The Maternal, Infant and Early Childhood Home Visiting (MIECHV) Program facilitates collaboration and partnership at the federal, state, and community levels to improve health and development outcomes for at-risk children through evidence-based home visiting programs.

The statutory purposes of the program are to (1) strengthen and improve the programs and activities carried out under Title V of the Social Security Act; (2) improve coordination of services for at-risk communities; and (3) identify and provide comprehensive services to improve outcomes for families who reside in at-risk communities.

MIECHV includes grants to states and six jurisdictions, as well as grants to Indian Tribes, Tribal Organizations and Urban Indian Organizations. The legislation requires that grantees demonstrate improvement among eligible families participating in the program in these six benchmark areas:

Improved maternal and newborn health; Prevention of child injuries, child abuse, neglect or maltreatment and reduction of emergency department visits;  Improvement in school readiness and achievement; Reduction in crime or domestic violence; Improvements in family economic self-sufficiency; and Improvements in the coordination and referrals for other community resources and supports.

West Virginia’s approved benchmarks and constructs are included in the link.

MIECHV is an evidence-based policy initiative and the authorizing legislation requires that at least 75% of grant funds be spent on programs to implement evidence-based home visiting models. Currently, 13 home visiting models meet the Health and Human Services criteria and up to 75% of an eligible entities’ grant funds may be used to conduct a home visiting program using the approved model. Additionally, up to 25% may be spent on promising approaches that must be rigorously evaluated. MIECHV is authorized under the Social Security Act, Title V, Section 511 (42 USC 711), as amended by Section 2951 of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (Pub. L. No. 111-148).