MARYLAND
The Baltimore
Project is a comprehensive effort to reduce infant mortality and
low birth weight in one of the city's poorest neighborhoods.
Residents trained by the project enroll high-risk pregnant women,
particularly substance abusers, in a prenatal-postpartum program
that offers increased case management, links to Medicare and
emergency services, family planning, and other health education.
The project also offers on-site treatment and counseling for
addicted mothers and coordinates a variety of support groups, as
well as special events for the participants and their families. In
its first two years, the project served 85 percent of all pregnant
women in the area. Fewer than 10 women dropped out of the program,
and there has only been one identified infant death among
clients.
Contact:
Thomas P.
Coyle
Assistant
Commissioner
Maternal
& Infant Care and Special Projects
Baltimore
City Health Department
303 East
Fayette Street
Room 100
Baltimore,
Maryland 21202-3418
MASSACHUSETTS
The state's
Automated Child Support Enforcement System tracks those legally
responsible for child support and warns them that the State
Department of Revenue will seize their assets or garnishee their
income if back support is not paid. Using an electronic data
interchange, the system can obtain information on such items as
taxes, wages and other compensation, and bank deposits. It can
increase the amount of wages garnisheed by 25 percent to satisfy
arrears, seize bank accounts, and attach compensation benefits and
lottery winnings. With a central registry of 220,000 child-support
cases, the system has increased payment compliance from 42 percent
to 53 percent and generated an extra $14.4 million in child
support.
Contact:
Robert
Melia
Director of
Strategic Planning
Department of
Revenue
100 Cambridge
Street
Room 800
Boston,
Massachusetts 02204
MINNESOTA
The
Consolidated Chemical Dependency Treatment Fund simplifies and
improves state substance-abuse treatment programs for low-income
people. It does so by linking state and federal funds into a single
account and standardizing patient eligibility requirements and
licensing requirements for service vendors. All treatment programs
in the state now compete for publicly funded clients, significantly
saving costs and maximizing the number of people assisted. The fund
serves about 19,000 people each year, the vast majority earning
less than $15,000 a year and having more severe addictions and
histories of mental illness than private clients. Follow-up studies
show an increase in abstinence from drugs or alcohol and a decrease
in hospital stays and arrests.
Contact:
Cynthia
Turnure
Director
Chemical
Dependency Division
Department of
Human Services
444 Lafayette
Road
St. Paul,
Minnesota 55155-3823
MISSOURI
Project
SPIRALS (Single Parents Probing Inner Resources and Achieving
Lasting Skills) serves adults and youth through a collaborative
effort of government, business, education, and the private sector
in some of the poorest