It’s sponsored by Frederick County State Senator Karen Lewis Young.
Annapolis, Md (KM) Testimony is expected to be taken on Wednesday, January 29th, before the Senate Finance Committee on a bill to set up a Universal Newborn Nurse Home Visiting Services Program. That legislation would require the Maryland Department of Health to have a nurse visit the homes of women who recently gave birth to check up on the health of both the mother and the baby. They would also connect the mother and child with services if necessary.
The bill in the Senate is sponsored by Frederick County State Senator Karen Lewis Young. She says Frederick County set up a similar program under County Executive Jan Gardner using funding from the American Rescue Plan Act which was distributed by the federal government to the states to help them cope with the COVID-19 Pandemic. Lewis Young said that funding is expected to end next year.
“The way the bill is constructed now we would roll it out throughout the entire state,” said Senator Lewis Young. “And that’s a great idea. We know that mothers need follow-up care as do their infants.”
This program could be costly and funding it will be difficult during the current fiscal climate. “But the fiscal note for rolling out statewide is just not plausible at this point in time,” she says.
But Lewis Young says it’s important to put this proposal out there to the General Assembly. “It’s important to present the concept to {not only} let our fellow legislators know the positive outcomes from the Frederick test, but to determine what the next steps are,” she said.
Some of the possibilities, she says, include introducing it gradually throughout the state of Maryland. “Do we just expand the pilot to a few other jurisdictions; or do we do a more intense, in-depth study on the costs via the returns,” Lewis Young says.
But she says conducting an in-depth study may be the only alternative at this time. “I didn’t think that’s something we’re going to iron out by the end of this session which is why one of the options is to study this further to reach a reasonable roll out where everybody is doing a bit of compromising,”: says Senator Lewis Young.
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The hearing on Wednesday begins at 1:00.
A similar bill setting up a visiting nursing program is making its way through the House of Delegates. One of its sponsors is Frederick County Delegate Ken Kerr.
By Kevin McManus