An independent evaluation of an innovative approach to children’s healthcare in Kent County has found the program is succeeding in significantly reducing the number of expensive emergency room visits and hospital admissions while improving kids’ health.

The Children’s Healthcare Access Program (CHAP) is a collaborative, community-based project to improve the health of low-income children while better utilizing existing resources and decreasing costs.  First Steps launched the project in 2008, in partnership with the Helen DeVos Children’s Hospital, Priority Health, the Great Start Collaborative of Kent County, the Asthma Network of West Michigan, Cherry Street Health Services, and numerous healthcare practices and human services agencies.

The independent evaluation by SRA International shows that CHAP is working.  Visits to the emergency department have decreased 14% for children receiving care with participating healthcare providers, while inpatient hospital admissions are down 12%.  The decreases are even more significant among children with the most significant needs:  35% decline in emergency department use and 62% decline in hospitalizations.  There’s a 40% increase in families who have a specific plan to manage their child’s asthma – the most common chronic disease in children and one of the leading causes of hospitalization.

The evaluation includes a cost benefit analysis conducted by a nationally-recognized economist.   It takes into account the societal benefits – such as fewer school days missed – and found that the immediate social benefits exceed the costs by 20%.  That is a conservative analysis and can be expected to increase over time, since the benefits of good health in childhood are compounded as people age.

“The Children’s Healthcare Access Program is focused intensively on prevention and early intervention,” said First Steps Executive Director Rebekah Fennell.  “Both the children and the community benefit when we invest our resources in prevention.  Children stay healthy, and we avoid the unnecessary emergency department visits and preventable hospitalizations that increase healthcare costs for everybody.”

The percentage of Kent County children enrolled in Medicaid increases every year – it’s now about 40%.  For a variety of reasons, children with Medicaid often have limited access to preventive health care.  CHAP is working to address that through a variety of strategies, including health education and support services for families as well as important changes within health plans, primary care providers, and human service agencies.  Some of the changes are obvious to families, such as extended evening hours that allow them to take a sick child to the family doctor rather than the emergency department.  Others – like a simpler referral process for mental health services – are not as recognizable but greatly improve access to the care children and families need.

“There’s no one silver bullet or quick fix,” explained Tom Peterson, MD, Executive Director of Safety, Quality and Community Health at Helen DeVos Children’s Hospital and Medical Director of CHAP.  “CHAP is much more than a program or service.  It’s a new approach to pediatric care that brings together all aspects of the healthcare system to coordinate our efforts and ensure that we’re doing all we can to improve children’s health and make the best use of limited resources.”

Based on the promising results in Kent County, other communities are adopting the model.  A group in Wayne County (Detroit) received a $1 million grant from the Kresge Foundation to launch the Wayne Children’s Healthcare Access Program, while there’s work in Kalamazoo and Calhoun counties to implement the model within the next year.  The Lansing-based Early Childhood Investment Corporation is coordinating efforts to replicate the success of CHAP across the state.

A guiding principle of CHAP is that all children should have a consistent, high-quality medical home—a doctor’s office or clinic where they always can go for regular checkups, immunizations and treatment when they are sick.  The medical home concept is based on family-centered, coordinated care, with a strong emphasis on prevention.  As part of Priority Health’s involvement in CHAP, it has offered financial incentives to healthcare providers to improve medical home access and quality.

”This program demonstrates that providing children with access to pediatric primary care, as recommended in the medical home model, can help keep them healthy while reducing overall health care costs,” said Jim Byrne, M.D., Chief Medical Officer of Priority Health. “By receiving care in the appropriate setting such as a doctor’s office instead of the emergency room, children have a better experience, more consistent delivery of care and we’ll see a reduction in overall costs.”

Grand Rapids Public Schools, First Steps and the Great Start Collaborative of Kent County are launching a new program to ease the transition to kindergarten and prepare families for school success.  KinderCamp is a free, week-long program that introduces children and their parents to their elementary school and helps them adjust to the routines and expectations of kindergarten.  It is for children who will be in kindergarten during the 2011-2012 school year.

KinderCamp runs from August 15-19 at Martin Luther King, Jr. Leadership Academy and Burton Elementary Schools.  The program goes from 8:30-11:30 a.m. every day, with classes for both children and parents.  KinderCamp is free to families and is being funded through an early education grant from the Early Childhood Investment Corporation and Grand Rapids Public Schools Title I funds.

Research clearly shows that children who start kindergarten ready to learn are likely to have success throughout their education, while children who start behind often stay behind.  KinderCamp is based on similar programs across the country that have proven effective at improving children’s readiness to learn, in part by easing the anxiety children may feel as they begin school.

