DeLauro Announces $4.5 million Grant to Address Disparities in Perinatal Health
New Haven, CT – Congresswoman Rosa L. DeLauro (D-CT) announced a five year $4.5 million federal grant for the Community Foundation of Greater New Haven to continue its work addressing racial and ethnic disparities in health care. New Haven Healthy Start, which received its first federal grant in 1997 and is now in its fourth round of federal funding from the Department of Health and Human Services, has focused on providing a continuum of improvements to a fragmented maternal and child healthcare system to reduce the infant mortality and morbidity rate in the City.
It primarily focuses on the African American population, in which the infant mortality rate is higher than any other race in New Haven. Its success is attributed to the implementation of a care coordination system which is considered to be a top-performing model.
"Disparities in the health outcomes of mothers and newborns are one of the most shocking and heartbreaking examples of the racial and ethnic health disparities that persist to this day in the United States. The fact is that in Connecticut, women who are Hispanic or African American are less likely to receive prenatal care and more likely to have a low birth weight infant or experience the loss of a baby. New Haven Healthy Start and its comprehensive approach to maternal and child healthcare is essential to helping to eliminate the causes of disparities in maternal and newborn health," said DeLauro.
Research shows that there are significant racial and ethnic health disparities in New Haven. A report entitled Addressing Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Low Birthweight for Connecticut (Morin, 2008) notes that African American (30.2%) and Hispanic (26.4%) women are three times more likely to receive late or no prenatal care in New Haven. In 2008, New Haven Healthy Start was successful in increasing the percentage of women entering a prenatal care program by 14%.
"Over many years, New Haven Healthy Start had provided much needed support for some of our community's most vulnerable women and families and has contributed greatly to better birth outcomes. This federal funding fills a critical need in our community. The Foundation is very proud of this record and we are thrilled that this new grant will enable us to continue supporting these services for the next five years." William W. Ginsberg, President and CEO of The Community Foundation for Greater New Haven.
The funding will enable the program's team to strategically focus on the areas of: a) reducing New Haven's remaining health disparity in infant mortality; b) increasing its emphasis on multi-pronged outreach strategy; c) strengthening connections with new community resources; and d) enhancing case management capabilities for working with women at high-risk of poor birth outcomes. Special outreach will be made to teens, the homeless, and those who lack insurance coverage and who have had previous poor birth outcomes.
"We're elated to have another five years of funding that will allow New Haven Healthy Start to continue providing community-based services that improve the health of mothers and babies," said Delores Greenlee, Director of New Haven Healthy Start.
New Haven Healthy Start's care coordination model takes a comprehensive approach to maternal and child healthcare. Components of the care coordination model are extensive: referrals to medical facilities, case management and outreach, a networked data system accessible to all service providers, an examination process for all infant and fetal deaths, a collaborative to improve racial disparity and birth outcomes, and a consortium made up of health officials and Healthy Start consumers. The program is executed through a large network of State-wide and local partners, including: Connecticut's Department of Public Health, The New Haven Health Department, Yale-New Haven Hospital, Hospital of St. Raphael, Hill Health Center, Fair Haven Community Health Center, New Haven Family Alliance (Male Involvement Network), and Life Haven, Inc.
New Haven Healthy Start was an outgrowth of the work of the Commission on 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; its work provided the base for The Community Foundation's application for federal funding for the Healthy Start program in New Haven.