AL Baby Facts

Zero to Three recently released National and State Baby Facts to "provide information for early childhood professionals and policymakers about the status of infants, toddlers, and families in their state." In Alabama's factsheet we learn:

• more than half (52%) of children ages zero to three in Alabama live in low-income families
• 27% of children who are maltreated are younger than three years old
• Early Intervention currently serves 1.67% of the population under age three

Download the Alabama factsheet here (pdf) and check out other states and the nation here.

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Our Pal at PAL

In our last post we highlighted one of our partner agencies, Parenting Assistance Line (PAL). Valerie Thorington is the Assistant Director of Child Development Resources at the University of Alabama, the home of PAL. She has a passion for helping parents and children and provides call center guidance for Help Me Grow Alabama’s implementation. Let’s hear it from her perspective…

Working in the field of Child Development and Family Studies in various states for over 35 years, I have continued to see a growing need to support parents and families, not only with information and tools, but to “walk alongside” each other with encouragement and validation. Children’s lives and futures depend on it! PAL serves as a strong, viable prevention technique believing that families benefit when parents understand child development and the skills needed for effective parenting. As parents anticipate children’s milestones, we can help parents guide their children through developmental stages more confidently and more successfully. Parents feel less stressed, more capable, less isolated, and better able to cope as they have the opportunity to talk through their specific parenting situation or concern.

I think some of the parents of the 13,000 calls received say it best:
- “Thank you for taking the time to talk with me. I feel better and think I have a plan of action now. I just felt so lost and did not know where to turn.” 
- “I wasn’t sure how to handle the situation with my son but you have provided me with several ideas I’m going to try. I really had no idea how complicated parenting can be!”
- “I have been calling PAL since my son was born 4 years ago. Whenever I call with a problem, you help me figure it out. Thank you!” 

I have worked with Child Development Resources for 14 years and part of my responsibilities have been providing daily oversight of PAL since it began in 2007. PAL can be reached at 1-866-962-3030. Free brochures and magnets are available to share with families and/or colleagues by calling or contacting PAL through the website.

Parenting Assistance Line

One of Help Me Grow’s statewide partners is Alabama’s Parenting Assistance Line (PAL). PAL staff serve on the leadership team and bring years of experience in listening and responding to the needs of Alabama’s parents.

PAL is a statewide phone service (1-866-962-3030) that was launched in March of 2007 to provide free information, support, and practical tools to parents and caregivers across Alabama. PAL’s vision continues to be to assist parents in making parenting more manageable as well as to become more confident and successful in their parenting role. Children do not come with instructions and we recognize that sometimes parenting can be tough!

Because of PAL, parents have a free, confidential, and anonymous source to call where they find a compassionate, listening ear to “talk it out” rather than “take it out” on their children. Professional Parent Resource Specialists can then offer developmental information to assist parents in developing and utilizing their own appropriate parenting strategies. If appropriate and requested, referrals are made for specific services in the caller’s own county that can meet the need of the parent and child, and/or a customized PAL Pack can be mailed with information related to specific concerns or questions.

The PAL Call Center can be reached at 1-866-962-3030 and is located at Child Development Resources at The University of Alabama, and operates Monday-Friday, 8 a.m. – 8 p.m. Anyone who leaves a message after hours will receive a call back the following business day. The website is available anytime and provides over 120 Parent Tip Sheets on a wide variety of parental and developmental issues, as well as an opportunity to contact a Parent Resource Specialist with specific questions.

Improvement in Childhood Obesity - Alabama Unchanged

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, "obesity rates among preschoolers are improving, but there is more work to be done to continue this downward trend. Among low-income preschoolers (ages 2-4 years) from 2008-2011:
- Obesity rates decreased slightly in 19 of 43 states and territories (including Mississippi, Georgia, and Florida).
- Obesity rates increased slightly in 3 of 43 states and territories (including Tennessee).
- Obesity rates did not change in 21 of 43 states and territories (including Alabama, Arkansas, and North Carolina).

The Facts:
- 1 in 8 (12%) preschoolers is obese.
- About 1 in 5 (19%) black children and 1 in 6 (16%) Hispanic children between the ages of 2 and 5 are obese.
- Obese children are more likely to be obese later in childhood and adolescence. In these older children and adolescents, obesity is associated with high cholesterol, high blood sugar, asthma, and mental health problems.
- Children who are overweight or obese as preschoolers are 5 times as likely as normal-weight children to be overweight or obese as adults."