“Many of our children have not had a preschool experience, so the concept of a classroom is new to them,” explained Joanne Kelty, Director of Early Childhood for GRPS.  “Helping children feel comfortable in school and getting them excited about learning will prepare them to thrive from day one.”

Children who participate in KinderCamp will receive backpacks and other supplies for school.  Their parents will receive home organizers, parenting information and other tools that will help them ensure that their child’s education gets off to a great start.

KinderCamp is open to incoming kindergarteners who live in the neighborhoods around Burton and Martin Luther King, Jr. schools.  Families can register by calling 819-2111.

Kent County has an exciting opportunity to improve the early learning experiences of young children so that they arrive at kindergarten ready to learn and succeed.  The Great Start Collaborative, in partnership with First Steps, the Heart of West Michigan United Way and Kent Regional 4C, is pleased to announce the new Great Start Early Childhood Scholarship Fund.  It will provide scholarships to vulnerable three year old children to attend a high quality child care center or preschool. 

The following school year, the children will be enrolled in a publicly funded, tuition-free preschool (Head Start or the Great Start Readiness Program), providing them with two years of quality early education prior to beginning kindergarten.

“We know through scientific research that as much as 90% of a child’s brain is developed before he or she starts kindergarten,” explained Judy Freeman, Director of the Great Start Collaborative of Kent County.  “It is critically important that children have access to high quality early education before they get to kindergarten.  We will follow the progress of the children who participate so that we can document the impact of this program on their readiness for school success.”

The scholarship fund is made possible by a $400,000 grant from the Early Childhood Investment Corporation (ECIC), which awarded a total of $3 million in scholarship funds to Great Start Collaboratives across the state.  Each community is required to secure a dollar-for-dollar match in private investment.  In Kent County, that commitment is led by a $300,000 grant from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation.  The Heart of West Michigan United Way and several local foundations also are contributing to the scholarship fund.

“Children from low-income homes need the same access to quality early education as anyone else, so we’re pleased to help the collaboratives offer these scholarships,” said Karen Roback, director of the Great Start Child Care Quality Program for the ECIC, which oversees the collaboratives.  “But in these tough times it’s also crucial to stimulate continued private investment in early childhood at the local level, and the matching fund aspect of these awards helps the collaboratives do that.”

The initial $400,000 from ECIC will be used in the 2011-2012 school year, providing scholarships to approximately 100 three year olds from low-income families.  The remaining $400,000 will be used to serve another group of three year olds in 2012-2013.  During that time, partners will evaluate the impact of the scholarship program and, if the evaluation shows promising results, work toward sustainable funding.

The child care centers and preschools that will participate already have been selected.  They all are in or near underserved neighborhoods of Kent County and meet the scholarship program’s quality standards.  Kent Regional 4C is actively recruiting families for the program.  Information can be found at www.greatstartkent.org.

Release issued by ECIC — The Early Childhood Investment Corp. (ECIC) announced that 31 Great Start Collaboratives across the state have been awarded a total of $3 million in grants to stimulate private investment in local early childhood efforts and to pay for child care/preschool scholarships for vulnerable 3-year-olds.

The grants ranged from $3,000 for the Ionia County Great Start Collaborative on up to $400,000 for the Kent Great Start Collaborative.

The collaboratives receiving grants will establish local matching funds and challenge local businesses and foundations to contribute to the fund, thereby creating an ongoing pool from which to boost local early childhood efforts.

In addition, collaboratives will spend their original “seed” grants from ECIC on child care/preschool scholarships for the most at-risk 3-year-olds from low-income families, creating an immediate benefit.

In Michigan, the cost of quality child care is often prohibitive for families. The average cost of full-time care for an infant or young child in a family child care home or center in Michigan is between $6,400 and $8,900, according to a study by the National Association of Child Care Resource and Referral Agencies.

Early childhood advocates say quality child care is among the supports that children need to boost their chances of being ready to thrive once they reach kindergarten. Research has shown that early childhood supports increase the chances of life success, cut government costs and stimulate local, state and national economies.

“Kids from low-income homes need quality care the same as anyone else, so we’re pleased to help the collaboratives offer these scholarships,” said Karen Roback, director of the Great Start Child Care Quality Program for the ECIC, which oversees the collaboratives. “But in these tough times it’s also crucial to stimulate continued private investment in early childhood at the local level, and the matching fund aspect of these awards will help the collaboratives do that.”

In the last four years, Michigan’s Great Start Collaboratives and ECIC have leveraged over $23 million in funds from public and private sources. There are 54 collaboratives in the Great Start system, covering every county in Michigan.

