Originally published on Tuesday, February 11, 2025 via State House News and wwlp.com
BOSTON, Mass. (SHNS)–Soon after Rosibel Marcano gave birth to triplets at the age of 20, she lost her mother — her major support during the early stages of parenthood. Marcano on Tuesday pointed to a home visitor program as pivotal in helping her and her husband navigate parenting, through her grief.
“That title of home visitor doesn’t feel like it is enough to describe what they have been to my family,” Marcano said. “My home visitors have also been my therapist, my support system, my community and the experts I can rely on. They are my go-to for everything.”
About 6,000 Massachusetts families are supported annually by the Massachusetts Home Visiting Initiative, which funds home visiting organizations that link parents with caregivers from birth through early childhood to improve maternal health, reduce child abuse and neglect and create overall better outcomes for families.
Eligibility differs depending upon the program; The Children’s Trust’s Healthy Families program provides services for first-time parents 23-years-old and under, while other home visiting programs provide parent educator services or support for parents in recovery from substance use. Organizations partner with local community organizations like hospitals or pediatricians to create entry points for parents.
Marcano’s home visitor was a “safe zone” to express her feelings as a grieving parent and a resource to help navigate things like developmental milestones and potty training. The demand for programs like Healthy Families Massachusetts, Children’s Trust Board Chair Kate Haranis said at a briefing, far exceeds capacity.
As part of their goal to serve 12,000 families over the next five years, The Children’s Trust is seeking $1.5 million more in the state budget to help increase salaries for home visitors from $18 to $20 an hour. The governor’s fiscal 2026 recommendation funds The Children’s Trust at $17.6 million.
Salary bumps would improve retention, which would help with continuity of care, said Steven Pascal, director of home visiting at The Children’s Trust. Massachusetts home visitor salaries are among the lowest in the nation. When a home visitor leaves, he said, over half of their caseload won’t continue with a new caseworker.
The state initiative is part of the national Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting Program, which has been expanded and may enable Massachusetts unlock federal matching funds at a three-to-one ratio. DPH Director of the Bureau of Family Health and Nutrition, Elaine Fitzgerald Lewis, said that with a $1.5 million state investment, $4.5 million more in federal funding could be leveraged to expand programming.
The governor released her budget in January and the House Ways and Means Committee’s redraft of Healey’s plan traditionally is released and approved in April. Athol Rep. Susannah Whipps said Tuesday that she plans to raise the issue when she meets with Ways and Means Chair Aaron Michlewitz about House budget funding.
Somerset Rep. Justin Thurber attended the briefing along with a few other lawmakers. Thurber, who is new to the House, said he plans to continue to talk with people involved in the programming to get some questions answered about how the state does outreach to promote home visitor programs, and if there were ways to be more efficient and effective with the funding already received.
