Education Begins At Home Hearing scheduled for June 11th. Take action.

EBAH Hearing Scheduled for June 11^th, 10am ET

Take Action

Great News! The Education and Labor Committee of the U.S. House of Representatives plans to hold a hearing on the Education Begins at Home Act (EBAH, HR 2343).

The hearing is scheduled for Wednesday, June 11^th at 10am eastern. Please note the committee is still finalizing the list of witnesses. We’ll keep you posted.

The hearing will put a spotlight on home visiting and will provide a perfect opportunity to build additional support for EBAH in the House.

We encourage you to take the following action steps in support of EBAH before June 11^th:

Take Action. If your Representative is a member of the Education and Labor committee, listed below, please ask him/her to participate in the hearing. A good turnout will demonstrate that there is broad interest and support for the bill and will help us build momentum.

Take Action. A current list of cosponsors is included below. If your Representative is not on this list, please ask him/her to cosponsor the bill. Ideally, we would like to see a boost in the number of cosponsors prior to the hearing.

Take Action. If you receive any commitments to attend the hearing or cosponsor the legislation, please contact Bridget Gavaghan at bgavaghan@preventchildabuse.org.

Step 1: Connect to your Representative’s office through the U.S. Capitol switchboard, 202-224-3121.

Step 2: Ask to speak to the aide who handles children’s issues.

Step 3: Identify yourself and your organization and make your “ask.”

The “Ask” for Committee Members:

· I’m calling to request that Representative ______ participate in the Education and Labor Committee hearing on the Education Begins at Home Act, scheduled for 10am on June 11^th.

· [If not a cosponsor] AND cosponsor the Education Begins At Home Act.

The “Ask” for Representatives Not Currently Signed Onto EBAH

· I’m calling to request that Representative _____ cosponsor the Education Begins At Home Act (EBAH, HR 2343) prior to the Education and Labor committee hearing on EBAH scheduled for June 11^th.

Additional Talking Points:

· EBAH would authorize $500 million over three years to help states establish or expand quality early childhood home visitation programs.

· Home visitation delivers parent education and family support directly to parents with young children providing guidance on how parents can enhance their children’s development from birth through kindergarten entry.

· Home visitation works. Research has shown that voluntary home visitation is a very effective and cost-efficient strategy for supporting new parents and connecting them to helpful and much needed community resources.

· Quality early childhood home visitation programs lead to proven, positive outcomes for children and families, including improved child health and development, improved parenting practices, improved school readiness, and reductions in child abuse and neglect.

· There is not enough funding to meet the demand for home visiting programs. Existing home visitation programs like Healthy Families America serve only a small percentage of families in need of prevention and family support services. EBAH dollars would enable programs to reach thousands of more families who have very young children – the same cohort of children that suffers disproportionately from abuse and neglect in this country.

If you have questions regarding committee members, representatives not currently signed onto EBAH or any other information contained in this entry please contact: Bridget Gavaghan, Director of Public Policy, at 312-334-6819 or bgavaghan@preventchildabuse.org.