FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Media Contact: Brendan Daly, [email protected], (202) 794-1580

Nashville, Tenn. (May 1, 2019) – The Tennessee state budget approved by lawmakers last night includes an additional $1 million in funding this year for voluntary home visiting programs.

“We are grateful to Republican and Democratic lawmakers in Tennessee – especially members of the House and Senate Budget Committees – who prioritized children and critical home visiting programs in this budget, which will result in more children having access to a quality early childhood education,” said Mark Shriver, CEO of Save the Children Action Network (SCAN). “These programs are proven to have long-lasting positive impacts, including improving literacy skills and reducing child abuse and neglect.”

Home visiting is a voluntary program that connects trained members of the community with families with young children to help give parents tools to promote early childhood development to give kids a strong start in life.

“We look forward to continuing to work with state lawmakers and the governor in order to ensure all children in Tennessee have an equal shot at a bright future,” Shriver said.

The budget bill passed the state Senate and House yesterday and is waiting on the Governor’s signature into law.

An organization that supports efforts to prioritize access to high-quality early childhood education across the country, SCAN worked with Prevent Child Abuse Tennessee, the Home Visiting Leadership Alliance, Children’s Hospital Alliance of Tennessee, Tennesseans for Quality Early Childhood Education, Nurse-Family Partnership, and countless other organizations to mobilize policymakers and advocates across the state on behalf of home visiting.

SCAN advocates have written letters to the editor, opinion articles, blogs and social media posts to spread the message about the importance of home visiting in addition to meeting with state lawmakers.

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Save the Children Action Network is the political voice for kids. We believe that every child deserves the best start in life. That’s why we’re building bipartisan will and voter support to make sure every child in the U.S. has access to high-quality early learning and that children around the world survive and thrive. By investing in kids and holding leaders accountable, we are helping kids from birth to age five survive and thrive. Follow us on Twitter and Facebook.