105 Peavey Road, Suite 116 Chaska, MN 55318
952-361-4931 http://edaction.org

February 22, 2007

Home Visiting Womb to Tomb Control

UPDATES

March 2nd report.

Significant changes:

HF 595, House Authors: Laine; Clark; Murphy, E.; Bly; Ruud; Benson; Kahn; Slocum; Tschumper; Liebling, continues to be a very dangerous bill.

It was heard Thursday, February 22nd in the House Health and Human Services Committee. ( Listen to the streaming audio or download MP3.) The chief author of the bill removed the "universal" language of the home visiting bill, due to extensive public outcry. However, in a stealthy sleight of hand, other changes in the language continue to make HF 595 a home visiting program for ALL children. Existing law directs the existing home visiting program to low income families. The amended bill removes that targeting, and only prioritizes low income families.

The amended version also extends the program to prenatal and to all families "at risk" of going on welfare or "instability." Criteria for "at risk" include unspecified factors that are whatever the Commissioner determines. In other words, this bill continues to be a universal home visiting bill without using the word "universal." In fact the amendment specifically directs home visiting to be "systemic [affecting an entire system] outreach to families prenatally or at birth."

Other concerns with the bill are:

Expands the scope of the home visiting program by starting prenatally and requiring programs to link new parents to numerous government services, preschool and child care programs, mental health screening, social services of various kinds, and "group meetings at least once a month." This is a recipe for an explosion of more families becoming government-dependent. Government dependency has proved to be devastating to building cohesive families long term.
Parents are not informed that during a home visit, data is being collected on them, their home environment, their family and their relationships, and that the data is kept in their files. Nor are they informed in what databases their private data will be kept nor how it will be used.
Not all low-income parents need a home visit. Low-income families are prioritized, but focusing simply on income includes, for example, two parent families that sacrifice to keep mom at home, maybe so they can home school. Low income families are red-flagged as "at risk" for welfare dependency and targeted for visits from the state.
The child receives a data number (MN Automated Recording Student System - MARSS), the state educational data system, at the home visiting program that sends all data on that child on to a federal database (National Center on Educational Statistics) in Washington.
The bill allows data sharing between a full roster of government agencies of medical, mental health, home environment and family interaction data. It passed over some Republican opposition and is referred to the House Finance Committee.

SF 434, Authors: Bonoff; Clark; Robling; Saltzman; Berglin, has been referred to the Senate Health, Housing and Family Security Committee. A hearing is scheduled for Monday, March 5, 2007 at 12:30 p.m. in Room 15 of the State Capitol.

February 25th Report.

HF 595 was heard Thursday, February 22nd in the House Health and Human Services Committee. The author of the bill removed the "universal" language of the home visiting bill. However, there are many serious problems remaining. For example:

The amended version that took out "universal" also now targets not only mothers, but mothers-to-be (pre-natal) who are broadly classified as "high risk"of long term welfare dependency.
The amended version added a list of 10 risk factors, including an open-ended "other risk factors," as defined by the commissioner of health. In other words, "other risk factors" could include just about anyone.
Parents are not informed that during a home visit, data is being collected on them, their home environment, their family and their relationships, and that the data is kept in their files.
Parents are not informed that they may opt out of the home visit.
Low-income families are highlighted, but focusing simply on income includes, for example, two parent families that sacrifice to keep mom at home, maybe so they can home school. Low income families are red-flagged as "at risk" for welfare dependency and targeted for visits from the state.
The child receives a data number (MN Automated Recorded System) at the home visiting program that sends all data on that child on to a federal database (National Center on Educational Statistics) in Washington.
The bill allows a full roster of government agencies to share medical, mental health, home environment and family interaction data.

It passed and is referred to the House Health Care and Human Services Finance Division .

SF 434 has been referred to the Senate Health, Housing and Family Security Committee.

Today, February 22nd, the House Health and Human Services Committee takes up HF 595, the universal home visiting bill, authored by Rep. Carolyn Laine. This bill strikes at the very heart of freedom of parents to raise and educate children without government interference. It gives the DFL controlled legislature absolutely no cover from the justifiable criticism of them as the big-government, command-and-control leftists that they are proving themselves to be this session. It also gives the Republicans one of their best chances this session to prove that they really care about freedom and limited government as their platform suggests, and to prove that they are not just going to be Democrat-lite, implementing the Nanny State at merely a slightly slower pace than their colleagues on the other side of the aisle.

