For some young parents, stresses can become overwhelming, promoting dysfunctional behavior and personal problems, which may affect parenting skills. For example, a new mom whose day starts out with a bill collector on the phone, a sick child in her arms, the landlord knocking at the door , a daycare center who can't keep her son because he has a fever, and a stack of medical bills to pay, might not be able to handle everything on her own, especially if she has no support or if she's new to the area.

With Healthy Start/Healthy Families there is a place to turn for new parents who need help with overwhelming and unhealthy life circumstances. In fact Healthy Start is especially unique because the program seeks out those who need them.

The central office for the program has been established in Clinton, in the offices of one of the area's most admired family physicians, Archer Bishop, M.D. Dr. Bishop, now retired, has rented the building to the program for a minute fee in support of the program.

The Anderson County Community Health Improvement Initiative Council initiated healthy Start/Healthy Families. The $355,609 grant is being put into place now and will cover the program for the next 3 years. Jeanie Bertram, who volunteers as the executive director of the Health Council and who will be leading the program, says that Healthy Start/Healthy Families should be self sufficient by the end of the 3rd year. The program was very successfully piloted in Hawaii and has remained successful for 15 years and is specifically designed to help at-risk first-time moms and dads cope with the stresses of getting a family started.

Healthy Start identifies new mothers who reside in Anderson County through a special screening tool administered at the time of delivery or pre-natally through the Anderson County Health Department or through referral from a private physician. The screen, which includes 15 criteria related to family stresses, identifies mothers/families who are at special risk for high-stress life situations which lead to could lead to inadequate childcare or unhealthy atmospheres.

Once the mother or family has been identified, Healthy Start services are offered to the family and include home-visits by trained professionals. Staff help parents improve their nurturing skills; improve parenting and problem-solving skills; increase use of cost-effective preventative health care serves such as prenatal care, family planning, immunizations, nutrition and well child care; discourage unhealthy behaviors such as substance abuse; and connect families to needed services in the community.

The program is designed to take the initiative with the family because often times at-risk families don't seek assistance because they are already focused on surviving existing troubles or are overwhelmed with stressful situations. The program helps the family get started with good educational information and supportive services, providing the family with a much-needed network of services and friendly voices, and a long-term safety net for families to promote continuation of effective parenting. Bertram said that isolation is often a big factor in family crisis and overload. "The program provides good bonding with other families and gives them a network to interact with and get the peer support they need."

The program focuses on more than help though; and encourages long-term self-sufficiency. Support in the beginning may be intensive for someone who has a low-level of coping skills, few people to lean on and little confidence or childcare education. As the level of education, confidence and support networks increase, assistance from Healthy Start decreases.

Bertram notes that some of the best teachers of all can be parents of families Healthy Start has assisted. "Many graduates of the program become our best advocates and even some of our trainers. They get that exciting 'a-ha' insight and want to share it with others," said Bertram. Bertram said the first year's goals are to reach 59 families in the Anderson County area.