Comprehensive Health

In 2018, four assessments were completed by the Lincoln Early childhood Network Early Childhood Comprehensive Health Working Group as a part of a community-driven strategic planning process called Mobilizing for Action through Planning and Partnerships (MAPP) to get a better understanding of the early childhood health status and community themes and strengths in Lincoln/Lancaster County, Nebraska. These assessments revealed four strategic issues:

• Disconnected and Siloed Early Childhood Health Community System, including uncoordinated and ineffective cross sector communication

• Inequity and Disparities in the Early Childhood Health System, including inequity in affordability, access, and promotion of healthy foods as well as barriers to medical and behavioral health services

• Inadequate Parent and Family Supports

• Gaps in Services and Protective Factors for Mental Health

Once these issues had been identified, the group worked to identify a framework with which to best address the issues as a community. Help Me Grow (www.helpmegrownational.org) was found to be a solution that works to address the identified issues by helping to create greater equity and reduce disparities in early childhood health systems. Help Me Grow (HMG) is a system-building framework that leverages community strengths and focuses on family-centered solutions. The system is built around four core components:

• Family & Community Outreach: In Lincoln/Lancaster County this component is the Support for Parents Working Group of the Lincoln Early Childhood Network supported by a Maternal Child Health Block Grant (MCH).

• Child Health Provider Outreach: This work is led by Dr. Erica Peterson from Bluestem Health  and Dr. Bob Rauner –  Supported by a Preschool Development Grant (PDG)

• Data Collection & Analysis: This work is led by Lorey Wheeler, Co-Director, Nebraska Academy for Methodology, Analytics and Psychometrics at UNL and Kristen Derr, Project Manager for Teachers and Parents as Partners (TAPP) at UNLs Center for Children, Youth, Families and Schools.

• Centralized Access Point: This work is led by a team of partners from United Way of the Midlands/2-1-1, The Munroe-Meyer Institute at UNMC, and the UNL Center on Children, Families and the Law. Supported by Preschool Development Grant (PDG) funding.

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