Now I Can…
Rev. Lane Hammond
with Judy Perdue, Community Partnership Coordinator, Project Healthy GrandparentsGeorgia State University’s Project Healthy Grandparents supports grandparent-headed families by providing social work and health services, parenting education, legal assistance referrals, access to community resources, and early intervention services for children up to age five.
Rev. Lane Hammond's grandchildren began living with him in April of 2004 while he was going to school and working part-time as a cemetery salesman.
BETTER BEGINNINGS
“Early childhood is such a critical time. Young children are like sponges. What they learn at an early age follows them throughout their lives. The more involved we can be in enhancing their development, in seeing them supported at an early age, the more they will succeed.
“One of the main barriers for young children is poverty. Recent national data shows that one in four children live in poverty. Poverty impacts young children in a number of ways including lack of proper nutrition, health care, and stimulating environments, all contributing to poor child development outcomes. In 2006, 20 percent of Georgia’s children were living in poverty; 16.2% in metro Atlanta. Forty-five percent of these children are under the age of six.
“Child maltreatment is also a major issue. Maltreatment really increases the risk of poor outcomes for children – including their health, developmental delays and poor school success. In 2004, there were 30,000 new and substantiated cases of child neglect in our state. Nearly 8,000 were children under the age of two. Biological parents were the perpetrators in 81% of the maltreatment cases.
“While teen pregnancy rates have decreased nationwide, our country still ranks the highest in the industrialized world. In Georgia, we’re seeing an increase in the number of pregnancies among girls aged 13 to 15. It’s not uncommon for these young women to go through their pregnancies with little or no prenatal care, resulting in poor birth outcomes for the infant.
“We want to tackle these issues in order to help families support their young children. We are working to make sure that young children are ready for school and can be successful in that environment.”
About Our Grantees
“This year Better Beginnings supported 16 grantees. Their activities cover a broad range of goals. Some of our partners help families get out of poverty and sustain their income, job, and other stabilizing financial factors. We support an agency that provides early care and learning education for childcare providers – as well as family, friends, and neighbors.
“We also support Project Healthy Grandparents (a Georgia State University program) to address the increase in the number of older adults now raising their grandchildren, often in emergency situations.
“Our grantees also include two home visiting programs focused on teen moms — some of them first-time mothers and some who have more than one child. Home visitors provide one-on-one interactions with mothers and their children, in the environment where the family lives. The visitors really do a very good job of connecting with those moms because they are from the community. They have strong ties to the neighborhoods, and look to enhance outcomes not only for the mothers but for the entire community.
“We can see a difference in the families receiving assistance. Parents are getting resources, they’re better able to financially sustain themselves and their families, and they’re better able to provide a loving and nurturing environment for their children.”
On The Importance of Policy
“Supporting organizations that are working on public policy is very critical to our work.
“Georgia became the first state in the nation to implement a universal pre-K program to ensure that young children have a good start. That was huge, not only for children in poverty, but for all four-year-olds. Another example of policy at work is PeachCare, Georgia’s State Children’s Health Insurance Program that provides low-cost health insurance for eligible families and children. We all know that young children who are not healthy have a more difficult time learning and succeeding in school. Public policy efforts are helping to provide health care in situations where parents can’t afford health insurance.”
Positive Impact
“I get so passionate about supporting young children because of the people that I’ve met – the families who have received services, and the organizations that employ very, very committed people who want to make a difference. You know, everybody likes babies, and everybody wants to see these children succeed. But there are extremely difficult situations out there, and the fact that our partners and our grantees are so committed is personally very exciting. Our investments are making an impact on the families in the area.”
The Big Picture
Judy Langford
Senior Fellow, The Center for the Study of Social PolicyThere are 816,000 children age five or younger living in Georgia.
One in four Georgia children live in poverty.
285,000 children in Georgia do not have health insurance.
789,000 children (34%) live in families where no parent has full-time, year-around employment.
More than 80,000 Georgia children live with their grandparents.
More than 16,000 children in Georgia are abused or neglected.
Better Beginnings
A fair start can make a world of difference in the early years of a child's life. Atlanta's children are at the risk of poor birth outcomes, limited parental support, compromised health, inadequate learning opportunities and, in extreme cases, violence at home and elsewhere.
Through Better Beginnings, we invest in systems that support young children and their families, strengthen the services available to them, and mobilize leaders to take actions that will lead to better outcomes for our community's youngest and most vulnerable members.