Today, Gov. Beebe participated in a signing ceremony for Act 528, “An Act to Improve the Health and Stability of Arkansas Families and to Strengthen Voluntary Home Visitation Programs.” Voluntary home visiting programs match parents with trained professionals to provide information and support during pregnancy and throughout the child’s first few (and very formative) years. This is a big win for Arkansas kids and families.

We want to thank all of you who worked to put together a successful legislative home visiting proposal for Arkansas. It was a model of collaboration and a sincere commitment to make our state’s home visiting programs adhere to high national standards. Home Visiting Network members were not afraid to account for what happens when they interact with vulnerable children and their families.

Act 528 sets up one of the strongest home visiting systems in the country by ensuring investments are directed to programs that are proven to achieve successful results for children and families. The act, which was approved unanimously in both the senate and the house, also mandates that home visiting programs track and measure outcomes such as improvements in maternal and infant health, family self-sufficiency and school readiness.

The law requires that at least 90 percent of Arkansas’s funding for home visiting go to support evidence-based or promising programs, ensuring the state will receive solid returns on investment for taxpayers and strong results for participating families. The policy also sets forth a clear process for measuring outcomes across all state-funded home visiting programs, which includes collaboration and data sharing between the departments that oversee home visiting services: the State Child Abuse and Neglect Prevention Board, the Department of Health, and the Department of Human Services.

Arkansas’ reforms are based on a policy framework developed by the Pew Home Visiting Campaign. Pew’s nationwide survey of states’ home visiting programs found that most lacked policies that link funding to program effectiveness and that few adequately monitored family outcomes.

The law has support from a broad coalition including policy makers, state agency staff, advocates, home visiting providers, and leaders in the health care community. Crucial legislative leadership came from Senator Ronald Caldwell, and Representatives David Meeks and Warwick Sabin.