VOA标准英语2015--奥巴马欲扩大高危家庭家访计划

Obama Looks to Expand Home Visiting Program for At-risk Families 奥巴马欲扩大高危家庭家访计划

BRENTWOOD, MARYLAND—

From expanding child care to making preschool more accessible, U.S. President Barack Obama's second term is marked by an agenda he says is aimed at helping¹ middle class families.

Under his new proposed budget, the president is looking to expand a program that puts social workers in homes to work with parents as they raise children in at-risk communities. There is one such program in a Washington, D.C., suburb.

Even before her 3-year-old son Daniel was born, Nidia Rios was welcoming workers from the Healthy Families Prince George’s program into her Brentwood, Maryland, home.

“I really like it. As a teen mom, it really helped me,” said Rios.

Rios had Daniel when she was only 16 years old. Despite being a young mother, she finished high school and is now aiming to become certified² as a medical assistant.

She said help from Healthy Families worker Keisha Connor has been key. On this home visit, Connor checks in on everything from Daniel’s home environment to his health and development, asking the three-year-old if he can identify letters and make shapes.

The Healthy Families staff member gives advice on how Rios can resolve conflicts with her young son, while also telling her about local programs for his schooling³.

“We want them to be able to link to resources. We want them to be able to have a support system and just be the best parents they can be,” said Connor.

Home visits

The Maternal⁴, Infant and Early Childhood Home Visiting Program was established by Congress in 2010 to help address high poverty, infant mortality and teen birth rates by putting nurses, social workers and educators in at-risk homes.

The program’s goal is to guide parents on how to improve their family’s health and provide better opportunities for their children through regular, planned home visits.

In Dios’ case, she was receiving home visits while pregnant, with Healthy Families’ workers helping her find suitable prenatal care.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services says since the program’s inception⁵, more than 1.4 million home visits have been conducted, with 80 percent of participating families having household incomes at or below the 100 percent of the Federal Poverty Level.

Under the administration’s 2016 proposed budget, President Barack Obama is looking to expand the home visiting program, which served 115,000 parents and children nationwide last year.

The federal initiative is authorized⁶ until the end of this month. To continue, it needs reauthorization by Congress.

Obama’s budget includes a request for $500 million for the home visiting program beginning in October, and $15 billion over the next decade.

Early investment

From expanding childcare to making preschool more accessible, the president’s second term is marked by an agenda he says is aimed at helping middle-class families.

The U.S. president has long advocated expanding access to preschool and other programs to give all children a strong foundation.

During his 2013 State of the Union Address, he spoke⁷ of the importance of investing early.

“Every dollar we invest in high quality early childhood education can save more than seven dollars later on -- by boosting graduation rates, reducing teen pregnancy⁸, even reducing violent crime,” he said.

Liliana Janssen-Checa has seen the impact first-hand in her more than two decades with the Healthy Families Prince George’s program.

Now director, Janssen-Checa echoes President Obama, saying many long-term issues can be prevented if low-income mothers learn how to foster bonds with their children, as early as during pregnancy.

“Really, a lot of the problems we see, they are reactive. They are coming after the fact. We don’t want kids to be abused or kids who are not doing well in school because we didn’t do anything before,” said Janssen-Checa.

She said she welcomes the administration’s proposal to expand the federal initiative, which provides grants to local home visiting programs like Healthy Families Prince George’s. Janssen-Checa said the program not only tackles the county’s infant mortality and low birth rates, but saves taxpayers⁹ money later.

“If someone does not go to prenatal care and maybe there is a high risk pregnancy, that is going to cost the county and state three or four times the cost than if you really invested in this mom to go to prenatal care,” said the program director.

Back in Brentwood, Maryland, Rios looks on as her son practices his alphabet. With the help of Health Families, she said she not only is learning how to be a better mother, but also thinking about her child's future.

The young mother said she wants to enroll¹⁰ Daniel in Head Start -- a federal early-education program for low-income families. 

1 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

2 certified   

a.经证明合格的；具有证明文件的

参考例句：

• Doctors certified him as insane. 医生证明他精神失常。
• The planes were certified airworthy. 飞机被证明适于航行。

3 schooling   

n.教育；正规学校教育

参考例句：

• A child's access to schooling varies greatly from area to area.孩子获得学校教育的机会因地区不同而大相径庭。
• Backward children need a special kind of schooling.天赋差的孩子需要特殊的教育。

4 maternal   

adj.母亲的，母亲般的，母系的，母方的

参考例句：

• He is my maternal uncle.他是我舅舅。
• The sight of the hopeless little boy aroused her maternal instincts.那个绝望的小男孩的模样唤起了她的母性。

5 inception   

n.开端，开始，取得学位

参考例句：

• The programme has been successful since its inception.这个方案自开始实施以来一直卓有成效。
• Julia's worked for that company from its inception.自从那家公司开办以来，朱莉娅一直在那儿工作。

6 authorized   

a.委任的，许可的

参考例句：

• An administrative order is valid if authorized by a statute.如果一个行政命令得到一个法规的认可那么这个命令就是有效的。

7 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

8 pregnancy   

n.怀孕，怀孕期

参考例句：

• Early pregnancy is often accompanied by nausea.怀孕早期常有恶心的现象。
• Smoking during pregnancy increases the risk of miscarriage.怀孕期吸烟会增加流产的危险。

9 taxpayers   

纳税人，纳税的机构( taxpayer的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Finance for education comes from taxpayers. 教育经费来自纳税人。
• She was declaiming against the waste of the taxpayers' money. 她慷慨陈词猛烈抨击对纳税人金钱的浪费。

10 enroll   

v.招收；登记；入学；参军；成为会员（英)enrol

参考例句：

• I should like to enroll all my children in the swimming class.我愿意让我的孩子们都参加游泳班。
• They enroll him as a member of the club.他们吸收他为俱乐部会员。