Healthy Families America is a subsidiary program of Prevent Child Abuse America (PCA America) and works to support, educate and help expectant parents and new families in order to prevent child abuse and neglect. Iowa has a Healthy Family program within the nationwide network, founded in 1975. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, in 2008 there were 791,790 families in Iowa out of a population of 3,002,555.
Goals
The goal of Healthy Families Iowa is to prevent abuse and neglect of Iowa children and to provide these children with care in order for them to grow up to be valuable members of the Iowa community. According to the Prevent Child Abuse Iowa website, its overarching goal in Iowa is "to end child abuse in the entire state of Iowa" and to achieve this the organization is focused on prevention.
Structure
Healthy Families America has a primary contact, one person designated as a state leader to share information between the organizations Healthy Families America, Prevent Child Abuse America and Healthy Families Iowa. The individual acts as a coordinator and communications officer. In Iowa, Nancy Krause of Lutheran Social Services in Des Moines is the current primary contact.
Programs
Healthy Families in Iowa operates a voluntary, intensive, long-term home visit program designed to assist families who are known to be at risk of violence, mental health problems and substance abuse. The programs run by Healthy Families Iowa and Prevent Child Abuse Iowa reach more than 16,000 adults and around 65,000 children each year in over 90 Iowa counties. Specific programs concentrate on educating parents, decreasing welfare dependence and building access to medical services.
Partners
The Healthy Families Iowa organization works with Prevent Child Abuse America, which organizes public awareness programs, research and training in child abuse prevention. It also collaborates with Iowa family support services including the Bureau of Family Health. The Healthy Families Line is a telephone number families can call for questions on maternal and child health and family planning. The TEEN Line is specifically for adolescents. Maternal Health Services across Iowa provide publicly-funded prenatal and postpartum health services.
Funding
The parent program, Healthy Families America, was launched in 1992 and funded in part by its partnership with Ronald McDonald House Charities. The Freddie Mac Foundation also provides developmental support and funding. Healthy Families Iowa operates under the umbrella of Healthy Families America and independently fund-raises--one of the events was its 2009 Pottery for Prevention silent and live auctions.
Events
Prevent Child Abuse Iowa and Healthy Families in Iowa organizes a number of training and education events across Iowa. The main event, the Child Abuse Prevention Conference, has been held each year for 29 years. In 2011, the two-day conference is held on May 2 at the Sheraton West Des Moines Hotel. Other training events include Shaken Baby Syndrome Prevention Training for Family Support Providers.
