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State home‑visiting pilot expands after pilot results; officials cite higher postpartum and breastfeeding follow-up
Summary
DPH described rapid expansion of a home‑visiting pilot launched in 2023, funded by state appropriations, and reported early indicators of improved maternal care and follow‑up. Officials said the program has scaled from a 21‑county pilot to plans covering additional counties with further FY26 funding.
Georgia’s Department of Public Health told the House Study Committee that the state’s perinatal home‑visiting pilot has expanded quickly and is showing early positive process indicators.
"The state gave us $1.68 million to pilot and we piloted in 21 counties in two different districts," Christina Trice, program director for DPH’s Home Visiting Program, said of the initial fiscal‑year 2024 appropriation; she added that an additional $1.75 million in FY25 expanded services to 50 counties, and that a further FY26 appropriation of $2.98 million would bring the program’s total state funding to about $6.42 million.
Trice described program goals that are tracked quarterly: term delivery (≥37 weeks), infant weight ≥2,500 grams, postpartum‑visit completion and breastfeeding at three months. She reported early outcomes showing 67% breastfeeding on hospital discharge and more than 80% return for postpartum visits — figures she described as promising compared with national averages.
Local home‑visiting staff explained clinical and social services delivered in the home: vitals and blood‑pressure checks, fetal‑heart monitoring, urine screening for infection, lactation support, developmental screening, case management and referrals for food, benefits and behavioral‑health services. Staff also recounted examples where home visits led to prompt hospital transfers or early referrals for specialty care, illustrating the program’s role in safety‑netting vulnerable pregnant women and infants.
Barriers remain: personnel capacity, transportation for patients, limited local behavioral‑health and substance‑use treatment beds, and appointment scheduling constraints that complicate urgent referrals from home visits. Program leaders told the committee they are developing staffing plans and recruitment for the next expansion phase and will provide quarterly performance reports to the legislature.
The committee did not vote on funding; members expressed broad interest in expanding the program statewide and asked for outcome reports and cost analyses to evaluate scalability.
