In the 2008-2010 period, Rhode Island had an overall infant mortality rate of 6.3 per 1,000 on average.  Among African Americans, this rate was 12.5 per 1,000. The state of Rhode Island currently runs a home visiting program, First Connections, which is funded partially through Medicaid and offers home visits to roughly half of births in the state. This project, lead by economist Emily Oster, aims to take advantage of a partnership between Brown University and Rhode Island, and of the data being brought together as part of Research Improving People's Lives (RIPL) to evaluate this home visiting program.