Kent County's First Steps program lands $1.3 million grant to improve the health of children

Sharon Hanks

First Steps, a collaborative community effort working to support the health and development of children in Kent County, expects to expand its work with help from a $1.3 million grant over the next three years from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation in Battle Creek.

Amy Turner-Thole, communications director for First Steps, says the foundation has committed that investment for two programs: Children's Healthcare Access Program, which is making great strides connecting low-income children to quality primary healthcare, and Welcome Home Baby, a new program aimed at helping new parents.

Located at 118 Commerce Ave. SW in downtown Grand Rapids, First Steps is an nonprofit organization founded in 2005 that collaborates with other community stakeholders to develop a stronger system of support services for the health and development of children in Kent County and their families.

"We're grateful to the Kellogg Foundation, as to all of our funders who recognize the importance of investing in young children and the importance of prevention," says Turner-Thole.

Since it started two years ago, the Children's Healthcare Access Program has helped connect low-income Kent County children to quality primary health care. The goal is to improve health outcomes among children - from newborns to 17-year-olds -- on Medicaid while better using existing resources and decreasing costs. This could be transportation to a physician, home-based education or any other number of factors that might hinder access to health care services. About 15,000 children have been served in the program so far but First Steps is hoping to include all children on Medicaid in Kent County. 

Early results show it's working. Visits to the emergency rooms and inpatient hospital admissions have decreased significantly in the first year of the program, Turner-Thole says.

Welcome Home Baby will launch later this summer after First Steps hires a handful of part-time nurses and fulltime social workers, Turner-Thole says. Welcome Home Baby will be offered to all first-time parents and parents 25 and younger in Kent County. It will establish two reliable connections to the parents: an initial visit in the hospital and a home visit from a maternal child nurse. The nurse will educate them about early child development, answer questions a new parent might have, and introduce them to community resources that best meet their needs

Sources: Amy Turner-Thole, Communications Director of First Steps, Grand Rapids

Sharon Hanks is innovations and jobs news editor at Rapid Growth Media. Please send story ideas and comments for the column to Sharon at [email protected]. She also is owner of The Write Words in Grand Rapids.