Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey is seeking $2 million to make the state’s Welcome Family nurse-visit program available to every family with a newborn, alongside additional funding for postpartum mental-health screening and provider support.

By yourNEWS Media Newsroom.

Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey is proposing a statewide expansion of a program that offers families with newborns a visit from a maternal and child health nurse, part of a broader $2.25 million initiative focused on postpartum care and mental-health screening.

The proposal would provide $2 million to expand the Department of Public Health’s Welcome Family program from approximately 3,000 births annually to potential availability following each of the roughly 68,000 births that occur in Massachusetts every year. The administration describes the program as free and voluntary, meaning families would be offered a visit rather than legally required to admit a nurse into their homes.

Healey described the planned expansion more broadly during an appearance on Boston Public Radio.

“Everybody in the state, when you have a baby, you’re going to have a home visit. You’re going to have a home visit within days, weeks, and that will be an opportunity for a healthcare provider to make an assessment and to see if you need some additional support and resources.”

Her remarks were subsequently circulated in video.

Fox News also reported the same wording from Healey’s Boston Public Radio interview.

The governor’s statement that families are “going to have a home visit” prompted debate over whether the program would be mandatory. The administration’s formal Sept. 15 announcement, however, explicitly calls Welcome Family a “voluntary and free home visiting program,” and the Department of Public Health says participants can meet with the nurse somewhere other than their home if they are more comfortable doing so.

Under the program, an experienced maternal and child health nurse generally meets with a caregiver during the first several weeks after a baby’s birth. The nurse performs health checks involving the caregiver and newborn, answers questions about infant care and helps identify whether the family could benefit from additional medical or social services.

State materials say those discussions can cover breastfeeding, feeding, sleep and newborn care, along with questions about whether parents have sufficient support and whether they are experiencing depression or other emotional difficulties.

The state’s information for families also says nurses provide guidance on “ensuring that your home is safe.” Participants may additionally be asked whether they are sleeping adequately, eating well, receiving support from family and friends or feeling upset or depressed.

The administration’s Sept. 15 announcement described the proposal this way:

“Governor Maura Healey today announced new measures to strengthen postpartum care and mental health support for mothers and families across Massachusetts, with a focus on reaching people earlier, making support easier to access and helping providers connect patients to care when they need it.

“Governor Healey is proposing $2 million to provide universal access to the Department of Public Health’s Welcome Family home visiting program statewide and $250,000 to strengthen the Department of Mental Health’s Massachusetts Child Psychiatry Access Program for Moms, known as MCPAP for Moms. The funding will be included in an upcoming supplemental budget. DPH will also update state regulations to strengthen screening for perinatal mood and anxiety disorders and help providers identify concerns earlier.”

The proposal would represent a substantial geographic and numerical expansion of Welcome Family.

The state currently operates the program in communities including Boston, Fall River, Lowell, Holyoke and Springfield. Welcome Family presently reaches about 3,000 births each year, while Massachusetts records approximately 68,000 births annually. Healey’s proposed appropriation is intended to make the service available statewide regardless of a parent’s age, income or other eligibility criteria.

“Governor Healey is proposing $2 million to expand Welcome Family, a voluntary and free home visiting program that supports parents and caregivers in the weeks after a baby is born.

“Welcome Family currently serves approximately 3,000 births each year. The additional funding would give every parent and caregiver in the postpartum period across the state the opportunity to have a home visit, following Massachusetts’ approximately 68,000 annual births.

“Through the program, an experienced maternal and child health nurse visits a family’s home following the birth of a child to check on both the caregiver and baby, answer questions and connect the family with additional support when needed. The service is available regardless of age, income or other eligibility criteria.

“During a visit, nurses can help with breastfeeding and newborn care, screen for mental health concerns and substance use, connect families with health care and social supports, and provide referrals for needs including domestic violence, food access and other community resources. Nurses follow up with caregivers by phone two to three weeks later to make sure they were able to connect with services, address barriers and provide additional support.”

The state reported that Welcome Family conducted 1,620 postpartum depression screenings in 2025. Of those, 208 produced positive screens, and each person who screened positive received a referral for services.

The proposed spending package also includes $250,000 for MCPAP for Moms, a Department of Mental Health program designed to help medical professionals identify and treat mental-health and substance-use conditions during pregnancy and after childbirth.

The program provides obstetricians, pediatricians, primary-care doctors, psychiatrists and other clinicians with access to specialists in perinatal mental health, along with training and assistance coordinating patient care.

The administration said the additional money would be used to collect information about postpartum psychosis across Massachusetts, establish a clinical education team to improve recognition and management of perinatal behavioral-health problems, and provide additional education to families and medical professionals about warning signs associated with postpartum psychosis.

“The goal is to make sure providers are better equipped to recognize serious concerns and help mothers get connected to appropriate care as quickly as possible,” the administration said.

Healey’s proposal has also generated a broader debate about the appropriate boundary between government-funded health services and family privacy.

Critics online have questioned whether statewide nurse visits would give government personnel too much involvement in private family life, particularly because the visits include health, mental-health, substance-use, domestic-violence and home-safety assessments. Others have said a voluntary service could provide useful assistance to parents who want it.

The distinction between universal availability and mandatory participation is central to that debate.

Healey’s Boston Public Radio wording suggested that every family would receive a visit, but the administration’s written proposal says the expansion would give every parent and caregiver the “opportunity” to participate. Existing Massachusetts program materials repeatedly characterize the service as voluntary, and families may choose a different meeting location instead of allowing a nurse into their home.

The $2 million statewide expansion and the additional $250,000 for MCPAP for Moms are proposals rather than automatic expenditures. Healey plans to include the funding in a supplemental budget, meaning legislative approval would be required before the expanded program is implemented statewide.

Original article