Recently the United States’ 117th Congress passed its end-of-year omnibus bill, which notably included reauthorization of the Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting (MIECHV) Program. The final package represents the highest level of federal investment in and commitment to home visiting in over a decade and includes:

• Doubling federal investments to $800 million over five years
• Doubling of the "tribal set-aside" from 3% to 6% to help address the inequities that exist among American Indian and Alaska Native communities
• Development of new home visiting data dashboards to ease the administrative burden currently on home visitors
• Authorizes the use of virtual home visits to reach more families, especially those in rural areas

Illinois MIECHV is a connective pillar for the Illinois home visiting system – the five-year reauthorization of the MIECHV program will ensure much-needed stability for federally funded programs while allowing MIECHV state leadership to continue to strengthen and support state funded home visiting programs.

This MIECHV reauthorization cycle has been a clear testament to strong bipartisan recognition that home visiting, as well as other early childhood programs, are focal priority areas for families and the early childhood workforce. Raising Illinois is especially proud of the strong showing of support from the Congressional delegations in our state, and we are particularly grateful to Illinois Representative Danny K. Davis (D-IL7) for serving as a true home visiting champion and the original co-sponsor of the House of Representatives’ MIECHV reauthorization bill.

In addition to MIECHV, the final package includes funding for a wide array of family-facing programs, including:

• The Child Care Development Block Grant (CCDBG), funded at $8,021,387,000 (a 30.1% increase over the FY 2022 level)
• The Preschool Development Grant (PDG), funded at $315,000,000 (a $25,000,000 increase over the FY 2022 level)
• The Individuals with Disabilities in Education Act (IDEA), funded at $420,000,000 for Part B (an increase of $10,451,000 over the FY 2022 level), $540,000,000 for Part C grants for infants and toddlers (an increase of $43,694,000 over the FY 2022 level), and $14.19 billion grants to states (an increase of $850,000,000 over FY 2022 level)
• Head Start, funded at $11,996,820,000 (an increase of $960,000,000 over the FY 2022 level)
• The National Child Traumatic Stress Initiative, funded at $93,900,000 (an increase at $12,000,000 over FY 2022 level)
• Child Care Access Means Parents in School (CCAMPIS), funded at $75,000,000 (an increase of $10 million over the FY 2022 level)

We celebrate these investments, and the supports they will provide to children, families and the early childhood workforce. Despite this win, there is still more work to be done. In the new 118th Congress, we are committed to advocating for early childhood supports that we were disappointed were not included in this omnibus, such as the Child Tax Credit and the Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP). We call on the 118th Congress to expand these critical programs in line with the new investments and prioritize the health and success of children, families and the early childhood workforce.