National Legislation
On March 23, 2010, President Obama signed the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, which included mandatory funding over 5 years for high quality, evidence-based, voluntary early home visitation services to improve outcomes for children and families. This investment in home visiting will help ensure that more of America’s children will have the opportunity to grow up healthy, safe, and ready to learn.
Five of the known eligible evidence-based home visiting programs are:
On June 10, 2010, the first of three funding opportunity announcements (FOA) for the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act Maternal, Infant and Early Childhood Home Visiting Program was released. The first FOA provides instructions for States to apply for funding to support the home visiting needs assessment. The Supplemental Information Request (SIR) provides specifications for conducting the collaborative needs assessment, submitted September 20, 2010. The 
third SIR has been released, providing states instructions for submitting an updated state plan for implementing an evidence-based home visiting program in identified communities at-risk.
Oregon's Home Visiting System
In the Fall and Winter of 2009/2010, several partners including Head Start/Early Head Start, the Oregon Commission on Children and Families, the Division of Public Health, and Children, Adults and Families began meeting to develop a stronger statewide home visiting system that would enhance the synergy, efficiencies and effectiveness of our programs to better serve Oregon’s families.
These conversations and opportunities inspired the Division of Public Health, Healthy Start, and the Oregon Center for Children and Youth with Special Health Needs to begin developing conceptual models for an integrated Oregon home visiting approach. The goals of the partnership are to capitalize on the strengths of each program, decrease overlap and redundancy, decrease administrative barriers, and ensure the Oregonians we serve are receiving appropriate services as their needs change.
The partnership has expanded to include Addictions and Mental Health and other early childhood home visiting partners, in addition to Head Start/Early Head Start, the Oregon Commission on Children and Families, the Division of Public Health, and Children, Adults and Families. All partners will be involved in designing the final home visiting system and approach to respond to the federal grant opportunities and for an improved system that will better serve the people of Oregon.
Oregon's home visiting programs include:
