|
04-03-2007
Testimony on House Bill 119 - Michelle Katona
Testimony on House Bill 119
Before the House Human Services Subcommittee
April 3, 2007
Presented by Michelle Katona
Director
Cuyahoga County Office of Early Childhood
Mr. Chairman and members of the House Human Services Subcommittee, my name is Michelle Katona. I am the director of the Cuyahoga County Office of Early Childhood and am responsible for administering our county’s early childhood initiative, Invest in Children. I am here today to share with you the critical importance of Help Me Grow to ensuring Ohio’s children, are healthy, happy and ready for school, an opportunity all of our children deserve.
Before I talk specifically about Help Me Grow and the significant benefits this program has had to over 15,000 families each year in Cuyahoga County, I want to share a brief experience of mine from a conference I attended several weeks ago. On March 7, 2007, The Committee for Economic Development, along with The Partnership for America’s Economic Success and The PNC Financial Services Group, Inc., hosted the annual Building the Economic Case for Investments in Children at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. Over 200 business leaders, policymakers, and members of the nonprofit community convened to discuss how investments in children can improve America’s workforce and future economic well-being. The opening keynote was given by George Kaiser, an Oklahoma oil man, who spoke about the importance of a child’s earliest years, how significant the brain development is in the first three years of life and that we must make the necessary investments in early childhood for our children.
Later on in the conference Frank Luntz, a political strategist, spoke and opened by asking the audience how many of us believe we are having a better life than our parents—just about every hand in the room went up. Then he asked, how many of us believe our children will have a better life than us—barely any hands went up. These were business leaders who understand that for our children to be competitive in the global market, we must start early and make the tough choices or we will be confronted with consequences. Consequences that we all know about, have been spoken to about, read about and witnessed; our children continuing to not be ready for school, our children falling behind in k-12, not graduating or not ready to compete in the global economy. So as states across this country are joining the early childhood movement, making the tough choices, Ohio has the opportunity to be a part of the movement and the early childhood movement in Ohio begins with Help Me Grow.
Across Ohio, thousands of families are taking advantage of the services offered by Help Me Grow because parents want to be the best parents they can be and want the very best for their children. Help Me Grow is the state’s prenatal to three system that gives parents the tools and resources they need so that their children reach their developmental milestones and are ready to make the transition into preschool and kindergarten. Help Me Grow meets families where they are and at the time families need the support, whether it is prenatally, in the hospital after the birth of a child, or during the child’s infant and toddler years. Help Me Grow conveys great respect for families because the service system is coming to the family, allowing services to remain family centered.
In Cuyahoga County, as I stated previously, we are serving close to 15,000 families each year. Our evaluation shows that infants are being served earlier in life over time. Eighty-six percent of families who are eligible for the newborn home visit by a registered nurse two weeks after the birth of the child, are accepting this service and our nurses are helping families who need ongoing early intervention services remain connected with Help Me Grow. Families who receive 15 or more visits have increased parent effectiveness, and second incidences of abuse and neglect are being reduced.
You have heard or will hear personal testimony on how Help Me Grow has made a difference in the life of a family and child. Each of us here can provide you with hundreds of success stories and more detailed evaluation results that prove that Help Me Grow is an effective program. Help Me Grow must continue to be available to serve our youngest children. Help Me Grow’s success is dependent on the funding received and it must have a combination of TANF and general revenue funds. Help Me Grow is a voluntary program, one that thousands of families are taking advantage no matter what their income.
So I ask you to imagine what it would be like if every child lived in a nurturing environment, one where parents have the skills and support they need to ensure their children thrive. Imagine how our cities, counties, and state would be better if we made children and their success a priority—our number one priority.
Help Me Grow is an investment in our children and by supporting this investment, you are saying our children are our number one priority. What else is more important?
Thank you for the opportunity to speak before you. Please call upon me should you have any questions or want additional information.
|
