(9/6/97 Baltimore AFRO-American Newspaper)
by Congressman Elijah E. Cummings
Baltimore has many reasons to be proud! In a year in which we are celebrating our Bicentennial, I am more hopeful than ever that our city faces the new millennium with renewed vitality, diversity and hope.
As the Member of Congress who represents the largest portion of our city, I am particularly proud of the innovative work that has been done by Baltimore’s Healthy Start program.
It was not that long ago when Baltimore’s infant mortality rate and infant low-weight births were among the highest in the nation.
In 1992, 17 out of 1,000 babies born in Baltimore City did not live to see their first birthdays. In the most deprived neighborhoods of our city, that rate was 20 out of 1,000! Poor women were effectively shut out of affordable prenatal care and often had children who were severely underweight or born with birth defects that could have easily been prevented through adequate medical treatment.
Those rates were more than double the national averages and numerous federal, state and local programs had failed to slow these disturbing trends.
In 1993, President George Bush was so shocked by the number of children who were dying due to inadequate medical care that he proposed a national Healthy Start Program.
Baltimore was chosen as one of the original 10 test cities to implement a series of comprehensive medical, educational and social standards to address the needs of poor women and their children.
The success in Baltimore has been unparalleled anywhere in the nation. Elected officials and health care professionals throughout the United States come to Baltimore to study our Healthy Start program.
Our city’s infant mortality rate has dropped 31 percent since the implementation of Healthy Start. In the two neighborhoods where Baltimore’s Healthy Start Centers are located and easily accessible by community residents, the infant mortality rate has been slashed a staggering 61 percent from earlier rates!
In June, I learned that the enormous work that had been done by Baltimore Healthy Start was in jeopardy because of a funding cap placed on Healthy Start programs across the country by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The 1997 federal allocation for Baltimore Healthy Start would be $2.5 million, down from $8 million in 1996. That 80 percent reduction in funding had forced Thomas Coyle, the Executive Director of Baltimore Healthy Start to consider laying off 188 of the program’s 250 full-time employees, most of whom live in the communities serviced by Healthy Start. These jobs have given people hope and opportunities which were closed to them before. The possible lay offs would not only be a devastating set back for them, but would have far reaching affects on their abilities to provide for their children and their families.
The program would also have to significantly reduce it’s outreach programs, limit home visits and evaluations, and eliminate the Men’s Services Program. This successful initiative, directed by Joe Jones, promotes responsible fatherhood and healthy relationships between men and their children. The program has been especially successful at finding employment for participants and has been credited with turning around the lives of thousands of men in Baltimore.
I have supported the important work of Baltimore Healthy Start since it’s inception. I have seen the difference it has made, not only in the saving the lives of children, but in transforming the lives of the men and women who work for the program. These determined people have developed a sense of pride in their work and have learned invaluable skills which help them care for and nurture their families.
In a meeting with Vice President Albert Gore, I expressed my deep disappointment and concern about the reductions in funding for Baltimore Healthy Start. I explained the national role Baltimore Healthy Start has played in reducing infant mortality, low weight births, and preterm deliveries. The Vice President was personally aware of the outstanding reputation enjoyed by Baltimore Healthy Start and committed to work in partnership with me to restore as much funding to the program as possible. He agreed with me that to allow these lay offs and program eliminations to happen would destroy the gains Healthy Start has made in the last four years.
Last week, after numerous personal calls and letters to HHS Secretary Donna Shalala, I received word that Baltimore Healthy Start would receive an additional $2.5 million in funding for 1997, for a total of $5 million! Secretary Shalala made it clear to me that Baltimore was receiving more financial support than any other Healthy Start program because of the amazing work that has been done to improve the lives of children and families in our city. The additional funding helped avert the lay offs of 188 Baltimore Healthy Start employees and ensured the continuation of the Men’s Services Program.
I am honored to represent the men and women who spend their days and, I am sure many nights, helping and serving the clients of Healthy Start.
Working to save the jobs of the Baltimore Healthy Start employees is one of my proudest achievements since coming to the United States Congress. All children deserve to begin their lives with one of their most valuable resources fully intact -- their health. The Baltimore Healthy Start Program has proven for several years that not only is that premise possible -- it is essential if we are to develop these children into the men and women who will lead our country into the next century.
-The Honorable Elijah E. Cummings represents the 7th Congressional District of Maryland in the United States House of Representatives.