How NHSA Supports the Federal Healthy Start Initiative
NHSA provides educational opportunities and support including…
- Our Annual Conference with some of the nation’s most prominent experts in our topic areas as presenters.
- Webinars throughout the year on current trends and topics for which the project directors have asked for more information.
- Monthly Fatherhood Webinars for the fatherhood practitioners to learn how they can best serve the dads in the program and support their health and well-being.
- An annual Fatherhood Summit to address fatherhood issues and provide the opportunity to learn from one another.
- Publications, such as our monthly newsletter, Getting off to a Healthy Start, which contains research news, resources and activities shared by the Healthy Start projects.
NHSA’s Activities…
- … promote maternal and child health (MCH) programs, particularly those addressing the issues of maternal and infant mortality, low birth weight and racial disparities in perinatal outcomes.
- …ensure that all families have access to a continuum of affordable quality health care and related services. This range of care extends beyond the welfare of newborns and includes mothers, fathers and families, thus affecting the entire community.
Highlights of NHSA’s Accomplishments Over 20+ Years
NHSA’s Annual Conferences and the 2004 and 2006 Regional Conferences
- 20 annual conferences with attendance ranging from 450-600, including upwards of 60 consumers and the project officers from the DHSPS.
- 12 regional conferences were the first of the kind for Healthy Start. An important outcome were the topic areas most requested by the attendees for NHSA’s Healthy Start Leadership Training Institute (HSLTI), which was established and implemented with two convenings a year from 2007-2014.
Publications
- The Healthy Start Guide to…series of five toolkits on topics such as community engagement and strategies for success.
- Saving Our Nation’s Babies: The Impact of the Federal Healthy Start Initiative.
- Interconception Care web-based toolkit with six modules that cover topics such as nutrition, family planning and weight before, during and after pregnancy.
- Maternal Depression and Toxic Stress web-based toolkit with three modules on stress and depression and their impact on healthy birth outcomes.
- Getting off to a Healthy Start, a monthly newsletter distributed electronically to over 2,500 individuals.
Our History at a Glance
1991
Federal-funded Healthy Start initiative began as a demonstration program with 15 programs; extended by one year
1994
7 “special projects” added
1997
Replication Phase began with the addition of 55 projects; 75 projects in total
1998
National Healthy Start Association established
1999
19 projects added; focus on Eliminating Racial & Ethnic Disparities in Perinatal Health
2000
3 projects added and began with a one-year Infrastructure/Capacity-Building Phase
2000
Authorization achieved as part of the Children’s Health Act
2000
NHSA holds 1st annual conference
2001
9 new grantees added
2002
12 existing projects that were designated as “approved, but not funded” received new funding
2003
NHSA received first of two special Congressional awards to collect and disseminate information on best practices and provide technical assistance to the projects
2004
NHSA holds 6 regional conferences; 2nd special Congressional award received
2005
97 projects, including one new grantee, received new funding
2006
NHSA holds 6 additional regional conferences
2007
2 Border Health projects added
2007
NHSA inaugurates the Healthy Start Leadership Training Institute; held through 2014
2008
Healthy Start reauthorized for five years
2009
3 Eliminating Racial & Ethnic Disparities in Perinatal Health grantees added
2010
Healthy Start grows to 104 projects
2010
Healthy Start grows to 104 projects
2014
Healthy Start funded for 100 grantees
2016
NHSA holds reception with Dr. Louis Sullivan, Former Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, to celebrate Health Start’s 25th anniversary
2019
New funding provided for 101 projects
2019
NHSA holds 20th annual conference
2020
Healthy Start is reauthorized