Potts Family Foundation

PROJECT PURPOSE

The purpose of this proposal is to ensure that infants and toddlers born during the pandemic are developmentally on track by identifying and responding to their needs and those of their families and communities. To accomplish that goal, there is a need to intentionally structure positive relationships and environmental factors into the daily life of infants and toddlers, and their families and communities. Having this proposed initiative in place not only offers Oklahoma a response to COVID pandemic-exacerbated adversities, but also prepares the state to buffer against the effects of any future natural or environmental disasters to prevent the inevitable disruption to early childhood and family health and well-being. Results from an NIH funded 10 year study led by Brown University showed the average cognitive scores of infants and toddlers born during the pandemic have dropped by 22 points. This is alarming news and calls all of us to bring our best resources to try and mitigate the impact to the child, the family, the community and our state. If we don?t address the needs of this population of Oklahomans now with these Federal recovery dollars, we will surely be paying much higher price down the road.

EVIDENCE

Our proposal has three components which have evidence-based programs and promising practices linked to each. While there is an opportunity for providers to choose from a menu of programs, those will be programs already producing great results in the Oklahoma such as Parents as Teachers, Nurse Family Partnership, Healthy Steps, Family Resource Centers, and Right Track. The individual and community needs assessments will help inform the appropriate program match. The use of the Outcomes Rate Card brings the innovation of using private investor and philanthropic dollars to make the upfront investment and incentivize providers to achieve greater outcomes for a lower costs.

POPULATION DESCRIPTION

The Early Relational Health Corps will serve the entire state using regional hubs and professionals, many of whom are already serving infants, toddlers and their families. Targeted Areas for the Community-Based Grant Program and Outcomes Rate Card Loan Program are Oklahoma?s 23 counties that have one or more zip code areas with poverty measuring at 33% - 50% or higher will be targeted for the grant and loan programs. The counties we have identified recorded a total of 29,975 live births in 2020, which is 63% of all Oklahoma births that year. It is assumed that 2021 had approximately the same number of births and roughly the same number of births will occur in each subsequent year. Research suggests that infants and toddlers born during the pandemic are likely to experience significant setbacks in cognitive, motor and verbal development. This is especially impactful for those who already experience developmental adversities, such as distress in the home and community, and the effects and consequences of inadequate income. While there is not a one-to-one correlation between poverty and childhood adversity, research indicates that poverty and environmental factors play a huge role in creating the toxic stress that significantly impacts our youngest children.

PERFORMANCE MEASURING

The Statewide Project Director and Project Manager will work with evaluators an Oklahoma University to develop a process/progress evaluation plan for the overall proposal. They will also develop an outcomes evaluation for the project. The external evaluators will also serve as consultants to the State Team throughout the project timeframe to ensure quality and accuracy of the evaluation. The Communities Foundation of Oklahoma will serve as the fiscal services and reporting agent for the funds if awarded. They have previous experience managing Federal pandemic relief funding through the Oklahoma Community Cares Partners program.

ONGOING INVESTMENT AMOUNT

$

ONGOING INVESTMENT DESCRIPTION

None

ONGOING INVESTMENT REQUIRED

One-time project will not need continued funding