{"id":24240,"date":"2014-12-10T05:00:58","date_gmt":"2014-12-10T09:00:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/?p=24240"},"modified":"2014-12-10T10:50:23","modified_gmt":"2014-12-10T14:50:23","slug":"things-hslda-opposes-optional-home-visitation-programs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/2014\/12\/things-hslda-opposes-optional-home-visitation-programs.html","title":{"rendered":"Things HSLDA Opposes: Voluntary Home Visitation Programs"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

Ostensibly, the Home School Legal Defense Association (HSLDA) works to keep homeschooling legal. In practice, the organization does much, much more than that.\u00a0Over a year ago, I wrote a a series on\u00a0HSLDA and Child Abuse,<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>but HSLDA does more than oppose mandatory reporting laws. The organization also\u00a0opposes the UN disabilities treaty<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0the Common Core<\/a>. HSLDA claims to involve itself in these issues out of concern that they could be used to restrict\u00a0homeschooling. But while HSLDA\u2019s opposition to the UN disabilities treaty\u00a0and the Common Core is well known, its opposition to other measures and programs is less well known.<\/p>\n

Today I am beginning a new series: Things HSLDA Opposes. I will go through HSLDA\u2019s positions on state legislation over the course of\u00a02013 to examine\u00a0the breadth of programs and measures\u00a0HSLDA opposes. This series will have relevance far beyond homeschooling, because HSLDA is intertwined with conservative politics and is part of a conservative mentality that is less about protecting parental rights than it is about imposing a laundry list conservative ideals on families whether parents like it or not.<\/p>\n

\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014<\/p>\n

In 2013, Arkansas legislators introduced a proposal to create voluntary home visitation programs<\/strong>, which would allow parents to request home visits from nurses, social workers, and other professionals to promote child health, effective parenting, and school readiness.\u00a0Here are some relevant excerpts from the bill<\/a>:<\/p>\n

(2) \u201cHome visitation\u201d means voluntary family-focused services that promote appropriate prenatal care to assure healthy births<\/em>, primarily in the home, to an expectant parent ora \u00a0parent with an infant, toddler, or child up to kindergarten entry that address:<\/p>\n

(A) Child development;
\n(B) Literacy and school readiness;
\n(C) Maternal and child health;
\n(D) Positive parenting practices;
\n(E) Resource and referral access; and
\n(F) Safe home environments;<\/p>\n

20-78-902. Home visitation programs \u2014 Oversight<\/p>\n

(a) A home visitation program under this subchapter shall provide face-to-face home visits by nurses, social workers, and other early childhood and health professionals or trained and supervised workers too:<\/p>\n

(1) Build healthy parent and child relationships;
\n(2) Empower families to be self-sufficient;
\n(3) Enhance social and emotional development;
\n(4) Improve maternal, infant, or child health outcomes, including reducing preterm births;
\n(5) Improve the health of the family;
\n(6) Increase school readiness;
\n(7) Promote positive parenting practices;
\n(8) Support cognitive development of children; or
\n(9) Reduce incidence of child maltreatment and injury.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The bill was so well liked in Arkansas that it passed both houses of the state legislature unanimously. And it\u2019s easy to see why. Studies have found that home\u00a0visits from a nurse reduce the number of emergency care episodes<\/a> in infants by 50%.<\/p>\n

But HSLDA took issue with the\u00a0bill<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Summary:
\n<\/strong>This bill would create a voluntary home visitation program that provides face-to-face home visits by nurses, social workers, and other early childhood and health professionals to teach parents how to be effective according to state standards. While this would begin as a voluntary program, it is very intrusive and comprehensive and could become a mandatory program for all families in the future.<\/p>\n

HSLDA\u2019s Position:<\/strong>
\nOppose.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

This is a theme we\u2019re going to see in this series: HSLDA claims to protect and promote parental rights, but in fact works to impose its ideas\u00a0on parents. Note that HSLDA opposes the voluntary home visitation programs because they\u00a0are \u201cvery intrusive and comprehensive\u201d (isn\u2019t this for the parents themselves to decide) and because it \u201ccould become a mandatory program.\u201d But by opposing a voluntary program because they don\u2019t like it and because it could in the future be made mandatory, HSLDA is in practice working to deprive parents of access to a program they might want to access.<\/p>\n

In other words, HSLDA is advocating not for\u00a0widening<\/em>\u00a0parents\u2019 range of choices and options but rather for\u00a0restricting<\/em> them.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s worth noting that I can\u2019t think of any reason to oppose\u00a0making programs like this mandatory. Parenting young children is a lot of work, and having access to support is important. When I take my children in for checkups, their\u00a0doctor asks\u00a0questions about their development and my parenting and answers\u00a0any questions I might have. Provided a program like this had accountability and proper funding and supervision, it would provide similar\u00a0support. But HSLDA sees programs like this as such a threat to parents that explaining why they\u2019re a problem is completely unnecessary.<\/p>\n

HSLDA appears to have\u00a0a very individualistic approach to families. In HSLDA\u2019s view, it seems that families should go it alone, or find support in family, church, and community. Finding support in government programs is an automatic problem, a view likely grounded in HSLDA\u2019s extreme small government conservatism.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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