Draft:Florida Association of Healthy Start Coalitions

• Comment: If you have a conflict of interest (personal connection to the subject of the article) or are being paid to create this article, please see WP:COI and WP:PAID, as you are required to disclose this. In solidarity, 🏳️‍🌈JohnLaurens333 (They/them • Ping me!) 19:11, 4 June 2026 (UTC)

• Comment: "Additionally, an important part of our programming is federal funding for evidence-based home visiting services."
  Who is "our"? Are you affiliated with this association? Was text copied from another source? SomeoneDreaming (talk) 16:22, 4 June 2026 (UTC)

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History

The Florida Healthy Start program was created in 1991 by Governor Lawton Chiles to improve birth outcomes and support healthy child development. It included universal risk screening of pregnant women and newborns, care coordination, and wrap-around services including parenting, childbirth education, and smoking cessation. Legislation also expanded Medicaid coverage for uninsured pregnant women.

The Florida Department of Health (DOH) was directed to establish the screening program and assist in establishing community based Healthy Start Coalitions to promote the development of local systems of care for women, infants and families. Initial program design reflected best practices identified by the National Commission to Prevent Infant Mortality, the Institute of Medicine, and other nationally recognized groups.

Shortly thereafter, the Florida Association of Healthy Start Coalitions (FAHSC) was established by the coalitions for education, communication, coalition and program development and advocacy purposes. With a goal of responding to emerging research and a commitment to increasing program impact on persistent challenges such as low birth weight and racial disparities, FAHSC joined with the Florida Department of Health (DOH) in 2009 to undertake a re-design of the program. This effort developed a consensus and understanding about the importance of strengthening the evidence-base of the program through both interventions and ongoing evaluation.

In 2011, DOH built on this foundation with a two-year planning process. A comprehensive review of evidence-based programs was conducted to identify a new Florida Healthy Start service delivery model. Interventions addressing specific risks and protective factors associated with poor outcomes were examined in three categories: maternal health, infant health and pre and interconceptional health. This rigorous review underscored the challenges and limitations of utilizing an existing evidence-based program for Healthy Start.

This two-year process resulted in the selection of two potential programs and a standard curriculum that represented the most viable options for Healthy Start. Prenatal Plus, a promising practice developed for Medicaid in Colorado, was recommended for use by Healthy Start. The program was supplemented with the Partners for a Healthy Baby curriculum developed by the Florida State University Center for Prevention & Early Intervention Policy.

Parents-as-Teachers (PAT), an evidence-based home visiting program focusing on child development and school readiness, was also selected. A timeline was adopted for implementation of the re-design that included revision of the Healthy Start standards, guidelines, funding methodology, staff training, and evaluation.

Statewide implementation of a new Healthy Start service delivery model was impacted significantly in 2013 by Medicaid reform and other organizational changes at the state level. There was a major shift in Healthy Start funding from state general revenue to Medicaid requiring new contracting mechanisms and the establishment of an administrative services organization now known as the Healthy Start MomCare Network.

To support this effort, FAHSC secured DOH approval to utilize Well Family System (WFS), a new data system for Healthy Start services. While study of Prenatal Plus and PAT was conducted, Healthy Start moved forward with the Partners for a Healthy Baby curriculum developed by the Florida State University Center for Prevention & Early Intervention Policy. Training on the curriculum, as well as Motivational Interviewing, was held for Healthy Start staff and included as a state DOH contract requirement. Initial work was completed on identifying indicators for evaluation and contracting. This led to refinement of the model and the creation of a unique program in 2019 that would include prevention pathways for depression, interconception care, child development, substance abuse and intimate partner violence.

