The following statement can be attributed to Deborah Feldman, President & CEO, Dayton Children’s Hospital and Board of Directors Chair, Ohio Children’s Hospital Association, in response to Governor DeWine’s recommendations of the Advisory Council on Home Visitation and announcement of a new pilot program aimed at increasing participation and availability of home visiting programs:

March 8, 2019 – Ohio’s children’s hospitals are proud and honored to have helped facilitate the work of the Governor’s Advisory Council on Home Visitation. The recommendations announced today are the result of the collaborative efforts of an outstanding panel of experts and outline a clear path for improving access for Ohio families to evidence-informed, evidence-based home visitation.

In our work to save, protect and enhance the lives of Ohio children every day, children’s hospitals know first-hand the keys to creating and implementing successful healthcare programs. The recommendations presented by Governor DeWine today include many of these specific elements, such as encouraging collaboration among all stakeholders; addressing health disparities and social determinants of health (which we outlined in our recent Assessment of Child Health and Health Care in Ohio); ensuring transparent reporting, sharing and analysis of data; raising awareness of and improving the enrollment process to encourage eligible families to participate; and addressing the need to ensure we have an adequate workforce of qualified, trained professionals to deliver the home visitation program.

We applaud Governor DeWine for his proactive approach and for working with a sense of urgency, knowing that every day we wait is another missed opportunity to help Ohio’s children thrive. We are looking forward to working with stakeholders across the state to implement these recommendations to transform the future of Ohio’s children.

The Ohio Children’s Hospital Association and our six members – Akron Children’s Hospital, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, Dayton Children’s Hospital, Nationwide Children’s Hospital, ProMedica Russell J. Ebeid Children’s Hospital, and UH/Rainbow Babies & Children’s Hospital – are committed to saving, protecting and enhancing the lives of Ohio’s children. We look forward to continuing to work closely with Governor DeWine, Director Cornyn and the members of the Ohio General Assembly to ensure Ohio’s children – our state’s future workforce – are a top priority in policy decisions, including the upcoming state biennial budget deliberations.

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Media contact: Angela Krile: 740-974-3948, angela@krilecommunications.com, T: @angkrile