Prevent Child Abuse New York's Blog

Scared Sick Lecture and Book-signing with Robin Karr-Morse and Meredith Wiley, April 2 in Albany

Toxic: extremely harsh, malicious, or harmful. Stress: a physical, chemical, or emotional factor that causes bodily or mental tension and may be a factor in disease causation.

Toxic stress is a regular companion for children living in families where abuse, neglect, and dysfunction are part of everyday life.  The impact on children and on our communities is profound and far-reaching.

No one explains better than Robin Karr-Morse and Meredith Wiley how toxic stress triggers problems that have created a major public health crisis - the research, the risks, and the results. Highlighting case studies and cutting-edge scientific findings, the authors show how our innate fight-or-flight system can injure us if overworked in the early stages of life, triggering diabetes, heart disease, obesity, depression, and addiction later in life.

The co-authors of Ghosts from the Nursery: Tracing the Roots of Violence and Scared Sick: The Role of Childhood Trauma in Adult Disease, will speak Monday, April 2, 2012 at 2 p.m. at the School of Social Welfare, University at Albany Page Hall.

Presented by Prevent Child Abuse New York and the University at Albany School of Social Welfare, the event is free and open to the public.

For more information or to register, e-mail Brittani Hanson, bhanson@preventchildabuseny.org.

You may view a video trailer about the book Scared Sick at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uLF1jfWbj64

ABOUT THE SPEAKERS

Robin Karr-Morse is family therapist and a veteran of child welfare and public education systems in Oregon. Formerly the Director of Parent Training for the state child welfare system, she was the first executive director of the Oregon Children's Trust Fund, a consultant to Dr. T. Berry Brazelton's Touchpoints Program and a lecturer on the Brazelton Seminar Faculty. She has worked with county, state and national officials across the country to create social policies which support families in children’s earliest development. Currently, she is working with a group of colleagues to build “The Parenting Institute” to provide parents with state of the art developmental knowledge, skills and support which focuses on building emotionally competent children from conception through adolescence.

Meredith Wiley is a former prosecutor and currently state director of Fight Crime: Invest in Kids New York, a crime fighting organization of law enforcement leaders and victims of violence who work to educate policy makers and the public on what works to get kids off to a good start in life and keep them from ever becoming criminals. Meredith is a former prosecutor.  She has been appointed to the New York State Children’s Cabinet Advisory Council, the Early Childhood Advisory Council, the Governor’s Task Force to Transform Juvenile Justice and the Juvenile Justice Advisory Group, and also is on the National Board of Advisors for the Nurse Family Partnership Program and the National Board of Advisors for the Parent Child Home Program.

Healthy Families New York Home Visiting Continued in Governor's Proposed Budget

We are deeply pleased that Governor Cuomo’s budget includes $23.3 million for Healthy Families New York Home Visiting, allowing the program to continue improving the lives of vulnerable children and families in some of the state’s highest need communities.

The voluntary prenatal - early childhood program has a proven track record of better outcomes for children. Through guidance and support for at-risk expectant and new mothers in 39 high-risk communities, it begins at the earliest opportunity to improve children’s health, safety and learning.

The program’s statewide system of training, site support and evaluation assures the program’s quality and effectiveness. Cost savings begin immediately, with healthier babies delivered, and continue for years as children do better in school.

At the same time as we applaud this year’s continuation of services, we also look toward future expansion of support for New York’s youngest and most vulnerable citizens. Our system of home visiting services still serves only a small percentage of those who would benefit. We can and should build on the existing system by increasing the availability of other proven home visiting programs like Nurse Family Partnership, Parents As Teachers and Parent-Child-Home, as well as Healthy Families New York.

The prenatal and earliest childhood period provides a critical window of opportunity. The profound impact of infants’ health at birth and the care they receive - or don’t receive - during the first three years lasts throughout their lives. Regular visits by trained home visitors during this time shifts the trajectory of families’ lives and lays a strong foundation for children’s future, thereby preventing problems that require expensive intervention and remediation.

Greater investment in evidence-based and promising home visiting programs in New York State will strengthen families, improve children’s wellbeing and development, and save taxpayers money.

New Study Finds Healthy Families New York to be a Great Investment in Children and Their Families

A new study by the state Office of Children and Family Services and the State University of New York shows that Healthy Families New York (HFNY) has had a profound impact on the lives of children and their families; resulting in fewer incidents of child abuse, fewer low birth weight babies and greater success in school for kids whose mothers participated.

HFNY believes strongly in enhancing the healthy child development of all children in New York and the program promotes optimal child health, connecting families with medical providers for prenatal and well-baby visits and immunizations. It also helps parents to develop strong, positive relationships with their children and assesses children for developmental delays.

