Earlier this month, GPL Director Jeff Liebman led a lively conversation about improving early childhood outcomes at a panel for Results for America’s Economic Mobility Summit in Washington, DC. The panel featured former GPL government partner Christian Soura (previously with South Carolina’s Department of Health and Human Services), current government partner Kristine Campagna from Rhode Island’s Department of Health, and Bloomberg Associates’ Linda Gibbs (formerly New York City Deputy Mayor of Health and Human Services).
Members of the panel discussed how they’ve used contracting to drive progress on key child and maternal health outcomes, ultimately improving the life trajectory of young people in their communities. Christian described his work in South Carolina on a GPL project connecting low-income mothers and their children with nurse home visiting services. In this case, project partners used the contract to encourage providers to target specific low-income zip codes in the state to ensure that those most in need were receiving services. Kristine described her work with the GPL in Rhode Island to prevent child maltreatment and fatalities by better supporting high-risk families and matching them to home visiting services. She discussed matching data across systems and departments to generate insights to better identify families in need of services and procure for the programs that are most appropriate.
Audience members included policymakers (such as local government mayors and senior staff, federal agency leaders, state gubernatorial staff, state education leaders, and Congressional staff), as well as policy influencers (such as bipartisan policy experts, think tank leaders, nonprofit leaders, and media representatives). They joined in on discussions focused on improving the health of new moms, children, and young adults through innovative contracting strategies and preventative, coordinated approaches to service delivery.
You can read more about the GPL’s work with children and families here.