Garner writes: “Congress has once again shortchanged kids. Lawmakers finally authorized the Children’s Health Insurance Program in a short-term budget deal passed by Congress, but they failed to act on another key program for poor kids — the Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting Program (MIECHV). Through my work with Save the Children over the past decade, I’ve seen how important high-quality home visiting programs are for families. A while back, I got the opportunity to accompany one of Save the Children’s home visitors to the home of a family in the Central Valley of California. The home had something I have sadly come to expect — silence. I didn’t hear a baby babbling or a parent talking. I have seen it too many times before. Poverty dulls the senses and saps hope. It creates silence.” https://www.cnn.com/2018/02/01/opinions/home-vising-program-is-important-jennifer-garner-opinion/index.html