A critical part of the system of care involved Coordinated Intake & Referral (CI&R). CI&R is a national best practice in screening and triaging families to the most appropriate service. At CI&R, a participant could choose between home-visiting programs. Since the program’s inception, infant mortality rates have declined significantly from 9.6 deaths per 1,000 live births in 1990 to 6.1 deaths per 1,000 live births in 2017. Healthy Start currently touches more than half of all pregnant women and 40% of newborns in Florida and has provided direct services to more than 50,000 at-risk pregnant women and 36,000 newborns annually. Local Healthy Start Coalitions lead efforts to develop responsive, community-based systems of care to address the unique needs and resources of their areas. The state invests general revenue and leverages Medicaid waiver funding to support Healthy Start. Credit for this 35% drop in infant mortality goes to Healthy Start and its many statewide and federal partners working for maternal and infant health.

Governor Lawton Chiles

In 1981, Governor Chiles’ daughter-in-law, Kitty, gave birth to her son Lawton IV at three and a half months premature. He was 1.9 pounds at birth and by the time his grandfather, who was at the time representing Florida as a United States Senator, traveled from Washington D.C. to Shands in Gainesville, FL, the baby was only 1.2 pounds. Following the harrowing experience of welcoming a preemie into the family, Governor Chiles began to learn the importance of the early years of brain development and growth for a child. Particularly, birth through age five and how prenatal care can be instrumental in the health of the baby. While a Senator, he noticed these issues were not being addressed and included them among the issues he championed. He then carried the banner for maternal and infant health and children into the Governor’s Office when he was elected as Governor of Florida in 1991 where he served two terms. Florida Healthy Start was one of the many programs and initiatives Governor Chiles created to improve the health of babies, children, and families and it was inspired by his family’s experience with premature birth.

The Florida Healthy Start Program

The Florida Healthy Start program provides education, support, and proven interventions to expecting and new families. The program focuses on common issues or conditions that occur during pregnancy or in infancy. Screening, offered by healthcare providers and hospitals, helps to identify families that could benefit from the program. Healthy Start is voluntary and available statewide to all eligible families. Families can participate in Healthy Start beginning in pregnancy and until their baby reaches age one, with the option to extend services up to age three.

• Home Visiting: One-on-one support from a caring professional in the home or a convenient community location.
• Pregnancy Education and Support: Education about changes during pregnancy and what to expect during labor and delivery.
• Free Screening and Services: Screening for common problems pregnant women and new families experience and receive services if needed.
• Parenting Education and Support: Support for taking care of a baby and educational support about how they grow and develop.
• Care Coordination: Support finding prenatal and pediatric care and access support groups and classes.
• Health and Well-Being: Support accessing training, education, childcare, and other resources to support families.
• Screening Mandate for Florida Prenatal Care Providers and Hospitals: Florida Statute 383.14 requires that all pregnant women be offered Florida’s Prenatal Screen at their first or consequent prenatal visit, and the Florida Infant Screen must be offered to parents or guardians of all infants born in Florida before leaving the delivery facility.