The legislation does the following:

Requires the government to track EVERY child born in the state and then provide a visit by agents of the state to occur in the hospital or as soon as possible after the child is born.
Requires the state to inform parents of every imaginable government early childhood program including governments perspective on parenting and government screening including psychiatric screening.
Referrals to all of these programs with then be made on an as needed basis.
Because the effectiveness of the visiting program will be judged according to "number of referrals made" and parent satisfaction, there will be pressure to find a family problem to refer.
Contains a thoroughly inadequate opt-out clause that does not require any information to be given parents as to why they may wish to or should opt out.
Also sets up a family home visiting program for low-income and other high risk women to be done prenatally through age three, lumping all families together based on income, even if the families are stable two-parent families that are sacrificing financially to keep one parent at home to raise the children.

As Dr. Karen Effrem describes in her written Congressional testimony, there are numerous problems with these programs:

Intensive data collection of the family habits, environment, and philosophy or even if they refuse the visits
The undermining of parental autonomy and authority with presentation of potentially unscientific or biased data or principles with the potential for coercion to accept the states views or recommendations
Issues related to consent, fourth amendment rights to be safe from searches by mandated child abuse reporters
Lack of effectiveness to decrease child abuse rates in numerous national studies
High cost with no evidence of effect on the childs cognitive or social development

HF595 has no redeeming features and must be vigorously opposed. It is yet another example of far too many this session who see our children as mere creatures of the state as described in the Supreme Court decision Pierce vs. Society of Sisters. To protect your children and maintain your freedoms to parent our children as the last best hope of maintaining a legacy of liberty, please act NOW and do the following:

Call Rep. Laine (651-296-4331), members of the committee (see below), your own legislator and the Governor (651-296-3391 or 1-800-657-3717). House Info: 651-296-2146; Senate Info: 651-296-0504. Members of the committee hearing the bill are listed below.

To Contact Health and Human Services Members:
Add 651 Area Code

Chair: Paul Thissen (DFL)
296-5375
rep.paul.thissen@house.mn

Vice Chair: Patti Fritz (DFL)
296-8237
rep.patti.fritz@house.mn

Lead-GOP: Laura Brod (R)
296-4229
rep.laura.brod@house.mn

Jim Abeler (R)
296-1729
rep.jim.abeler@house.mn

Bruce Anderson (R)
296-5063
rep.bruce.anderson@house.mn

Julie Bunn (DFL)
296-4244
rep.julie.bunn@house.mn

Tom Emmer (R)
296-4336
rep.tom.emmer@house.mn

Brad Finstad (R)
296-9303
rep.brad.finstad@house.mn

Steve Gottwalt (R)
296-6316
rep.steve.gottwalt@house.mn

Rod Hamilton (R)
296-5373
rep.rod.hamilton@house.mn

Thomas Huntley (DFL)
296-2228
rep.thomas.huntley@house.mn

Tina Liebling (DFL)
296-0573
rep.tina.liebling@house.mn

Diane Loeffler (DFL)
296-4219
rep.diane.loeffler@house.mn

Erin Murphy (DFL)
296-8799
rep.erin.murphy@house.mn

Kim Norton (DFL)
296-9249
rep.kim.norton@house.mn

Mary Ellen Otremba (DFL)
296-3201
rep.maryellen.otremba@house.mn

Maria Ruud (DFL)
296-3964
rep.maria.ruud@house.mn

Cy Thao (DFL)
296-5158
rep.cy.thao@house.mn

Ken Tschumper (DFL)
296-9278
rep.ken.tschumper@house.mn

Neva Walker (DFL)
296-7152
rep.neva.walker@house.mn

EdAction / 105 Peavey Road, Suite 116 /Chaska, MN 55318
952-361-4931 / http://edaction.org

EdAction is a 501(c)4. We promote the work of EdWatch. To ensure our work continues, contribute here. To subscribe or unsubscribe, mail to: edaction@lakes.com with "subscribe" or "unsubscribe" in the SUBJECT of the message.