Read Jim Marks' post about how we can continue making good progress. He comments, "Declining obesity rates among preschool-age children in programs like WIC are the result of a similar focus. The research released today did not pinpoint the exact causes of progress, but two factors likely had an impact:

- The 2008 overhaul of the WIC “food package”—Five years ago, WIC changed the mix of foods covered by the program. The changes encouraged families to buy more fruits and vegetables, with the goal of improving children’s health and nutrition. They increased allowances for whole grains and cereals while reducing reliance on high-fat dairy products. Grocery stores serving WIC moms and children changed their inventories to meet the new standards, benefiting not only WIC families but all members of the local community.

-Improved nutrition and reduced screen time in child care centers—More and more cities and states have required child care providers to improve the nutritional quality of foods and drinks served to young children. Just as important, major early education providers like the Y of the USA and Bright Horizons, have made major changes on their own, promoting physical activity, eliminating sugar-sweetened beverages, and reducing TV time for children in their care..."

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Care Coordination for ALL Children

As we know, the earliest identification of developmental delays and concerns can lead to improved outcomes for children. The longer a delay goes unnoticed or untreated, the more deeply embedded it becomes in a child's makeup. This is true for ALL children.

Unfortunately, this CNN article highlights a disturbing trend:
Minority children with autism lack access to specialists

"African-American and Hispanic children are far less likely to be seen by specialists - for autism, but also other medical conditions - and also less likely to receive specialized medical tests than their white peers, according to a new study published Monday in the journal Pediatrics."

Help Me Grow and our partners are committed to care coordination for ALL children. Read more to learn details of the study and remember that it's important to act early on concerns for a child's development.

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One Year

Kids grow up quickly - check out this video of a second a day in the life of a child. It's amazing to see him turn from an infant to a toddler!



"Meet our son Indigo who was born on the 9th July 2012. From that day my wife and I videoed Indigo at least once a day, every day up to a year old. For his first birthday we've spent some time putting together a video of his entire first year. He doesn't quite appreciate it yet, but we hope that in a few years he will." -Sam Christopher Cornwell

Champion for Help Me Grow

You may remember that Help Me Grow got to participate in the Alabama Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatric's (AL-AAP)’s Quality Improvement/Maintenance of Certification training last year and in May of this year we featured Linda Lee, the Executive Director of AL-AAP. Now we’d like you to meet Linda Champion! Linda is the Project Coordinator for AL-AAP and she oversees the chapter’s quality improvement initiatives. Her work focuses on enhancing knowledge of specific pediatric best practices and building capacity for improved care of children and youth throughout the state. Currently, Linda is coordinating efforts centered on asthma as well as developmental screening and is working with pediatric specialists at the UAB Department of Pediatrics to improve practice processes to prevent and manage childhood obesity. Linda is very involved around the state and serves on numerous task forces and committees relating to children’s health and pediatric care.

Linda has experience in successfully infusing quality improvement practices into pediatric offices. She currently coordinates with Help Me Grow – Central Alabama to ensure pediatricians in Jefferson, Blount, Shelby, St. Clair, and Walker counties are implementing universal, standardized developmental screenings (ASQ-3). Linda helps track clinic progress towards ensuring every child gets screened at the 9-, 12-, 18-, 24-, and 30-month intervals. Pediatricians receive guidance from Linda to ensure they are doing everything they can according to AAP to best serve children and families.

The project’s goal is to use a standardized developmental screening for earlier identification of and intervention for developmental delays. Linda aids with care coordination in the pediatric office and improves linkages for parents to appropriate community resources. Within a medical home model, the project provides peer-to-peer learning, education, and technical assistance to:

• Provide patient/family-centered care in medical home settings. 
• Improve clinical skills using standardized developmental screening tools to achieve measurable improvements in health outcomes of children. 
• Implement and evaluate quality improvement practice-level, system-based changes. 
• Network with community and state agencies to enhance referral relationships and increase appropriate referrals to Help Me Grow, Alabama’s Early Intervention System, care coordination services, and other providers of developmental and social-emotional services in the community. 
• Improve parental communication with providers regarding concerns about their child’s development and behavior. 

The first year of Help Me Grow – Central Alabama involved five pediatric practices who took part in collaborative conference calls to share successes and ideas on how the process is unfolding in their practices. Help Me Grow staff attended the calls, provided information on how to connect to services, and even visited the practices on-site. During Year 2, the group will continue this process and expand to include more pediatricians and their practices. If you’d like to know more about how a pediatric office can connect to Help Me Grow, contact Linda at 334-324-9307 or lchampion@alaap.org.