The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services awarded $11.4 million to Arizona for a program that provides support to at-risk pregnant women and families.

It’s called the Maternal, Infant and Child Home Visiting Program, and over 2,000 Arizona households benefited from it in 2017. It provides families with home visits to teach positive parenting skills, provide guidance on health topics, and conduct screenings to address issues of substance abuse or family violence. 

“So Arizona has done a great job at serving high-risk populations, in fact, in 2017, 57 percent of their households reported a history of child abuse or maltreatment, which is one of the priority populations,” said Cindy Phillips, who is acting director of the program.

Phillips says such programs help children and families get off to a better start, as well as help prevent child abuse and improve maternal and child health.