Ramon Garza Elementary

Healthy Start Initiative

The Healthy Start Support Services for Children Act (SB 620, Chapter 759), Statutes of 1991, Presley), brings together schools, school districts, county offices of education, health and human services agencies, county governments, nonprofit organizations, businesses, and others to focus their collective energy, expertise, and resources on responding to the needs presented by children, youth, and families in the school community.

The intent of Healthy Start is to improve the lives of children and families by:

• Creating learning environments that are optimally responsive to the physical, emotional, and intellectual needs of each child.
• Fostering local interagency collaboration and communication to more efficiently and effectively deliver education and support services to children and their families.
• Encouraging the full use of existing agencies, professional personnel, and public and private funds to ensure that children of all ages are ready and able to learn, and to prevent duplication of services and unnecessary expenditures.
• Building on the strengths of children and families and providing and enhancing opportunities for parents and children to be participants, decision-makers, and leaders in their communities.

The California Department of Education implements Healthy Start, as directed by the enabling legislation. Input on implementation has been provided by a public/private partnership, entered into in 1991 to coordinate and support efforts on behalf of children and families. The partnership has involved the Superintendent of Public Instruction; the Governor's Deputy Cabinet Secretary; the Secretary of Child Development and Education; the Secretary of Health and Welfare; the directors of the Departments of Health Services, Social Services, Mental Health, Alcohol and Drug Programs, Developmental Services, and Economic Opportunity; and the Executive Committee of the Foundation Consortium for School-linked Services, a consortium of 22 California-based private foundations.

These materials were prepared by Meredith Honig and Jeannemarie Solak of the California Department of Education and Shari Golan and Mary Wagner of SRI International. Data come from the statewide evaluation of Healthy Start being conducted by SRI, with funding from the Foundation Consortium for School-linked Services and from the California Department of Education.

• Family Support (child protection, parenting education, child care)
• Basic Needs (food, clothing, shelter, transportation)
• Medical/Health (vision, hearing, dental, CHDP, acute care, preventive health)
• Mental Health and Counseling (therapy, support groups, substance abuse)
• Academic/Educational (tutoring, dropout prevention)
• Employment (career counseling, job placement, job training)
• Recreational
• Income Maintenance (Medi-Cal, AFDC, food stamps)

  Note: Healthy Start does not necessarily pay for these services. Rather, it provides integrated service delivery which links children and families to needed supports and services.

Healthy Start is designed to serve children and their family members. A two-year statewide evaluation revealed that from January 1993 to March 1995 the first two cohorts of operational sites delivered over 282,000 services to 66,000 children, youth and family members for whom service records were available. Another 434,000 services were provided during this same period to an unknown number of children and families. Many positive outcomes for Healthy Start children and families were revealed.

Table 1. Healthy Start Grants
Operational grants	1992	1992	1994	1995	1996	1997	Total
Grants awarded	40	25	47	37	72	72	293
Students Served	89,811	63,953	103,306	90,638	142,608	113,339	603,655
Schools involved in grant programs	128	82	162	97	181	155	805
Planning grants
Grants awarded	110	72	44	54	64	100	444
Students Served	216,490	163,505	79,699	79,067	114,319	179,562	832,642
Schools involved in grant programs	308	239	103	117	149	215	1,131

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