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<p style="font-weight:bold; display: inline; line-height:150%; font-size: 115%;">1005 W. Worley St. <br />Columbia, MO 65203</p></div>
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<p style="font-size: 150%; font-weight: bold;">FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE</p>
<p style="font-size: 120%; margin-top: -5px; font-weight:bold;">June 15, 2022</p>
<p style="float:right; font-weight:bold; margin-bottom: 25px; font-size: 100%; text-align:right;">CONTACT: Elizabeth Prentice
<br />Social Services Program Coordinator
<br />Columbia/Boone County Public Health and Human Services
<br />573.874.7626
<br />Elizabeth.Prentice@CoMo.gov</p>
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<div style="font-size: 110%; line-height:150%;"><h1 style="clear:both; margin-top: 75px; margin-bottom: 10px; font-weight: bold; font-size: 130%;">Brighter Beginnings releases report, announces new funding from Missouri Children's Trust Fund</h1>
<div class="content"><span style="padding-left: 50px;">(COLUMBIA, MO)</span> - The Brighter Beginnings partners have released a report on the successful implementation of the Brighter Beginnings home visiting collective impact initiative. The partners are also pleased to announce that Brighter Beginnings has been awarded a new four-year grant from the Missouri Children’s Trust Fund to sustain and expand the work of the initiative.<br /><br />Brighter Beginnings is a collective impact initiative of the City of Columbia; Boone County; and local health, human services, and home visiting providers, including Columbia/Boone County Public Health and Human Services, Lutheran Family and Children’s Services, First Chance for Children and Columbia Public Schools Parents as Teachers. Backbone support for the initiative has been provided by Columbia/Boone County Public Health and Human Services and the Boone County Community Services Department, with financial support through
a capacity-building grant from the Missouri Children’s Trust Fund.<br /><br />Brighter Beginnings is focused on reducing racial disparities in birth and other early childhood outcomes by using a single point of entry referral and intake system to prioritize services and resources for the most vulnerable families in Boone County. In addition to the referral system, Brighter Beginnings is building a robust data collection system to monitor key indicators of child and family well-being among participants in home visiting programs. This infrastructure allows partners to ensure that families are connected to the programs that most align with their needs, and allows for important indicators of family and program success to be tracked at the local level. <br /><br />"Local data shows there are racial disparities in birth outcomes in Boone County, which is troublesome," Director of Boone County Community Services Joanne Nelson said. "Using an equity lens, t
he Brighter Beginnings program has been able to bring the Boone County home visiting organizations together to create a data-driven, collective impact model that targets resources towards the most vulnerable families."<br /><br />Columbia/Boone County Public Health and Human Services was awarded a new, four-year collective impact grant from the Missouri Children’s Trust Fund to support the next phase of the Brighter Beginnings initiative. <br /><br />"Addressing maternal/child health disparities has long been a priority for Columbia/Boone County Public Health and Human Services," Human Services Manager Steve Hollis said. "We are so pleased to work with our community partners in the Brighter Beginnings initiative to target pregnancy support and home visiting resources to the families in our community most in need of our support. In doing so, we are confident we can move the needle on persistent disparities in birth outcomes and kindergarten readi
ness, and indeed, across the life spectrum."<br /><br />The report and more information about Brighter Beginnings can be found at <a href="https://www.brighterbeginnings.org/">BrighterBeginnings.org</a>.</div>
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<div class="attachments">This release has the following attachments:<br /><br /><a href="https://www.como.gov/CMS/pressreleases/downloadfile.php?id=2850">Brighter Beginnings Capacity Building Report 2018-</a></div>
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<div style="margin-top: 15px; margin-bottom: 20px; text-align:center;"><p>City of Columbia Vision<br>
<em>Columbia is the best place for everyone to live, work, learn and play.</em></p>
<p>City of Columbia Mission<br>
<em>To serve the public equitably through democratic, transparent and efficient government.</em></p>
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<p style="text-align:center;">-30-</p>
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