Kentucky is receiving more than $9 million in federal funding to expand the Maternal, Infant and Early Childhood Home Visiting program to more rural and low-income counties, according to a report from Public News Service. The program allows trained home visitors to meet regularly with expecting mothers and families with young children.

Tom Engels, administrator of the federal Health Resources and Services Administration, said research shows voluntary home visits during pregnancy and early childhood can help prevent chronic disease, abuse and neglect. Engels described the visitors as people who build trusting relationships with families and work in their homes without judgment, with the goal of helping parents become better parents.

Engels said data show children in enrolled households are more likely to have a parent who reads, tells stories or sings to them every day, and more likely to be taken to doctor checkups, compared with nonenrolled households from similar demographics. He also said research indicates children in households that take part in a home visiting program are more likely to excel in school and be ready for kindergarten. Academic success is linked to better economic opportunities later in life, he added.

"That will help Kentucky, that will hold down costs, that will keep kids out of foster care, that will improve outcomes all across the board," Engels said.

Nationally, the program provided more than 1 million home visits last year to more than 158,000 parents and children, according to the report.