Missouri will receive $5.7 million in federal funding to send trained professionals into the homes of expectant parents and families with young children, including families in St. Louis.
The home visitors help with healthy pregnancies, child development and parenting while connecting families with health care and other services.
In St. Louis, that work takes place against a troubling backdrop: Black babies in urban Missouri die before their first birthday at nearly three times the rate of White babies, and Black women statewide are 2½ times as likely as White women to die from pregnancy-related causes.
The federal Health Resources and Services Administration announced Monday that it is awarding more than $525 million to 56 states and jurisdictions through the Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting program, known as MIECHV. It is the largest federal investment in the program’s history.
“MIECHV reflects a simple idea: supporting parents early gives children a stronger start,” HRSA Administrator Tom Engels said in announcing the awards.
In fiscal year 2023, 35% of caregivers served by Missouri’s MIECHV program were Black, 83% of participating households were low-income and 97% of participating children whose insurance status was reported had public insurance.
Among urban Missourians, Black infants died at a rate of 12.5 per 1,000 live births, compared with 4.2 for White infants, according to the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services. St. Louis city had an overall infant mortality rate of 9.1 from 2019 through 2023, the highest among Missouri’s urban jurisdictions.
The state’s Pregnancy-Associated Mortality Review Board examined 350 deaths among women during pregnancy or within a year afterward from 2018 through 2022. Of 114 deaths determined to be pregnancy-related, 80% were considered preventable. Black women died from pregnancy-related causes at 2½ times the rate of White women.
Parents as Teachers National Center provides MIECHV-supported services in St. Louis city. Eligible families receive at least 24 personal visits a year, generally lasting about an hour. Participation is voluntary and services are free to eligible families.
Parents as Teachers began in Missouri in 1981, and its national center is headquartered in the St. Louis area.
Constance Gully, president and CEO of Parents as Teachers National Center, spoke about the importance of home visitors in April when the organization honored its 2026 National Home Visitors of the Year.
“Home visiting works because of the people,” Gully said. She described home visitors as “trusted professionals who show up every day to support families, build relationships, and create lasting impact.”
Generate Health and its FLOURISH St. Louis initiative also have worked to address barriers facing Black mothers, including access to prenatal care and transportation, while seeking to give mothers a greater voice in decisions about maternal and infant health.
In fiscal year 2023, Missouri’s MIECHV program provided 9,848 home visits to 629 families. Home-visiting programs in Missouri include Parents as Teachers, Nurse-Family Partnership, Healthy Families America and Early Head Start’s home-based program.
Missouri’s $5,747,152 award includes $5,021,260 in base funding and $725,892 in federal matching funds.
Nationally, MIECHV provided more than 1 million home visits to more than 158,000 parents and children in fiscal year 2025, according to HRSA.
Federal officials say decades of research show voluntary home visiting can improve maternal and child health, promote children’s development and school readiness, help prevent child abuse and neglect and connect families with services that support their economic well-being.