- Milwaukee Fatherhood Initiative
Essential to strong families is the critical role of fathers. Recent studies have found that involved fathers have a profound influence on the success of their children.
Children who have an active father are more inclined to graduate from high school and pursue higher education. Children with an active father are more likely not to engage in criminal activity. Lastly, research has shown a direct correlation between teen pregnancy and absentee fathers.
That is why I have partnered with leaders in our community - from business and education to social services and faith organizations - to launch the Milwaukee Fatherhood Initiative. The initiative kicked off in October of 2006 with a Summit that drew more than 1,000 men to learn more about how they could be part of their children's lives.
I wanted to use this forum to promote the great things that involved fathers bring to their families and their communities and encourage others to sign on to our efforts. It was a tremendous success but it was only the beginning.
Remember, any man can be a father but it takes a real man to be a dad. For more information on how you or your business can get involved in our efforts, visit www.milwaukeefatherhood.com.
- Reducing Infant Mortality
In Milwaukee, African-American infants are twice as likely to die before their first birthday compared to White or Hispanic infants.
The infant mortality rate in our community is one of the most critical public health concerns facing Milwaukee. In the first six months of 2007, 18 infants died in the City of Milwaukee after being released healthy from their birth hospitals - a 50% increase over last year.
These statistics highlight the fact that we must work to address the racial and ethnic disparity gap in our community. Such rates are worse than in many developing countries, and are simply unacceptable.
During my Administration, the City has effectively leveraged state and federal funding as well as private investment to establish maternal and child health programs that focus on improving birth outcomes, but the factors that contribute to infant mortality are deep and multi-faceted, and cannot be changed overnight.
At the same time, other communities have been able to turn their infant mortality rates around, so we know it can be done.
To help address Milwaukee's high rate of infant mortality, the City offers intensive home visiting services by nurses for high-risk families. Nurses work with pregnant women, fathers and infants to promote healthy pregnancies, better birth outcomes and safe home environments for infants.
Given that many infant deaths are the result of unsafe sleeping environments, the City's Health and Fire Departments have a joint program to deliver portable cribs to families who lack a safe place for their babies to sleep.
For a list of guidelines on how to keep your baby safe while sleeping and more information about infant mortality rates in Milwaukee, visit our health department at www.milwaukee.gov/health
- Nurse Family Partnership
This new program, established through the Milwaukee Health Department in partnership with Columbia/St. Mary's and University of Wisconsin's Healthy Partnership, is an intensive home visiting program for low income, first time pregnant women in zip codes 53204, 53210, 53212 and 53218.
This partnership is an evidenced based nurse home visit program that seeks to improve the health, well-being and self-sufficiency of low-income, first-time parents and their children.
In February of this year, the Milwaukee Health Department was accepted as the first NFP implementation site in Wisconsin and joins 290 local sites in 22 states. Five Public Health Nurses and one Nurse Supervisor have been hired, received the initial required training, and worked with other MHD staff to set up the program infrastructure to provide these services.
The program is ready to begin enrolling clients now. For more information, please contact the Health Department at 414-286-3521.
- Empowering Families of Milwaukee
This state grant-funded program provides home or personal visits to pregnant women, new mothers, and families with children up to 5 years old. Services provided to families under this program include: health assessments, goal setting and care planning, development screenings, home safety assessments, and referrals.
The long-term goals of EFM are to improve birth outcomes, enhance family functioning, support child health, safety and development, and prevent child abuse and neglect. Pregnant women of any age or women with infants up to two months old can enroll in EFM. Participants must live in Zip Codes: 53204, 53205, 53206, 53208, 53212, or 53233.
The City of Milwaukee Health Department partners with Aurora Family Service, Black Health Coalition of Wisconsin, Career Youth Development, Inc., Children's Family and Community Partnerships, La Causa, Inc., St. Vincent de Paul Society of Milwaukee Family Resource Center, and The Parenting Network to provide home visitation and supporting services to expectant and young families.
Please contact the Empowering Families of Milwaukee's Program Office for more information: (414) 286-6625.
- Combating Teen Pregnancy
Milwaukee is one of the top ten cities within the United States with the highest percentage of births to teen mothers. Teen pregnancy profoundly, and in most cases negatively, affects the lives of those involved while costing the community millions of dollars through direct care, ancillary services, and the overall drain on the workforce.
Some startling statistics:
The long-term cost of a Milwaukee teen having one baby is estimated at $79,320.
Girls born to teen mothers are 83% more likely to become teen mothers themselves.
Children of teen mothers are much more likely to drop out of high school prior to graduation.
In Wisconsin, 71% of babies born to teen girls are fathered by males over 20 years old - in 20% of the cases the fathers are at least six years older.
In order to break the cycle of teen pregnancy and the effects on our community, I have partnered with the United Way of Greater Milwaukee as they spearhead an effort to bring the issue to the forefront of public attention.
To learn more about this effort and to read a comprehensive report, visit the United Way's website at www.unitedwaymilwaukee.org