Executive Order 2019-07D Establishing the Governor's Advisory Council on Home Visitation

Executive Order

WHEREAS, Ohio utilizes eyidence-based home visiting as a strategy to combat infant mortality and the achievement gap; and

WHEREAS, the array of evidence-based home visiting programs used by the State of Ohio are proven to improve school readiness and parenting skills and decrease infant mortality; and

WHEREAS, Ohio ranks in the bottom quartile of states for its infant mortality rate, with nearly 1,000 babies failing to reach their first birthday in 2018; and

WHEREAS, there is a disparity. in infant vitality rates between Caucasian and African American babies, with black babies nearly three times more likely to not reach their first birthday; and

WHEREAS, just 41 percent of Ohio children arrive at kindergarten with the academic and social skills necessary to succeed; and

WHEREAS, nearly 4,000 Ohio children tested positive for unsafe blood lead levels in 2018, and early intervention services have been demonstrated to decrease the future need for special education services among lead-exposed children; and

WHEREAS, there has been a more than 600 percent increase-in the number of children born in Ohio with Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome since 2006; and

WHEREAS, Ohio currently serves just four percent of families eligible to receive home visiting services; and

WHEREAS, the Opportunity for Every Ohio Kid plan calls for a tripling of the number of families served through the State's home visiting program; and

WHEREAS, Ohio's home visiting program, Help Me Grow, is jointly administered by the Ohio Department of Health and the Ohio Department of Developmental Disabilities through the county Family and Children First Councils;

NOW THEREFORE, I, Mike De Wine, Governor of the State of Ohio, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and laws of this State do hereby order and direct that:

The Governor's Advisory Council on Home Visitation (the "Council") is hereby established and shall advise my Administration on matters of home visiting, infant mortality, and early intervention services.
The Council shall consist of not more than twenty individuals, all of whom I will appoint and will serve at my pleasure. The Council membership shall consist of individuals who have been or are presently serving at-risk children and families in any of the following ways:
Healthcare;
In governmental service;
A state-funded home visiting provider;
Community health organizations; and
Individuals concerned about children and families.
I will designate one member to serve as the Chairperson of the Council.
Members of the Council shall serve without compensation.
No later than March 1, 2019 and then no later than December 31 of each year thereafter, the Council shall submit a written report time addressing the following:
The number of families served by state-funded home visiting services;
The number of families eligible for state-funded home visiting services;
The number of state-funded home visiting providers and which programs are used;
Outcomes produced through the delivery of home visiting and recommendations for improving home visiting;
Issues impacting the delivery of home visiting services in Ohio;
Recommendations for expanding critical home visiting workforce;
Recommendations for creating efficiencies within the home visiting system, including aligning· home visiting services with children's hospitals capture areas;
Recommendations for aligning evidence-based home visiting services with community health services;
Recommendations for serving more families in a culturally competent way; and
Recommendations for the state budget.
The Director of the Governor's Children's Initiative shall provide oversight and policy guidance to the appropriate state agencies, boards and commissions on how to best implement the objectives of this Executive Order and any particular recommendations from the Council's reports.
The.appropriate state departments, agencies, boards, commissions, and officers shall cooperate and provide the necessary assistance required by the Council, or any member or representative thereof, in the performance of its duties.
I signed this Executive Order on January 1 , 2019 in Columbus, Ohio and it will not expire unless it is rescinded.

____________________
Mike DeWine, Governor

ATTEST:

____________________
Frank LaRose, Secretary of State

Source