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HVAC presses DCYF on maternal mortality recommendations and lost 6109 funding; subgroup to design pilot for substance-use supports
Summary
Committee members reviewed the 2025 maternal mortality review findings, flagged racial bias and postpartum behavioral-health risks, and learned that funding connected to bill 6109 was not available for implementation. Members volunteered for a small working group to develop pilot models and workforce supports for families affected by substance use.
Members of the Home Visiting Advisory Committee discussed recommendations from the 2025 Maternal Mortality Review (MMR) and how they intersect with home-visiting priorities at their June 15 meeting.
Marilyn Venostrom, HVAC co-chair, highlighted MMR findings showing racial bias and discrimination in many preventable deaths: "racism and biases were um impacted 76% of the preventable deaths," she said, and urged the committee to center communities most burdened by perinatal inequities in solutions. Participants noted postpartum behavioral-health-related fatalities and stressed services that extend beyond the first 43 days postpartum into the first year and beyond.
Several members asked whether the funding associated with legislation referenced as 6109 (intended to support home visiting for families affected by substance use) was still available. DCYF staff said the appropriation was not deposited into the home-visiting services account and that a governor-era freeze on spending and the structure of the appropriation (a line item/proviso rather than a dedicated account deposit) prevented implementation. "So there's no funding to implement 6109, not at this point," a DCYF staff member said.
Responding to those constraints, members proposed practical strategies: integrating multidisciplinary teams, aligning home visiting with doulas and mental-health supports, developing career pathways and reflective consultation for home visitors, and creating reduced caseload strategies for higher-acuity families. Several members volunteered to form a small working group to develop concrete pilot recommendations and a design conversation that could lead to a recommendation to DCYF.
The committee agreed to bring the subgroup27s work forward at future HVAC meetings and to revisit MMR-aligned recommendations during the July session.
Next steps: HVAC will convene a short working group (three to four meetings) to develop pilot concepts and recommendations addressing substance-use-affected families and workforce capacity; DCYF staff will report back on funding pathways and related constraints.
