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Ohio Gets $7.5M for Program Aimed at Helping Children
By: Associated Press
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COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — A federal agency says Ohio is getting about $7.5 million to support a voluntary home-visit program to help children get off to a healthier start in life.
The federal Health Resources and Services Administration announced the funding on Friday.
Among other support services, the Federal Home Visiting Program helps mothers find prenatal care, improve their diets and reduce their use of tobacco, alcohol and illegal substances.
The program serves counties with high rates of low birth weight infants, teen births, families living in poverty or infant mortality.
Ohio’s infant mortality rate is among the worst in the nation. Infant mortality is measured as deaths of live-born babies before their first birthdays.
The three leading causes of such deaths in Ohio are prematurity or pre-term births, sleep-related deaths and birth defects.