Some Mountain West states are expanding their home visit programs for pregnant people and new parents after receiving a boost in federal funding.
A total of $40 million will go to the region — an increase of $9 million from the previous year. It’s part of a 2022 congressional funding package aimed at doubling funding for the program over five years.
The home visit program started nationwide about 15 years ago to support at-risk families with things like breastfeeding and safe sleep for babies.
“They have a broad range of topics they can cover, all the way from how to have an active kiddo … all the way to discipline styles,” explained Brittney Thyarks, who manages funding for Wyoming’s program.
In the Cowboy State and across the country, social workers and nurses visit parents from the time they’re expecting until their child is in kindergarten. Thyarks said the more than $800,000 funding boost in the state means reaching more families.
“We've been only able to serve five counties and now we're looking at expanding to seven and hopefully we’ll be able to expand to even more,” she said.
The program, operated by the organization Parents as Teachers, currently operates in Laramie, Albany, Fremont, Natrona and Sweetwater counties. The funding boost means expanding to Carbon and Campbell counties.
“Being a parent is hard,” Thyarks said. “And to know that there's programs out there to meet families where they're at and support them in their parenting journey, it's just something that keeps me coming back to work every day.”
Data shows, over the past year, levels of child maltreatment have fallen for families opting into the program in Wyoming. All mothers in the program also had a health checkup after delivery.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), this is a key way to prevent maternal deaths — most of which happen in the postpartum period. The U.S. has the highest maternal mortality rate among high-income nations.
In recent years, Arizona currently had the highest maternal mortality rate in the Mountain West at 300 per 100,000 live births. That state is also getting the most funding in the region at a total of $12.6 million — a 1.8 boost from the previous year.
This story was produced by the Mountain West News Bureau, a collaboration between Wyoming Public Media, Nevada Public Radio, Boise State Public Radio in Idaho, KUNR in Nevada, KUNC in Colorado and KANW in New Mexico, with support from affiliate stations across the region. Funding for the Mountain West News Bureau is provided in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
