Collaboration in Chautauqua County Leads to Strong Starts for the County’s Youngest

Every parent, every family, and every community want what is best for children: an opportunity to thrive. Chautauqua County is no exception but has been faced with challenges that have led to concerning health outcomes, including high poverty rates, substance use, mental health issues, and difficulty in accessing coordinated services in the largely rural county.

In 2019, health and social service providers were seeing troubling statistics in the county including a rate higher than the US average and five times higher than New York State of children born affected by their mother’s substance use during pregnancy. Chautauqua County students also show comparatively low academic achievement and has seen the number of child abuse and maltreatment cases more than double that of other N.Y. counties

Understanding that individual service agencies and health institutions could not address these interconnected issues alone, a collaborative effort, Strong Starts Chautauqua, was formed. The pilot program’s aim is to better connect organizations with each other and with parents and children to identify and address issues that were holding Chautauqua’s children back from reaching their potential.

The initiative is the first of its kind in New York State and uses the evidence-based Screening, Assessment, Referral and Treatment (SART) model to prevent and treat the impact of early life trauma, particularly prenatal substance exposure. The collaborative effort of more than 50 partners including medical providers, social service agencies, educators, and childcare providers, is an initiative for which Healthy Community Alliance provides administrative support as the fiscal agent. Strong Starts Chautauqua aims to support the county’s young children and their families through community education and outreach, information and referral, maternal and early childhood risk screening, connection to resources, and specialized intervention and treatment.

The unique approach universally screens expectant mothers to determine if they are experiencing any risks in mental or behavioral health so that opportunities for support, education, intervention and/or treatment can be offered. Strong Starts Chautauqua then  connects women to needed services as appropriate. Universal screening reduces stigma, and those who need services can be referred within the network of partners to meet their unique needs at the earliest stages. The goal is to increase the number of healthy babies as well as to improve access to community resources and services that strengthen the health, mental health, and well-being of families with young children.

Using the SART model for young children is also yielding results. Early intervention can help identify behavioral and developmental issues in young children that can be addressed and treated so that parents and teachers have more tools at their disposal and the child can be more successful in school. A robust software program is also employed among the partners that assists with data collection, referrals, needs identification, and service navigation.

While still in its infancy, Strong Starts Chautauqua, supported by The John R. Oishei Foundation among others, has the potential to reduce health care and education costs, create a more comprehensive and connected system of supports for families, and most importantly, provide a strong start and a bright healthy future for Chautauqua’s youngest and their families.