From the time the program began in 1995 through the end of 2009, HFNY provided 777,000 home visits to more than 25,760 families. Participants are screened to identify risk factors and stressors the family may face. Each family is offered long-term in-home services until the child is in school or Head Start.

The findings of the seven-year randomized controlled trial include the following:

• Across the seven years, mothers who received HFNY reported many fewer incidents of serious physical abuse than mothers in a control group did.
• At ages 2, 3, and 7, young, first-time mothers who entered the program early in pregnancy consistently reported and were repeatedly observed using lower levels of harsh parenting as compared to their counterparts in the control group.
• From the study’s start through age seven, HFNY mothers who had substantiated child maltreatment reports prior to random assignment had markedly lower rates of involvement in confirmed CPS reports for neglect (38% vs. 57%), confirmed reports for physical abuse (3% vs. 13%), and preventive, protective, and placement services (38% vs. 60%) as compared to a subset of similar women from the control group.
• Overall, HFNY mothers were more likely to be observed using parenting strategies that stimulated the child’s cognitive skills and to report using nonviolent discipline strategies.
• Children in HFNY were more likely to participate in a gifted program at school, less likely to receive special education services, and less likely to report skipping school. Educational advantages were even more striking among children born to first-time mothers under age 19 who were offered HFNY in early pregnancy. These children were half as likely to repeat a grade and considerably less likely to score below average on a standardized vocabulary test.
• In addition to impacts on parenting and children’s education, women who enrolled in HFNY at or before 30 weeks of pregnancy were about half as likely to deliver low birth weight babies. This effect was especially notable among black and Latina mothers, two groups that persistently experience high levels of poor birth outcomes.

In terms of dollars and cents, the study also found that with mothers who had histories of engaging in child abuse or neglect, Healthy Families New York generated a return of more than $3 for every dollar spent due to reduced involvement with the child welfare system and other government programs.

Post Standard on Healthy Families New York: This Program Works

More terrific news for Healthy Families New York, a state-administered child abuse prevention program that provides home visiting services to at-risk families. The Syracuse Post Standard recently published an editorial praising the program and its successes. The editorial is a response to new research finding that the program resulted in fewer incidents of child abuse, fewer low-birth-weight babies and greater success in school for kids whose mothers participated.

From the editorial:

That's just the kind of thing New York should be investing in ... A worthy, socially beneficial program that actually saves money. New York needs more just like it.

Indeed. Despite its successes, Healthy Families New York is available to only a fraction of the families who need it. Let's get to work, New York, so all our kids have an opportunity at a healthy and successful future.

Great News for Healthy Families New York

Healthy Families New York (HFNY), a program that provides in-home parenting education and support services to at-risk families with infants, can now claim another feather in its. cap. A seven-year randomized trial of the program shows many impressive findings, including:

• Reductions in child abuse reports for families with prior child protective services involvement. Also, HFNY mothers reported engaging in serious physical abuse less frequently than mothers in the control group. HFNY children were also less likely to report that their mothers used minor physical aggression. In addition, reductions in psychological and minor physical aggression were observed for a subgroup of young, first-time mothers, who enrolled in HFNY during pregnancy
• Direct benefits to children: Compared to children in the control group, HFNY children were more likely to participate in a gifted program, and less likely to receive special education services and to skip school. In addition, HFNY children in the subgroup of young, first-time mothers enrolled during pregnancy were less likely to score below average on a standardized vocabulary assessment and to repeat a grade.
• By age seven, participant earnings and savings from monetized benefits such as receipt of welfare and use of the child welfare system generated a return of more than $3.00 for every dollar invested in the subgroup of families with prior CPS involvement.

Prevent Child Abuse New York brought HFNY to the state and continues to fight to sustain and expand its funding. With a difficult budget battle ahead, we hope these findings will bolster our argument that Healthy Families New York and other home visiting programs are a wise investment in the health and well being of New York's kids and the future prosperity of our state.

Free SIDS Training for Parents and Child Care Providers

Sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) is the unexpected, sudden death of a child under age 1 in which an autopsy does not show an explainable cause of death. The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and Healthy Child Care America just released a new online training module on ‘Reducing the Risk of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) in Child Care!’

Based on AAP's Reducing the Risk of SIDS in Child Care Speakers Kit, this is a FREE course that is designed to educate everyone who cares for babies, including child care providers, health care professionals, parents, grandparents, and relatives.

In one hour, participants will learn how to create a safe sleep environment to reduce the risk of SIDS and other sleep related deaths. With an easy to use format, this course is available 24/7 from your home or office computer. Childcare providers will receive a certificate of completion for 1.0 contact hour.

For instructions on how to access this FREE course, visit

www.healthychildcare.org/pdf/SIDSmoduleflyer.pdf. 

For more information and materials on how to reduce the risk of SIDS, visit

www.healthychildcare.org/sids.html.

