Your Taxpayer Dollars at Work? Or not!
The Senate in Minnesota is about to close today this early evening. What are some working on? Here’s just an example. One of the Great Start clone bills we talked to you about last year.
This afternoon during today’s Senate Floor proceedings, Senator Relph (R-St. Cloud) asks to re-refer his SF 1438, (Great Start) Home Visiting bill to Health & Human Services Reform Committee (Chair, Senator Benson.) Senator Abeler is a co-author on the bill. Many Senate committees are canceled for today. This one is not.
How will the home visit program work going forward?
In brief, if a mother chooses home visits, she is required to start prenatally to the 3rd birthday of the child. Will moms understand this point up front?
“Subd 2. (b) If a home visiting program serves first-time mothers, the program must provide services prenatally until the child is three years of age in order to receive grant funds under this section.”
Who is this program for?
“pregnant women and families with young children and first-time mothers and many other designations”
“Subdivision 1.
Grants for home visiting programs.
(a) The commissioner shall awardgrants to community health boards, nonprofit organizations, and tribal nations to start up or expand home visiting programs serving pregnant women and families with young children.”
(2) to serve families with young children or pregnant women who are high risk or have
high needs; parents who have a history of mental illness, domestic abuse, or substance
abuse; first-time mothers; or families who are eligible for medical assistance or the federal Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children.
What are the allocations?
“Sec. 2. APPROPRIATIONS.
$23,000,000 in fiscal year 2020 and $41,600,000 in fiscal year 2021 are appropriated
from the general fund to the commissioner of health for grants for home visiting services
under Minnesota Statutes, section 145.87. This amount is in addition to base appropriations,
and $56,500,000 is added to the base in each year for fiscal years 2022 and after.”
Link to bill.
Bill authors:
Minnesota Advocates and Champions for Children 