Champions of Change
By Deidre Johnson, The Colorado Trust
We know that the first five years of life have a profound effect on every child’s healthy physical, social, emotional and cognitive development. Yet, many children continue to experience significant disparities in health outcomes – by race, geography and socioeconomic status. For instance, compared to higher-income peers, children from low-income families or on Medicaid lag behind developmentally from as early as nine months of age (Halle et al, 2009*); have higher rates of adverse childhood experiences (WI Children’s Trust Fund, 2010**); and have nearly twice the rate of untreated tooth decay (GAO 2008***).
Last month, the BUILD Initiative hosted the “Health Equity and Young Children Conference” in Denver. This multi-state learning conference brought together champions and advocates from across the country who work to address health disparities in young children. In addition to experts from the National Academy for Sate Health Policy, Child and Family Policy Center, U.S. Health Resource and Service Administration’s Maternal and Child Health Bureau, Washington State Department of Health and Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, the conference included state teams from Colorado, Michigan, Minnesota and Ohio, as well as representatives from Arizona, Georgia, New York and Illinois. Participants were invited to attend because they are innovative leaders in the field of health who are developing and implementing promising practices and successful programs in their states. The conference provided a unique opportunity for states to learn from what other states are doing and to tap in to the expertise and knowledge of national experts. During the conference, participants worked with members from their home state to develop strategies and action plans to further promote health equity for young children.
Colorado has many successful programs and initiatives that support the healthy development of young children. A few examples: Cavity-Free at Three is working across the state to help increase access to preventive dental care for children. Colorado’s Assuring Better Child Health and Development project works with families, pediatric health care providers, community members and child care providers to help them identify children who may have potential developmental delays as early as possible so they can be connected with the services they need. The Colorado Children’s Healthcare Access Program has recruited, trained and supported private pediatric practices to accept public insurance and increase their capacity to serve children in low-income families. Several communities across Colorado are working to better connect families to these and other proven programs that support children’s healthy development.
In the public sector, the challenge, in Colorado and across the nation, is how to better coordinate programs and services to reach all children. Colorado has made positive developments at the state-level. In 2012, the Office of Early Childhood, which was created by Executive Order within the Colorado Department of Human Services, House Bill 13-1117, Alignment of Child Development Programs, will help to increase coordination and efficiency of program and service administration, resulting in better access to public programs that support children and families.
Conferences such as the BUILD Health Equity and Young Children Conference provide the time and opportunity for early childhood champions to strategize with their peers on how to better identify and reach all children in need. By continuing to support states and communities in growing and coordinating systems that better connect families and children to needed services, we can work together to ensure that low income children, children of color and children in rural areas are not left behind and have fair opportunities to grow up healthy and to thrive.
Created in 2002 by national, regional and state foundations in the Early Childhood Funders’ Collaborative, The BUILD Initiative supports states’ efforts to build comprehensive and coordinated early childhood systems of programs, policies and services that work together to achieve positive outcomes for young children and their families.
*Wisconsin Children’s Trust Fund. Adverse Childhood Experiences in Wisconsin: Findings from the 2010 Behavioral Risk Factor Survey. Madison, WI: 2010.
**Halle T et al. Disparities in Early Learning and Development: Lessons from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study – Birth Cohort. The Council of Chief State School Officers and Child Trends. Bethesda, MD: 2009.
***U.S. Government Accountability Office. Extent of Dental Disease in Children Has Not Decreased, and Millions are Estimated to Have Untreated Tooth Decay. Washington, DC: 2008.
