# What This Bill Does

This bill sets aside $150 million in emergency funding to help home visiting programs continue serving families during the pandemic. Home visiting programs are services where trained visitors go to families' homes—or now, conduct virtual visits—to provide support to pregnant women, new parents, and young children. These programs help with parenting skills, child development, health education, and connecting families to other resources they need.

The money is meant to help these programs stay afloat when enrollment drops because families are staying home during the pandemic. Organizations running these programs have to promise they won't cut staff or reduce services just because fewer families are participating. The funding is available through September 2022, giving programs time to adapt and recover.

# How the Money Can Be Used

Programs can spend this emergency funding in several practical ways. They can pay home visitors extra hazard pay for the risks they take visiting homes during a pandemic, or they can switch to virtual visits using video calls and other technology. The money can also help families get the technology they need—like tablets or internet access—to participate in virtual visits. Programs can train their staff on how to safely conduct visits remotely and help families prepare for emergencies.

Perhaps most importantly for struggling families, the funding can provide emergency supplies like diapers, formula, food, and hygiene products directly to families in the program. Programs can also give families prepaid grocery cards to help them buy food during the crisis. If programs work with local diaper banks—community organizations that distribute diapers to low-income families—they can reimburse those banks for supplies. The bill prioritizes helping the families who need it most, including low-income families and other vulnerable populations these programs typically serve.

To provide emergency funding for home visiting programs during the pandemic, and for other purposes.

Davis, Danny K.

This bill provides supplemental funding to the Department of Health and Human Services for the Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting Program. This program supports voluntary home visits by social workers and other professionals for families with young children in at-risk communities. The funds may be used to <ul> <li>expand access to virtual visits, such as by acquiring necessary technology for participating families;</li> <li>provide for specified training and administrative costs, including hazard pay; and</li> <li>meet emergency needs of participating families for diapers, prepaid grocery cards, and other supplies.</li> </ul> An entity that receives these funds must maintain existing staffing and funding levels, coordinate as practicable with local diaper banks when providing emergency supplies, and meet other conditions.