Title
AGREEMENT WITH THE KANSAS CHILDREN'S SERVICE LEAGUE (KCSL) TO IMPLEMENT PROGRAM SERVICES UNDER THE KANSAS DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND ENVIRONMENT (KDHE) IN THE HEALTHY BABIES PROGRAM AT THE HEALTH DEPARTMENT.
Presented by: Claudia Blackburn, Director, Sedgwick County Health Department.
RECOMMENDED ACTION: Approve the agreement and authorize the Chairman to sign; and establish budget authority as provided in the financial considerations section of this request.
Body
Background: KCSL is a statewide not-for-profit agency providing a continuum of programs and services, advocating for children, and collaborating with other public and private agencies for increased effectiveness, efficiency and quality. KCSL serves over 40,000 children a year statewide.
KCSL has been providing Healthy Families home visitation services across Kansas since 1996, and is currently offering the program in 10 Kansas counties. Healthy Families Sedgwick County was awarded funding in January 2010 and they began serving families in March of 2010.
The Health Department's Healthy Babies Program (HB) and Healthy Families America (HFA) work hand-in-hand to wrap services around at-risk families, addressing physical, mental, social and emotional needs of the families we serve. Since 2000, the average annual number of births in Sedgwick County has been 7,814 and research shows (Wiese & Daro, 1995) that at least 25% (or 1,954) of those families would have multiple risk factors and could benefit from Healthy Babies and/or HFA services.
Enrollment for both programs occurs optimally during the prenatal period. The Healthy Babies program provides services until the baby is two years old; HFA provides services until the child is three years old, or up to five years of age, when necessary. While the focus of the HB prenatal and parenting education program is on improving birth outcomes among at-risk moms, the focus of the KCSL HFA program is to prevent child abuse, promote positive parenting,...
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