The grants, which are funded through a combination of public and private sources, were awarded following a proposal process to collaboratives that met specific funding criteria and had a demonstrated history of strong performance, according to ECIC. In future years, local communities will help decide how contributions to their matching funds are used.

Local collaboratives will identify the most appropriate local fiduciary – a community foundation, Chamber of Commerce or Intermediate School District – to receive and administer the funds.

The child care scholarships will be awarded to licensed child care homes and centers beginning in late summer 2011. For a full list of local awards and local contacts, please see the attached documents.

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The Early Childhood Investment Corporation is a public/private initiative working to restructure Michigan’s investment in children from birth to five through state and local community efforts.

For more information about ECIC and its efforts, visit http://greatstartforkids.org/

As the organization recognized for its work to integrate and coordinate Kent County’s system of care and education for early childhood, First Steps worked with its community partners to build a gateway for entry into that system.  By providing education and support to families in the earliest days of their baby’s life, this gateway then connects them to a system of resources to ensure that their child reaches kindergarten ready to be successful in school and life.

Welcome Home Baby is available to all first-time parents and parents 25 and younger who live in Kent County.  There is no cost to families who choose to participate in the program.

New parents are introduced to Welcome Home Baby in the hospital, typically a day after the birth of their baby.  They are offered a visit from a maternal child nurse who will meet with them in their home a few days later.  The nurse visit provides an ideal opportunity for parents to have their questions answered in the comfort of their own home.  Learning how to care for a baby takes time and practice; a visit from a nurse eases the transition into parenthood.  During the home visit, the nurse:

• Assesses the health of the baby and mother.
• Shares information about parenting and child health, development and safety.
• Connects the baby and family to their medical home (pediatrician or family doctor).
• Links families to helpful services in the community, if needed and desired.

“After being released from the hospital and settling at home, we still had questions in regard to caring for our son,” explained new mother Trinity Clemens.  “The questions were answered during our visit with the Welcome Home Baby nurse, leaving us feeling confident and excited about our new role as parents.”

Welcome Home Baby provides support to families at a time when it can have the greatest impact—the earliest days of their child’s life.  A child’s brain is 80-90% developed by his or her 4^th birthday.  The first few years of life are when children learn how to think, solve problems, cope with stress, communicate and be creative.  Research clearly shows that quality early childhood programs—beginning with parenting education and support—are critical to preparing children for school success.

“Parents are their child’s first and most influential teachers,” said Rebekah Fennell, First Steps Executive Director.  “Welcome Home Baby provides parents with the support, information and tools they need to give their child a great start in life.  A strong early foundation ultimately leads to greater success in school and beyond.”

Welcome Home Baby is a collaborative effort involving all three of the major health systems in Kent County (Metro Health, Saint Mary’s Health Care and Spectrum Health), the Great Start Collaborative of Kent County, the Kent Intermediate School District, Kent County government and numerous human service agencies.  Funding is provided by several private foundations (Doug and Maria DeVos Foundation, Mike and Sue Jandernoa, W.K. Kellogg Foundation, Frey Foundation and Steelcase Foundation), the Early Childhood Investment Corporation and the Heart of West Michigan United Way.

“Kent County is blessed with wonderful programs for young children and their families,” said Sue Jandernoa, member of the First Steps Commission.  “Unfortunately, prior to Welcome Home Baby, many parents were unfamiliar with the resources that are available and didn’t connect to them.  It is inspiring to see how service providers and health systems have come together to create a universal and consistent system to support our community’s most valuable resource—our youngest children.”

“Welcome Home Baby is a coordinated and intentional approach to reach all new parents in Kent County and introduce them to our community’s system of care,” explained Dianna Baker, Public Health Nursing Supervisor at the Kent County Health Department.  “Service providers have worked together to develop this program, which holds all of us to high standards to ensure that we are being responsive to the needs of young families.”

Welcome Home Baby is modeled after similar programs in Cleveland, Ohio, and Durham, North Carolina.  As with all First Steps projects, it is being rigorously evaluated by an independent evaluator.

More than 4,000 parents, children and advocates are expected at the Capitol Thursday, May 19, to thank state lawmakers for their ongoing support of early childhood programs and to remind them how important those investments are to local communities.  Among them will be more than 70 Kent County parents and children with the Great Start Parent Coalition.

“This year Star Power is an opportunity to highlight the state’s investments in early childhood” said Karen Lay, a Parent Liaison with the Great Start Parent Coalition. “The work we have been doing in Kent County with the Great Start Collaborative seems to have reached Lansing.  The importance of having engaged, active, educated parents in our community to raise the next generation is critical to our collective success.”

