This week, “First 5 Contra Costa” announced it awarded $3.6 million to provide voluntary home visiting services for expectant parents and families with newborns and toddlers.
The following information is from First 5 of Contra Costa County:
Services will be provided to families living in Antioch, Bay Point, Concord, Martinez, Richmond and San Pablo – areas in the county with higher rates of premature births, poverty, crime, domestic violence, and child maltreatment.
“We have seen first-hand how serving parents in their homes can improve parenting skills, connect families to needed services, and identify children and families who may need more intense intervention,” said Sean Casey, Executive Director of First 5 Contra Costa. “Well-designed, voluntary home visiting programs can lead to substantial savings for taxpayers with fewer children in social welfare, mental health, and juvenile corrections systems”, said Casey.
That is why, says Casey, even President Obama has requested more federal funding to expand home visiting services for vulnerable children and families. Research shows that home visiting programs can improve maternal and child health, reduce child maltreatment, increase parental employment, and improve the rate at which children reach developmental milestones.
Locally, services will be provided by the nonprofit organizations Aspiranet and Brighter Beginnings. Aspiranet will provide home visiting services in East and Central Contra Costa County and Brighter Beginnings will cover Richmond and San Pablo.
“Brighter Beginnings is so pleased to be selected to support pregnant and parenting families in West Contra Costa,” said Dr. Barbara Bunn McCullough, Executive Director of Brighter Beginnings. “We will support families by promoting positive parenting, strong parent-child relationships, and healthy development of children, which will help reduce the risk of child abuse and neglect.”
In addition to connecting families with information and support, home visitors will provide postpartum screening for new mothers, developmental screening to ensure infants and toddlers are meeting developmental milestones, and outreach to engage more fathers.
About First 5 Contra Costa
Research shows that a child’s brain develops most dramatically in the first five years. Based on this research, California voters passed Proposition 10 in 1998, adding a 50 cents-per-pack tax on tobacco products to fund programs for expectant parents and children ages 0 to 5. Since its inception, First 5 Contra Costa has invested over $100 million in programs that help children grow up healthy, supported by their parents, and ready to succeed in school. Learn more: www.firstfivecc.org.