Other Programs and Initiatives

• Healthy Start Doula Program: The Healthy Start Doula program is dedicated to consistent doula workforce development. After in-depth recruitment and training, Healthy Start doulas are connected to local pregnant women to offer support during critical times of pregnancy, birth, and the postpartum period. This training is offered at no cost, provides high-quality consistent training, and ensures doulas are ready to serve. This unique training program helps us build advocates within the communities we serve and address the need to build a diverse doula workforce.
• Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA) programs
  • Nurse Family Partnership (NFP): Nurse-Family Partnership empowers first-time moms to transform their lives and create better futures for themselves and their babies. Over more than four decades, research has consistently proven that Nurse-Family Partnership succeeds at its most important goals: keeping children healthy and safe and improving the lives of moms and babies.
  • Seeking Safety (SS): Seeking Safety is a coping skills approach to help people attain safety from trauma and/or addiction. It is present-focused and designed to be safe, optimistic, and engaging. The treatment is highly flexible. It can be conducted in group or individual format; open or closed groups; with any gender; adults and adolescents; any length of time available; any treatment; and any type of trauma and/or addiction.
• Florida MIECHV: The federal Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting (MIECHV) initiative is being implemented in Florida through a public-private partnership. Led by the Florida Association of Healthy Start Coalitions, Inc., the goal of the initiative is to improve health and developmental outcomes for families living in high-need communities through voluntary, evidence-based home visiting programs.
• Department of Health Nurse-Family Partnership (DOH NFP): Nurse-Family Partnership is an evidence-based, voluntary program that provides home visitation by a nurse to first-time mothers by the twenty-eighth week of pregnancy. Nurse-Family Partnership works by having specially trained nurses regularly visit first-time moms-to-be, starting early in the pregnancy, continuing through the child’s second birthday.
• TEAM Dad: TEAM Dad is Florida Healthy Start’s fatherhood initiative that provides free home visiting services using the National Fatherhood Initiative’s (NFI) 24:7 Dad® evidence-based curriculum. This initiative is designed to Teach, Empower, Advocate for, and Mentor men to fulfill their potential and become the fathers their children need them to be. The goal of TEAM Dad is to work with expecting and current fathers of children aged birth to three years old and equip them with the skills needed to have a positive impact on their children.
• Early Childhood Comprehensive Systems/Health Integration Prenatal To Three Program Grant (ECCS P-3 Program): The ECCS P-3 Program is a comprehensive continuum of services for families who are expecting and those with infants and young children from newborn to age three. ECCS P-3 strengthens the role of families through planning and policy development. The program focuses on gaps in services and unmet needs that affect families. It is a five-year endeavor ending in 2026 that extends the critical work of previous ECCS efforts and aids the Florida ECCS Advisory Group in collaborating and delivering community-driven screening and parent leadership within communities.
• FIMR: The National Fetal and Infant Mortality Review began in 1990 as a collaborative effort between the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and the Federal Maternal and Child Health Bureau. Since it was first introduced in the late 1980’s, Fetal and Infant Mortality Review (FIMR) has been a dynamic, community process. FIMR has experienced continued growth and refinement as more communities have used it.

Locations

There are 32 Healthy Start Coalitions throughout the state delivering services tailored to the unique needs of their communities, while also facilitating statewide services. Services are provided through a suite of programs based on proven methods for delivering a continuum of high-quality support that’s accessible and affordable. Additionally, an important part of FAHSC programming is federal funding for evidence-based home visiting services.

References

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Wikipedia contributors. (2026, May 23). Lawton Chiles. In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 18:03, June 8, 2026, from https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Lawton_Chiles&oldid=1355714339

Fetal and Infant Mortality Review. Florida Department of Health. (2026, March 4). https://www.floridahealth.gov/statistics-data/fetal-and-infant-mortality-review/

Medicaid. (n.d.). https://www.medicaid.gov/Medicaid-CHIP-Program-Information/By-Topics/Waivers/1115/downloads/fl/Managed-Medical-Assistance-MMA/fl-medicaid-reform-stcs-08032017.pdf

Florida Statute 409.975 (4) MOMCARE NETWORK.—

(a)     The agency shall contract with an administrative services organization representing all Healthy Start Coalitions providing risk appropriate care coordination and other services in accordance with a federal waiver and pursuant to s. 409.906. The contract shall require the network of coalitions to provide counseling, education, risk-reduction and case management services, and quality assurance for all enrollees of the waiver. The agency shall evaluate the impact of the MomCare network by monitoring each plan’s performance on specific measures to determine the adequacy, timeliness, and quality of services for pregnant women and infants. The agency shall support this contract with certified public expenditures of general revenue appropriated for Healthy Start services and any earned federal matching funds.

(b)    Each managed care plan shall establish specific programs and procedures to improve pregnancy outcomes and infant health, including, but not limited to, coordination with the Healthy Start program, immunization programs, and referral to the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children, and the Children’s Medical Services program for children with special health care needs. Each plan’s programs and procedures shall include agreements with each local Healthy Start Coalition in the region to provide risk-appropriate care coordination for pregnant women and infants, consistent with agency policies and the MomCare network. Each managed care plan must notify the agency of the impending birth of a child to an enrollee, or notify the agency as soon as practicable after the child’s birth.

Florida Statutes 409.906, 409.973, 409.975, 383.216, 383.011, 308.216, 383.21625, 383.141, 381.0055, 391.301, 411.0106

External links

Official website