State Receives $3.9 Million for Family Support Program

The Hawai‘i State Department of Health (DOH) has received a $3.9 million federal grant in support of the Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting Program. The grant, provided by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), will cover a period of two years beginning Oct. 1, 2018, and ending on Sept. 29, 2020.

The home visiting program provides a range of resources and supports for Hawai‘i families raising children, and supports voluntary, evidence-based home services for women during pregnancy, and for parents with children up to kindergarten entry.

“Hawai‘i’s home visiting program offers pregnant women and families additional tools to help children be physically, socially, and emotionally healthy and ready to learn,” said Matthew Shim, chief of the Department of Health’s Family Health Services Division. “We continue to tailor our home visiting program to meet the needs of families throughout the state.”

With the HRSA grant funding, the home visiting program is expected to reach more than 1,700 participants including 870 parental guardians and 830 children in 870 households.

In 2017, DOH received a $3.5 million, two-year HRSA grant which supported some 11,000 home visits statewide reaching 128 pregnant women, 712 parental guardians and 801 children in 840 households within a year. About 52% of those home visits were on O‘ahu, 21% on Hawai‘i Island and 10% on Maui. Moloka‘i, Lana‘i and Kaua‘i each ranged from 4% to 7% of total home visits.

The home visiting program primarily serves communities with high rates of poor birth outcomes or poverty. In the last federal fiscal year ending September 2018, almost 75% of families participating in the program had household incomes at or below 100% of the federal poverty level. In Hawai‘i’s home visiting program, about 78% of Hawai‘i households were low income.

For more information on the home visiting program or to enroll as a participant, visit: www.yourohana.org.