| HEALTHY START OF OREGON |
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| For Policy Makers |
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Healthy Start Works!
Healthy Start was established by the 1993 Legislature to assist families in giving their newborn children a ‘healthy start’ in life.
Healthy Start was designed to be for all families with newborns, reaching first-born children at a minimum. As state resources remained scarce, the focus of Healthy Start services has narrowed to serving those families most at risk. Local programs may still provide services for families at lower risk using other resources.
The legislature continues to support Healthy Start as its primary child abuse prevention program, and ongoing research confirms the program's effectiveness. Healthy Start is accredited by Healthy Families America, a research-based program model.
Healthy Start Saves Money
Healthy Start costs approximately $2800 a year for each family served with intensive home visiting.
This investment is far less than the cost to society of incarceration later in life, poor achievement in school, or involvement with the Child Welfare system. Fight Crime: Invest in Kids estimates that in Oregon alone, child abuse and neglect contributes to the creation of almost 400 new criminals each year. The tragedy is that most child abuse and neglect can be prevented, thus reducing future crime.
- Fight Crime Invest in Kids states “the best available research indicates, based on confirmed cases of abuse and neglect, that in 2004 alone, in Oregon, more than 400 kids will grow up to become violent criminals who would never have become violent criminals if not for the abuse and neglect they endured as kids.“
- Victims of child abuse or neglect, as they grow older, are also two and a half times more likely than other people to attempt suicide.
Healthy Start Gets Results
Healthy Start is Oregon’s flagship program to reduce child abuse and neglect and help children get ready for school. It supports families so they can provide the nurturing environments children need to grow sturdy and thrive.
Healthy Start follows the research based Healthy Families America program model. It is one of only 6 HFA accredited state systems in the U.S.A. Another comparable state system, Healthy Families New York, was recently designated as a “promising practice” by the Rand Corporation.
Oregon’s Healthy Start is evaluated by NPC Research. The data consistently shows that Healthy Start is succeeding in making a positive difference for families. According to the most recent NPC Healthy Start Status and Maltreatment Prevention Reports:
- Since 2003, the child abuse rates for children birth to age two who are not in Healthy Start have been almost double the rate for children who are in Healthy Start.
- In 2006-07, the rate of substantiated reports of abuse or neglect for Healthy Start families was only 11 per 1000, compared to 28 per 1000 among families not served by Healthy Start.
- After 6 months of service, 94% of children were receiving regular well-child check-ups, compared to only 84% of young children nationally (Child Trends, 2004).
- 93% of Healthy Start’s 2-year-olds were fully immunized, compared to 78% of all Oregon 2-year-olds (Oregon ALERT Registry, 2006). Nationally, only about 76% of children from low-income households were fully immunized by age 3 (Child Trends, 2004).
Healthy Start families are better connected to health care providers and services, receive regular developmental screenings, and create well above average learning environments for their children, including reading to their children more often.
Healthy Start helps parents create the emotional foundation for success in school – and life! Skills like the ability to take turns and to constructively manage anger and frustration are fundamental not only to school success but to the quality of our future workforce and our communities.
Links to most recent NPC reports on Healthy Start of Oregon:
Key Outcomes
Maltreatment Prevention Report
Healthy Start is a wise investment.
Healthy Start is the right thing to do.
You can help.
Where you can find more information:
Prevent Child Abuse America
Fight Crime Invest in Kids
NPC Research
Rand Corporation Promising Practices, Healthy Families New York
Or Contact:
Karen VanTassell
Healthy Start of Oregon Coordinator
(503) 378-5120
karen.vantassell(at)state.or.us
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