Ravenswood Moving Health Care Upstream Collaborative
Connection to Moving Health Care Upstream
Sparked by the desire to prepare our children for school and close the achievement gap for our most at-risk children, the Ravenswood Moving Health Care Upstream (“MHCU”) Collaborative formed in East Palo Alto, California. In the broader county in which East Palo Alto resides, San Mateo County, the community has recognized the importance of the early years of life on long-term health and education outcomes, and has identified early childhood as a key priority in education.
Our Community & Need
In East Palo Alto, the median household income is 45% lower than the average in San Mateo County, 60% of men ages 15-30 are involved in the criminal justice system, single mothers raise over 40% of students, two out of three students do not graduate high school, and 69% of children are learning English as a second language.
Ravenswood Family Health Center serves as the anchor organization for the MHCU Collaborative in East Palo Alto. Over 40% of 3 year olds receiving care at Ravenswood Family Health Center exhibit developmental delays in at least one, and sometimes all, developmental areas.
Our Solution
To address growing disparities in child development and educational outcomes, the Ravenswood MHCU Collaborative is building a group-based model of support for parents. Groups of parents of similarly aged children meet on a regular basis with coaches. Coaches empower parents to appreciate the assets they bring to parenthood, identify areas in which they can improve, and set goals to address their needs. In addition, coaches connect parents to community resources that can contribute to their success. Through regular group meetings, parents also build support networks with their peers, and benefit from training by experts in parenting, health, and education.
Focused on the early childhood years, these parent groups start meeting before children are born, and continue throughout children’s transition to school. In particular, the Ravenswood MHCU Collaborative focuses on families with children ages zero to three in the East Palo Alto and East Menlo Park (Belle Haven) communities, and especially families who are eligible for but not yet receiving services from any of the Collaborative’s partnering agencies. The Collaborative believes that by working together, it can achieve a community in which all children and families create their own positive outcomes in life, including good health and education.
Our Community Partners
Community partners for our work with Moving Health Care Upstream include Ravenswood Family Health Center, The Primary School, and the Family Health Services division of San Mateo County’s Health System. At the core of the Ravenswood MHCU Collaborative is a special partnership between Ravenswood Family Health Center and The Primary School, which work together to implement the Collaborative’s group-based model of support for parents. This central partnership collaborates with critical community providers of early childhood services, including San Mateo County Health System’s Family Health Services division. The Family Health Services division supports families through programs such as Home Visiting services, targeting pregnant women and young children; Women, Infants and Children (WIC); the Child Health and Disability Prevention Program (CHDP); Comprehensive Perinatal Services Program (CPSP); and the Health Coverage Unit. Other partners include the Division of Pediatrics at Stanford University, which concentrates on community engagement, and multiple other organizations in the community that provide critical services to support families.
The Collaborative formed a parent advisory group that assists in designing and developing the Collaborative’s work. Feedback from this group, as well as interviews of parents and staff trainings on family-centered coaching, ensure that the Collaborative moves forward with open communication and valuable insights from the families it serves.
For More Information
If you would like more information about the upstream work happening in our community please contact Christy Silva at CSilva@ravenswoodfhc.org.
Please also see our social media accounts:
