Tennessee Department of Health receives $13.3M for maternal and early childhood programs

Maternal, infant and early childhood homevisiting grant program - purpose: the FY 2026 miechv grant will ensure that Tennessee families are served with high-quality home visiting services provided by an expertly trained workforce and that the early childhood system is comprehensive and coordinated, and ensures that families are enrolled in the most appropriate services as early as possible. Goals and objectives: goal 1: by september 29, 2028, assure availability of high-quality ebhv services in thirty-two of the most at-risk counties in Tennessee. Goal 2: by september 29, 2028, strengthen the capacity of Tennessee’s home visiting workforce to effectively implement high-quality, family-centered, resilience-informed, and culturally sensitive services. Goal 3: by september 29, 2028, promote a comprehensive, high-quality early childhood system in Tennessee that begins prenatally or at birth. Goal 4: by september 29, 2028, maintain coordination of family serving tdh and other state agency programs to increase coordination of referrals of families into ebhv services. Methodology: planned project activities will result in families being served by ebhv programs in thirty-two of the most at-risk communities, including one additional project that serves military families living close to fort campbell army installation. TANF (temporary assistance for needy families) and state-funded ebhv programs also contribute to the caseload, as defined by HRSA. Miechv funds support the implementation of four (4) ebhv models: healthy families america (hfa), parents as teachers (pat), nurse family partnership, and maternal and infant health worker (mihow). The total caseload of family slots for september 30, 2025 - september 29, 2026 is 1,116, and the total caseload of family slots for september 30, 2026 - september 29, 2027 is 1,116. Tennessee maintains strong partnerships with infant and early childhood partners and state agencies to sustain a collaborative and comprehensive infant and early childhood system in Tennessee. Partners include: the early success coalition in memphis, tn; the association for infant mental health in Tennessee (aimhitn); the department of human services (tdhs); the Tennessee commission on children and youth (tccy); the Tennessee department of children’s services; and the Tennessee young child wellness council (tnycwc, under the auspices of the tccy).