Catholic-sponsored programs provide care for thousands of kids

ORLANDO, Fla. - The spotlight was on children at the Catholic Health Association's annual assembly in Orlando June 6, as a Catholic-sponsored program in South Carolina received the organization's achievement citation and another in Oregon was featured in an "innovation forum."

The achievement citation, presented to exceptional programs that deliver measurable results in their communities, went to Healthy Learners, a project begun 14 years ago by Providence Hospital in Columbia, S.C., and its sponsor, the Sisters of Charity of St. Augustine, based in Cleveland. Since its founding, Healthy Learners has provided health screenings - vision, dental, psychological and medical - to more than 30,000 students and direct health care services to more than 10,000. The children, whose parents often make too much for Medicaid coverage but have no health insurance, are referred to the program by school nurses and teachers. Healthy Learners operates in five South Carolina counties and hopes to eventually expand to cover the entire state. In presenting the award, Dr. Jose M. Santiago, a CHA board member who is senior vice president and chief medical officer of Carondelet Health Network in Tucson, Ariz., said Healthy Learners "has done what it takes to remove health-related barriers for economically disadvantaged schoolchildren." The program operates with community partners that include BlueCross BlueShield of South Carolina, Wachovia, Colonial Supplemental Insurance, Nexsen Pruet law firm and a number of foundations and endowments. Many doctors, dentists, optometrists, counselors and other professionals donate or discount their services for the children in the program. Dee Dee Chewning, retired executive director of Healthy Learners, accepted the award on behalf of "so many, many people who have reached out with hearts and hands to make Healthy Learners the success that it is for children who are so in need of health care and love." "With great humility, with much, much gratitude and a deep sense of pride, I ask that you please pray for us as we continue to make a difference in the lives of these precious children," she added. Earlier June 6, a convention workshop session - or innovation forum - focused on Success by 6, an initiative aimed at reducing child abuse and neglect in Oregon's Lane County. Now a program of United Way of Lane County, Success by 6 began in the late 1990s after the Oregon region of PeaceHealth, a Catholic health system sponsored by the Sisters of St. Joseph of Peace, convened a group of community leaders to discuss how to address the problem. Lane County had all three of the major indicators - high rates of methamphetamine use, crime and domestic violence - for child abuse and neglect, said Alan Yordy, CEO of PeaceHealth in Bellevue, Wash. The Success by 6 initiative set four goals - that all children be safe, healthy and enter school ready to learn and to bring together families, organizations and communities in the effort. The first strategy was a media campaign designed to change community norms on parenting issues, early childhood wellness and personal responsibility. It aimed to change beliefs such as "not much is going on with infants until they walk and talk," "parenting is a private issue" and "I was parented so I know how to parent." "It might sound easy" to change those views, "but it was very hard," said Marilyn Klug, regional vice president for business development and community health in PeaceHealth's Oregon region, based in Eugene. Under the general theme of "Cherish Every Child," the project included television, radio and newspaper ads. The second and third phases of the project have included a phone line offering advice and guidance to parents and other caregivers; a parent education class; a developmental screening and early intervention program carried out with the University of Oregon; a speaker's bureau on early childhood development; and an effort to convince the business community and others that early interventions for children will result in greatly decreased costs to society in the future. The Success by 6 program already has reduced the number and severity of child abuse cases in Lane County and improved access to parenting support services, Klug said. "The money required is really very small, compared to the benefit," she added.

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Copyright (c) 2007 Catholic News Service/U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops