The Mission of Every Child Succeeds
Every Child Succeeds' mission is to offer Greater Cincinnati first-time mothers and their families support to ensure an optimal start for their children. Every Child Succeeds is a collaborative program that includes 16 provider agencies whose nurses, social workers and child development specialists provide home visits for first-time, at-risk mothers on a regular basis from the time of pregnancy until the child's third birthday. The large-scale program serves families in seven counties in Ohio and Kentucky, and is yielding strong results. ECS uses an evidence-based approach to continually enhance its services, relying on extensive data to measure outcomes and apply quality improvement science.
Every Child Succeeds focuses on first-time mothers who learning the parental role. Eligible moms are young, low-income, single and/or receiving inadequate prenatal care, factors that tend to put their children at higher risk for delayed development, abuse and neglect, and poor academic achievement.
Home visits focus on positive parenting, self-sufficiency, child safety, preventive health care and early intervention as a means to effect a positive trajectory for the child, promote child/family well-being and work toward school readiness. Home visitors also help mothers access prenatal care and other community-based resources. All services are provided free of charge.
Every Child Succeeds is guided by scientific research confirming that a stimulating and nurturing environment is essential for optimal brain development, which in turn leads to readiness for school and physical and behavioral health. This program is effective because its highly professional home visitors establish a trusting relationship with mothers at a critical time, providing information and skills that help children reach their potential.
Every Child Succeeds utilizes an integrated evaluation component to guide service delivery, document outcomes and identify features of the program that are most effective. The rapid pace of scientific discovery and progress necessitates changes in best practice, and ECS continues to evolve and grow over time in response to these developments. The commitment to continuous quality improvement involves using data to demonstrate outcomes, identify areas for improvement and develop new services.
Each of the program's three founding organizations play a unique role within Every Child Succeeds:
- Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center oversees the medical component of the program, as well as its research;
- United Way of Greater Cincinnati raises funds and involves the business community;
- Cincinnati-Hamilton County Community Action Agency/Head Start provides connections to the community and serves as one of the lead provider agencies.
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