County Services News

Mobilizing Communities to Meet
the Needs of Children and Families

"Making a difference in the life of a child" is more than just a trite phrase in Hampton, Va. - it's become a motto. Faced with an economic downturn in the early 1990s, local government, community and business leaders decided the city's future depended on the strength of its families. In their efforts to revitalize the city, they created a vision of Hampton as a family-oriented community - and then made that vision a reality.

In 1992, Hampton launched the Healthy Families Partnership. Building upon the Healthy Families America program, the partnership's goals were to:

• promote healthy development and preventive care, beginning prenatally and continuing through the first years of life
• provide voluntary parenting programs and services to all parents
• help parents develop problem-solving skills that enable them to meet their families' needs; and
• prevent child abuse and neglect.

To meet these goals, the Healthy Family Partnership provides a range of services to the families in the community including:

Home Visits - During prenatal visits, families who might need special assistance are identified based on risk factors such as isolation or the parents' young age. Those parents-to-be who are most likely to rely on community services in the future are offered a more in-depth assessment and the opportunity to work with a family support worker. Home visits occur on a regular basis until the child is five years-old and ready to start school.

Parent Education - The local hospital provides free prenatal parenting classes to help ensure healthy births and prepare expectant parents for what lies ahead. Parenting groups are also provided in the community and by local banks on company time. Parents receive information to help locate quality child care; and child care providers receive ongoing training.

Young Families Centers - Five public libraries provide parents with educational materials on a wide range of child development and parenting topics.

Newsletter - The "Healthy Stages" newsletter provides parenting information to all Hampton families with children 18 years of age and younger.

Healthy Teens - This pregnancy prevention program teaches teenagers about the challenges of teen parenting and the realities of life on welfare.

A four-year study of the Hampton Partnership by the College of William and Mary found that the community's efforts are working. Ninety-four percent of children in families participating in the home-visiting program are up-to-date with immunizations, compared with 48 percent of Hampton's children whose families did not participate.

The repeat pregnancy rate among teen parents participating in the home visiting program is eight percent compared with rates of 30 percent state wide and 36 percent among Hampton teens who did not participate in the program.

There have been no confirmed new cases of child abuse or neglect among participating families.

As successful as Hampton's Healthy Families Partnership is, the program is not unique. Many cities and counties realize that an investment in children will pay dividends for the community. Healthy Families America, a national program to support comprehensive, long-term efforts to respond to families needs, has found that a community can save at least $2 per child in reduced costs for public assistance, special education, medical care, foster care, counseling and housing for juvenile offenders. Hampton's investment in the health of its children and families' has become the foundation and the benchmark for the health of the entire community.

(County Services News was written by Sandy Markwood, director of program development and special initiatives.)

I Am Your Child
The Hampton Healthy Partnership was recently featured in the television documentary, "I Am Your Child" as a national model of community mobilization for children. NACo and several hundred national organizations are part of the I Am Your Child Campaign, targeted to make early childhood development a top priority for our nation. Breakthrough brain research has revealed that the first three years of a child's life are really important for emotional and intellectual growth.

Through a variety of public awareness activities, media events and public policy discussions, the campaign is designed to:

• raise public awareness and promote citizen engagement regarding the importance of the first three years of life
• provide families who have young children with the information, resources and services they need
• unite and expand the work being done on the national, state and local levels to improve services for young children and their families; and
• increase the public sentiment to make quality resources and services more widely available to families with young children.

Information available through the campaign includes:

Booklets -"Community Mobilization: What Communities Can Do To Help Promote Children's Healthy Development," funded by the Freddie Mac Foundation, and "A Parent Booklet - The First Years of Life," funded by AT&T.

Public service announcements - The Ad Council is distributing a series of print and electronic PSAs focusing on the importance of family involvement in early childhood development.

Video for new parents - The campaign's video helps new parents understand the important role they play in their child's development. It is being distributed to hospitals, schools, libraries and child care centers, as well as parents and other caregivers, (for a $5 shipping and handling fee).

CD-ROM - Funded by IBM and Price Waterhouse, the campaign's CD-ROM addresses parent's questions about children, from the prenatal period through the first three years of life.

(For information regarding these materials, contact "I Am Your Child," at 1010 Wisconsin Avenue, N.W., Suite 800, Washington, D.C. 20007; phone: 202/338-4385 or visit the campaign's Web site at <www.iamyourchild.org>.