Healthcare Reform Passes, Including $1.5 Billion for Home Visitation Programs!

Late last night, the US House of Representatives passed the Senate Healthcare Reform bill, with a few amendments. This legislation will not only bring healthcare coverage to more than 95% of Americans, but it will also create a brand new funding stream for home visiting, in the amount of $1.5 billion over five years.

This victory is only half the battle.

Now, we ask you to continue advocating with your State Senators and Assemblypersons, whose decision on the New York State Budget will directly impact New York's ability to access over $100 million in funding for home visitation.

Take action today to let our Albany lawmakers know that Healthcare Reform has come with a $1.5 billion pot of support for families, but if Healthy Families New York receives a 35% cut in this year's buget, we may not be eligible for a dime of the $1.5 billion.

Tell your legislators:

• Healthcare Reform has passed with a $1.5 billion funding stream for home visitation, which means approximately $100 to $150 million over five years for New York State.
• If Healthy Families New York is cut by 35%, New York may be ineligible for any of that money, as the legislation requires a maintenance of effort in state funds to apply for federal funds.

Act today, and forward to your friends, family, and colleagues! This is a historic moment for all of us: let's make sure it's one we can celebrate in New York!

Take action online by clicking here.

Pregnant? Text BABY for Health Tips on Your Phone

Research shows that about 90 percent of Americans have a mobile phone. With texting becoming more and more popular it was only a matter of time before something like text4baby came along. Text4baby is a mobile health service for expecting mothers. It is an educational program of the National Healthy Mothers, Healthy Babies Coalition.

Women can sign up for the service by texting BABY to 511411 (or BEBE for Spanish) and receive three free SMS text messages each week timed to their due date or baby’s date of birth. Text4baby messages also connect women to local clinics and support services for prenatal and infant care.

If you are looking to find out all of the information that you can about how to have a healthy pregnancy and making sure you give your child the best start at life, then text4baby is something you should consider.

More information about text4baby here.

 

Almost Half of American Children Live in Families that Struggle to Make Ends Meet

Basic Facts about Low-Income Children, a new fact sheet from the National Center for Children and Poverty (NCCP), tells a disturbing story. 44 percent of American children—that’s nearly half of all children in the U.S.—live in families that face serious struggles to make ends meet. Parental employment, parental education, family structure and other variables each play an important role in predicting the likelihood that a child will endure economic hardship.

The very youngest children—infants and toddlers under age three—are particularly vulnerable with 44 percent living in low-income and 22 percent living in poor families. 
 
Families are considered “poor” when they live below the federal poverty level, defined in 2009 as $22,050 for a family of four, $18,310 for a family of three, and $14,570 for a family of two. Research suggests that, on average, families need an income equal to about two times the federal poverty level to meet their most basic needs. Families with incomes below this level are referred to as low income: $44,100 for a family of four, $36,620 for a family of three, $29,140 for a family of two. 

The fact sheet breaks down facts and figures about children facing economic hardship into four additional age groups: under 6, ages 6-11, ages 12-17, and under age 18. It also describes the demographic, socio-economic, and geographic characteristics of children and their parents, highlighting the important factors that appear to distinguish low-income and poor children from their less disadvantaged counterparts. A PDF of the fact sheet is available here

November is National Adoption Month

Currently, there are 130,000 children and youth waiting to be adopted. National Adoption Month urges Americans to "Answer the Call" to adopt children and youth from foster care. National Adoption Month intends to raise awareness about the adoption of children and youth from foster care.

The Ad Council's latest public service "You don't have to be perfect to be a perfect parent" urges potential parents that perfection is not the goal. Children just need loving, caring environments with stability. This award-winning campaign is a partnership of the Children’s Bureau, the Ad Council, and AdoptUsKids. This year’s ads target the African-American community and finding homes for African-American children in care. The ads feature humorous everyday scenarios illustrating that parents need not be perfect to offer the stability and commitment that a “forever family” provides to a waiting child.

Visit the 2009 National Adoption Month Website for more information: http://www.childwelfare.gov/adoption/nam/

Additionally, The Children's Bureau Express has a Spotlight on National Adoption Month webpage The CBE has information about how agencies celebrate National Adoption Month, and find out more about the latest adoption resources and research.  They also offer more information and service on:

PSA Campaign Recruits Families for African-American Children
Adoption Month Calendar Features Innovative Activities
National Survey of Adoptive Parents Releases First Data
Post adoption Support Guide
Positive Outcomes for Late-Placed Adoptees
Court Collaboration Expedites Adoptions
Parent-to-Parent Support for Adoptive Families

To view more information please visit their Spotlight on National Adoption Month: http://cbexpress.acf.hhs.gov/index.cfm?event=website.viewSection&issueID=111&subsectionID=8