2024 Annual Report
Helping Families Thrive:
Growing Up Strong
The experiences we have in our first few years of life have an impact on our long-term health and well-being, and having access to appropriate, high-quality health care and social services is key to raising healthy kids. That’s why the Health Foundation supported Growing Up Strong, a three-year effort by Independent Health Foundation launched in 2022.
Growing Up Strong aims to create better connections between primary care providers and social services, increase developmental screenings, and relieve the burden on overworked pediatricians.
Through the program, Independent Health Foundation supported safety net primary care providers Jericho Road Community Health Center, Neighborhood Health Center, and two facilities affiliated with Oishei Children’s Hospital, Broadway Pediatrics and Niagara Street Pediatrics, in hiring HealthySteps Specialists.
HealthySteps is an evidence-based project created by Zero to Three, a national advocate for early childhood wellness, that promotes the health, well-being, and school readiness of babies and toddlers with an emphasis on families living in low-income communities.
HealthySteps Specialists join the pediatrician during their patients’ well-child visits. This allows the doctor to focus on medical care while the Specialist screens for other needs, including the child’s developmental milestones or the family’s social determinants of health like food and housing security. The Specialist can then refer the family to the proper resources for help. This dynamic reduces administrative burden and time constraints on the pediatrician, while ensuring families can access the support they need to thrive.
Changing the Lives of Families and Kids
Over the course of the three-year grant, thousands of western New York families were served by the HealthySteps Specialists. According to Independent Health Foundation, more than 1,800 Ages & Stages questionnaires were completed during this time—a screening tool that helps determine if a child is meeting development milestones. Over 1,400 families were referred to additional services. 24 percent of children served by the program showed improvement over time in areas of concern identified by the screenings, and 27 percent of mothers showed improvement in depression symptoms over time.
Anastasia Royal of the Independent Health Foundation says that the program’s approach to the family unit is part of what makes it successful.
“HealthySteps acknowledges that a natural way to care for young children is to treat the caregiver and the child as one unit; a dyadic approach,” says Anastasia. This method acknowledges that the circumstances a parent faces—whether it’s the impact of poverty, housing insecurity, or their own health care needs—directly affect the child’s well-being as well.
Anastasia shared an example from Jericho Road in which a family missed several appointments for their child, who had a serious but treatable condition. The HealthySteps Specialist reached out to the family and discovered that a language barrier was causing the issue. With some simple accommodations, the care team helped the family reliably attend their appointments and get the treatment their child needed.
“The care team and HealthySteps Specialists at all of the Growing Up Strong locations are doing incredible work every day.”
Anastasia Royal, Independent Health Foundation
The Future of HealthySteps
The New York State Office of Mental Health, a proponent of HealthySteps across the state since 2016, awarded new grants in 2024 to help this work continue at all four Growing Up Strong locations.
Additionally, Independent Health Foundation is piloting a related program at the Broadway Pediatrics and Niagara Street Pediatrics sites to meet immediate social needs of patients. Their Social Care Needs Fund allows each facility to access material needs for families without a lengthy or arduous process.
“Getting approved for Medicaid-reimbursed transportation, for example, can take up to three days,” said Anastasia. “But that doesn’t help a family who needs transportation today.” With the Social Care Needs Fund, the care team at those locations can assess a patient’s needs and cover things like cab rides home, formula, diapers, and even safe sleep items or car seats—improving the child’s health and safety immediately without extra administrative steps.
“The care team and HealthySteps Specialists at all of the Growing Up Strong locations are doing incredible work every day,” said Anastasia. “In our role at Independent Health Foundation, we’re also looking at how, through Growing Up Strong, we can positively influence the systemic issues that affect young children and families. Educational systems, policies, early intervention programs—they all have an impact on families. How can we, as a community, do better for young kids?”
