcommittee, of which Boustany is the current Chairman and Reichert is the former Chairman. Boustany along with Reichert recently introduced separate legislation, H.R. 1372, the Home Visiting Extension Act, designed to ensure there would be no lapse in funding for MIECHV programs while Congress deliberated over the broader “doc fix” legislation.

Representative Boustany said:

“Government must do more to figure out what really works to help children and families get ahead. Federal home visiting programs have shown us how this can be doneprovide funding based on evidence of success, then hold programs accountable to make sure they deliver real results. The extension of these programs means we can continue to study whether they are reducing child abuse, improving children’s health, and increasing the work and earnings of low-income families, and I look forward to using the lessons we learn from these programs to develop better ways of helping more families in need.”

Representative Reichert said:

“In the 33 years I spent in law enforcement before coming to Congress, I saw up close the challenges faced by children living in difficult situationswhether that was a neighborhood with high poverty and unemployment, a community dealing with crime and drug use, or a family struggling with domestic violence or child abuse.  Home visitors address these issues directly by visiting mothers with young children and giving them the tools they need to best care for their children, and I am grateful these programs will continue so we can learn more about their impacts and use those results to guide our efforts in the future.”

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