The 2011 gathering is expected to be the largest Star Power since the event began in 2007.  More than 3,500 people attended the 2010 event, which is annually one of the largest citizen gatherings on the Capitol lawn.

The day-long event begins with a 10 a.m. parade from Cooley Law Stadium, home of the Lansing Lugnuts, to the Capitol, followed by a short program on the Capitol steps. From 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. participants will meet with their lawmakers on the lawn and in legislative offices. Throughout the day, there will be educational displays, information, music and entertainment on the lawn.

During the morning program, Kent County parent Jennifer Rees will receive the “Fierce Heart Award”–a statewide award given to a parent by the Early Childhood Investment Corporation in recognition of tireless effort on behalf of infants, toddler and preschoolers locally and across Michigan. Jennifer was nominated by fellow parents with the Great Start Parent Coalition. She has volunteered at many community events such as Maranda Park Parties and the Healthy Lifestyles Conference to help raise awareness about the Parent Coalition and educate other parents in the community. She has also been a strong supporter of our Diaper Drive, initiating several efforts to collect diapers for families in need.

“Today is a day we get to visualize hope, for Kent County and Michigan as a whole” said Judy Freeman, Director of the Great Start Collaborative Kent County.  “As a local community we have long known and stressed the importance of early childhood success, we are now seeing a push on a state level which will only add in our success in our community.  We are fortunate in Kent County to have so much local support for families and our future; we are now starting to see this in Lansing as well.  It is truly a great start.”

“Star Power is always a wonderful chance for lawmakers to hear one-on-one from their constituents about the need for us to continue making school readiness a primary focus, not a secondary one,” said Judy Y. Samelson, CEO of the Early Childhood Investment Corp. (ECIC), which sponsors the event with private dollars.

“But it’s particularly important this year because of all the new lawmakers in Lansing. They need to hear this message about how important these investments in young children are to not only parents but to the state’s economic revival.”

Last month, Gov. Rick Snyder announced he will sign an executive order creating an Office of Great Start – Early Childhood within state government, which will coordinate early childhood programs and resources that currently are scattered across multiple state departments. Snyder called it the “first plank” in his drive to reform Michigan’s entire educational system.

“This new office will refocus the state’s early childhood investment, policy and administrative structures by adopting a single set of early childhood outcomes,” said Snyder, who also noted the important role the Early Childhood Investment Corp. will have in making the Office a reality.

The move is long-awaited help for Michigan parents who must contend with different state bureaucracies in getting help for their children, and it is long-awaited news for early childhood backers who believe that a more coordinated, integrated, child-centered approach is the only way to change school and life readiness for young children.

While the state is focusing on bringing together programs to better serve children, Samelson said the ECIC will continue working to improve quality, accountability and customer input in those programs, while also increasing private investment in early childhood.

Many Star Power participants are members of Michigan’s 54 Great Start Collaboratives and 70 Great Start Parent Coalitions, which help communities in all corners of the state develop, implement, evaluate and connect to local, comprehensive early childhood services. Star Power is free and open to everyone.

Early Learning Communities are focused on enriching the early learning experiences of young children by strengthening the skills of early childhood caregivers and educators.  The program is intended to improve readiness for school success by:

• Positively impacting the learning development and social skills of young children.
• Increasing children’s access to literacy activities.
• Increasing access to community resources for children and caregivers.
• Building the relationship between children & families and their neighborhood school prior to kindergarten.

Early Learning Communities are centered in the neighborhoods around Martin Luther King, Jr. Leadership Academy and Burton School.  The program provides professional development, training, and support services to educators and caregivers, including certified teachers in Pre-K through 3^rd grade, teachers in Head Start, private preschools and child care centers, in-home child care providers, and parents.

In-home caregivers and parents have the opportunity to attend Play & Learn Groups with literacy-based activities for children.  The curriculum for the Play & Learn Groups is aligned with Michigan Department of Education expectations for kindergarten readiness.

Additionally, coaches work one-on-one with in-home caregivers, helping them to strengthen their interactions with children, improve the home environment, and create activities to help prepare children for kindergarten.

In addition to First Steps, Grand Rapids Public Schools, and the Great Start Collaborative, the Early Learning Communities partnership includes the Grand Rapids Public Library, human services agencies, and neighborhood churches.  It is funded, in part, by a $100,000 grant to Grand Rapids Public Schools from the Early Childhood Investment Corporation and a grant to First Steps from PNC Grow Up Great for $300,000 over three years.