Wisconsin’s Department of Children and Families (DCF) has again drawn down federal funds to continue and expand voluntary, evidence-based home visiting services to women during pregnancy and to parents with young children up to age five. Wisconsin has been very successful in expanding the program with federal funding and state match. DCF is the lead agency, working closely with the Department of Health Services.
According to officials of the federal Department of Health and Human Services, the Home Visiting Program helps to ensure that young families have the option to participate in a program that promotes their children’s healthy growth and development. The home visiting program is part of a prenatal to five continuum, including Head Start and Early Start, child care funding, services to children with disabilities, and other programs.
Budget Bill Fails to Include Remedies for Wisconsin’s Stark Racial Disparities
On a wide range of different indicators, Wisconsin has some of the largest racial disparities in the nation. For example, the poverty rate for Black Wisconsin children is 36% -- four times the rate for white children, which is one of the widest gaps among all states....