There is a strong correlation between quality early childhood care and lifelong health.

Ninety percent of brain development happens before age 5. Children who have access to quality early childhood care and education are much more likely to find themselves in the following categories later in life:

• Higher levels of educational achievement
• Increased employment and income opportunities
• Decreased risk of criminal behavior and incarceration
• Lower BMIs and rates of obesity

Outcomes like these are why the Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota Foundation has been committed to increasing access to early childhood care and education for more than 20 years.

In July, the Foundation awarded grant funding of more than $3.4M to 16 nonprofit organizations across the state. This funding supports grantee partners working to improve access to quality care, as well as family home visiting and early health and developmental screenings.

Role of family home visiting

Family home visiting programs bring critical health and early education resources directly to a residence or nearby community space. Family home visits typically start before a baby is born, or shortly after, and continue with regularity through the child’s first few years of life.

According to the Minnesota Department of Health and based on U.S. Census data, nearly 65,000 families across Minnesota would benefit from family home visiting. This is a clear need within the broad field of early childhood care and education – and one that the Foundation is proud to partner with grantees on to support.

A shared goal of expanding access

Many grantee partners are working to increase access to family home visiting, including seven nonprofit organizations who recently received grant funding:

Amherst Wilder Foundation will grow the Saint Paul Promise Neighborhood’s Thrive by Five initiative, working to help both parents and their youngest learners be ready for kindergarten through home visiting, early childhood developmental screenings, parenting skills, and resource connections.

Healthy Community Initiative will continue its Growing Up Healthy Initiative, a program designed to increase access to quality early childhood supports for Latine, immigrant, refugee, non-English speaking, and low-income communities in Rice County. Growing Up Healthy works with individuals to navigate systems and connect families with high quality childcare, home visiting services and early childhood health and developmental screenings.

La RED Latina de Educación Temprana MN will continue supporting family, friend and neighbor (FFN) providers across Minnesota through provider trainings, early childhood developmental screenings, and home visits to FFN providers to provide hands-on training and support to improve care. La RED will also continue their work to influence policy and systems change to advance priorities that impact FFN providers.

Lower Sioux Indian Community will use grant funding to support the Cansayapi Healthy Start Project, ensuring that all Lower Sioux children have access to high quality home visiting, regular health and developmental screenings, culturally relevant language resources and activities, and high-quality educational programming.

Minnesota Coalition for Family Home Visiting will continue offering their free training series for family home visitors on the impact of bias and racism on maternal and child health, and support increased coordination and collaboration among home visiting and maternal and early childhood services to better meet the needs of families.

Northland Foundation will use grant funding to expand the reach of home visiting programs, provide culturally responsive and trauma-informed trainings and mentoring to child care providers, and strengthen linkages between child care, schools, Indigenous education, family, friend and neighbor caregivers, public health and home visitors, among other activities.

Way to Grow will use grant funding to support their Great by Eight program, which focuses on improving access to high quality early childhood programs, childcare and early learning, home visiting and early childhood screenings, as well as connecting families to health education and services, and basic support resources.

Learn more

More information about these organizations and a full list of the recent grants awarded can be found here. To learn more about the Blue Cross Foundation, visit www.bluecrossmnfoundation.org