In my time as a detective and later as sheriff of the King County Sheriff’s Office, I saw a lot of things I’ll never forget. Even things I wish I could forget. Some of the most haunting images were those of young victims suffering from neglect and abuse. Tragically, tearful young faces were something I saw regularly on the job.
Every minute of every day, a child is abused or neglected. Every single minute of every hour, every day. A statistic that is easy to ignore when much of the abuse is happening out of sight, behind closed doors.
From my experience in law enforcement and now as a member of Congress and senior member of the House Ways and Means Committee, I know that innovative methods are often the most powerful solutions to challenging problems. Abuse and neglect is no exception. Voluntary, evidence-based home visiting can reduce child abuse and neglect, in turn preventing crime and increasing public safety. In short, it makes communities safer.
In Washington, nearly 5,900 children were abused in 2015 alone. In our state and across the nation, children under the age of 3 are the most likely to experience abuse or neglect.
In fact, one in seven families who enroll in federally-funded home visiting programs report a history of child maltreatment, and many more families have other factors that put them at risk for abuse or neglect. This creates lifelong consequences. Children experiencing abuse and neglect are twice as likely to commit a crime by age 19.
I know what that means. It means these children are more likely to end up in the back of one of my old squad cars. And they are less likely to have the same bright futures as their peers.
Our children deserve better.
Thankfully, we have a powerful tool at our disposal to help fight this horrible problem.
High-quality, evidence-based home visiting programs can prevent later crime by curbing child abuse and neglect. The longest-running study of home visiting followed participants in the Nurse-Family Partnership program over two decades, and demonstrated that, by age 15, children in NFP had half as many verified incidents of child abuse and neglect.
The impact of home visiting does not stop there. By age 19, children who did not have home visiting had twice as many arrests and more than twice as many convictions as their counterparts who did partake in home visiting. Results were concentrated among the girls — young women who did not participate in NFP averaged nine times more convictions than young women who did.
In March, I had the privilege of listening to a young woman named Rosa Valentin testify in front of the Ways and Means Subcommittee on Human Resources. Rosa delivered a powerful statement about the value of the Maternal Infant and Early Childhood Home Visiting program, better known as MIECHV.
Rosa told us the inspirational story of how an NFP nurse helped her and her beautiful 20-month-old daughter, Angelica, move towards independence, even in difficult circumstances. As Rosa said, “Even though being a mom at times isn’t easy, Angelica is my motivation to do better, finish school and have a career.”
Today, Rosa aims to be a future perinatal nurse. I have no doubt that she will do so. Home visiting has made it possible.
This year, MIECHV is up for reauthorization in Congress. The program needs to be maintained and strengthened. The approach of Father’s Day is the perfect reminder that we have to believe parental engagement is the answer, and that fostering stable families makes for safer communities.
I urge my colleagues here in Washington state and across the country to support this critical program. We owe nothing less to the families we represent.
Congressman Dave Reichert represents Washington’s 8th District and is the former sheriff of King County.
