Success in Building Community Partnerships Results in $5.4 Million for New Haven

New Funding Will Improve Maternal & Child Health and Father Engagement

New Haven, CT (September 12, 2014) –The Community Foundation for Greater New Haven has been awarded $5.4 Million for a 5 year period (2014-2019) from the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services to continue its New Haven Healthy Start Program, which serves vulnerable young women and their babies in New Haven. New Haven Healthy Start was among 87 programs across the nation to successfully compete for $65 million in total federal aid to reduce high infant mortality rates and improve maternal care in high risk communities.

"For three decades, meeting our maternal and child health challenges has been one of The Community Foundation's most important priorities. This grant will enable us to continue to provide these vitally important services until 2019 and is a major statement of confidence from the Obama Administration in our work on these issues," said William W. Ginsberg, president & CEO of The Community Foundation for Greater New Haven.

"The continued funding from the Healthy Start grant program is critical to continuing to address infant mortality issues in the New Haven community" says Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro (D-CT 3rd District)."I applaud the Community Foundation's ongoing commitment through the New Haven Healthy Start program and congratulate them on their successful application for this funding. This was a highly competitive process and this award is a reflection of the difference this program has and will continue to make in our community."

"This significant and most-welcome federal grant for New Haven's Healthy Start Program will help provide assistance to vulnerable, young mothers and their babies, giving those babies a better opportunity to prosper during a critical time in their development," Mayor Toni N. Harp said. "Securing the grant is the successful result of collaboration among the city, The Community Foundation for Greater New Haven, and the Yale – New Haven Hospital, and couldn't have happened without the outspoken support of Representative DeLauro and Senators Blumenthal and Murphy. I offer congratulations and gratitude to everyone involved."

Black and Hispanic women in New Haven have worse health outcomes overall than the City's White women, particularly on indicators of maternal health, according to DataHaven's Community Wellbeing Index (2013). New Haven's Black women have the highest rates of infant mortality and babies born at low birth weight, and Black and Hispanic women in the city and are less likely than White women to have adequate prenatal care. These disparities mirror State and National rates.

Many factors play a role in fueling maternal health disparities, including: poverty unemployment, domestic violence, higher teenage birth rates, lower education levels and higher levels of mental health needs as a consequence of stressful life circumstances.

"New Haven Healthy Start understands that a healthy delivery is not merely the result of coordinated and quality prenatal services. The eco-system in which Health Start families live determines the health outcomes for all members of the family," said Kenn Harris, director of New Haven Healthy Start, a program of The Community Foundation for Greater New Haven. "With this new funding, New Haven Healthy Start intends to re-position its work more squarely in our most vulnerable communities. As in years past, we will work hand-in-hand with our public and private partners, including groups such as our Men's Consortium to increase father participation in the work of New Haven Healthy Start."

New Haven Healthy Start is an initiative that coordinates the systems of care for women, children and families in New Haven to ensure healthy birth outcomes and community wellbeing. It achieves its work through community partnerships with primary care health centers, such as Yale-New Haven Hospital, and other community organizations.

"We are fortunate to be among the dozens of New Haven Healthy Start partners working to address the issues associated with maternal and child health in our community," says Marna P. Borgstrom, Chief Executive Officer of Yale-New Haven Hospital. "Improving the health of this community takes a commitment beyond just the provision of healthcare services. It is a collaborative effort at every turn and a passion among New Haven Healthy Start partners.

Over the next five years, New Haven Healthy Start will use its new grant funds to continue 1) improving women's health, 2) promoting quality services, 3) strengthening family resilience, 4) achieving collective impact, and 5) increasing accountability. New Haven Healthy Start partners will adjust the existing, effective model to flourish in a healthcare landscape transformed by the Affordable Care Act, aligning its marketing, recruitment and enrollment activities lead by the New Haven Health Department in its role as patient navigator and certified application counselor for Access Health CT, one of the nation's most successful insurance exchanges. As accountable care organizations sharpen their approaches to medical homes and investing more heavily in prevention, New Haven Healthy Start partners will integrate further successful protocols and practices into these models.

About New Haven Healthy Start

New Haven Healthy Start was an outgrowth of the work of the Commission on Child and Infant Health, which was convened by The Community Foundation for Greater New Haven in 1985. The Commission was formed to address the high infant mortality and morbidity rates in New Haven and was a collaboration between health officials, community leaders and child care advocates. Its work provided the base for The Community Foundation's application for federal funding for a Healthy Start program in New Haven. The Community Foundation for Greater New Haven received its first federal Healthy Start grant in 1997 to begin addressing New Haven's high infant mortality rates and continued to receive subsequent grants totaling $16.9 million over the past 17 years to enable it to serve nearly 16,000 participants and more than 8,000 infants.

The New Haven community benefits from over 20 years of New Haven Healthy Start partners collaborating in community-wide infant mortality reduction initiatives, as well as many pioneering efforts. Core Healthy Start Partners include: Yale Healthcare System and Yale-New Haven Hospital; the New Haven Health Department; Hill Health Center; Fair Haven Community Health Center; City of New Haven; Housing Authority of New Haven; New Haven Early Childhood Council; Yale University, Yale School of Medicine, Yale School of Public Health, Connecticut Department of Public Health, Connecticut Department of Social Services, Connecticut Department of Children and Families, and numerous community-based non-profit organizations and collaborative initiatives such as the MOMS Partnership and the Male Involvement Network. Its applicant and fiscal agent, The Community Foundation for Greater New Haven, provides a powerful platform to engage and convene partners, and sets the stage for an effective transition into a more effective collective impact approach that addresses social determinants of health.

About The Community Foundation

Thanks to the generosity of three generations of donors, The Community Foundation for Greater New Haven awarded more than $24 million in grants and distributions in 2013 from an endowment of approximately $430 million and comprising hundreds of individually named funds. In addition to its grant-making, The Community Foundation helps build a stronger community by taking measures to improve student achievement, reduce New Haven's infant mortality rate, promote local philanthropy through www.giveGreater.org and encourage community awareness at www.cfgnh.org/learn. The Community Foundation for Greater New Haven's 20 town service area includes: Ansonia, Bethany, Branford, Cheshire, Derby, East Haven, Guilford, Hamden, Madison, Milford, New Haven, North Branford, North Haven, Orange, Oxford, Seymour, Shelton, Wallingford, West Haven, Woodbridge. For more information about The Community Foundation visit www.cfgnh.org, find us on Facebook at www.facebook.org/cfgnh or follow us on Twitter at www.twitter.com/cfgnh.